Latest news with #LouMalnatis
CBS News
8 hours ago
- CBS News
1 shot at River North Lou Malnati's on Wells Street, Chicago police say
A 36-year-old man was shot in the arm outside a Lou Malnati's restaurant in River North Friday evening, Chicago police said. Chicago police said they were called to the pizza parlor in the 400 block of North Wells Street just after 7 p.m. Friday. According to CPD, two men on the sidewalk outside the restaurant got into a physical fight. One of the men pulled out a gun and opened fire, hitting the victim in the left arm. According to customers at the restaurant, the victim then ran inside the Lou Malnati's for help. Police said the victim was taken to Northwestern Hospital in good condition for treatment. No one is currently in custody. An investigation by Area Three Detectives is ongoing. The restaurant is closed for the rest of the night.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Column: ‘Deep Dish' tells the stories behind the Malnati pizza empire, including some difficult ones
CHICAGO — I have known many of the people involved in the business of making pizzas and arguing about pizzas and eating pizzas, but until a few weeks ago, I had not met Marc Malnati, who is one of the towering figures of the local pizza scene. I met him on the 200-some pages of his book titled 'Deep Dish: Inside the First 50 Years of Lou Malnati's Pizza' (Agate Publishing). It is a surprising book in that it has a welcome lack of recipes but also because it is self-aware and, frankly, occasionally chilling, as Malnati writes, 'Too often, my little brother and I would end up falling asleep in a booth in the bar while (Dad) told (Mom) he was going to have just one more.' That dad, Lou, was the big-dreaming patriarch of the family enterprise that now offers pizzas in places across the country, a rather remarkable business success, especially given its modest roots. That mom, Jean, is the person responsible for holding the business together when Lou died at 48. The story is ultimately an entertaining one. As Malnati's younger brother, Rick, puts it in a short preface, 'This is not a story about great pizza, although we do serve the best pizza in the world. This is the story about how a somewhat dysfunctional family led to the growth of a more functional family.' Marc tells me that he has always been attracted to writing and that this book, his first, came to life because 'I wanted to tell the story so our grandchildren (there are seven with one on the way) and their grandchildren would know the stories behind the pizzas on their dinner tables.' Those stories start with Lou, who was, Marc writes, 'color TV when the rest of the world was still in black and white.' Sounds fun, yes? Not exactly, except for those who frequented his restaurants to share boozy banter. Lou came here as a baby in 1930 and first saw his father, Adolpho, working as a bartender. He was taken back to Italy but returned for keeps in 1947, joined the Marines and then worked with his father at a new restaurant called Pizzeria Uno, started by restaurateurs Ric Riccardo and Ike Sewell. He met and married a secretary named Jean Noll and, after Sewell refused to make him a partner in the restaurant business, quit and opened the first Malnati's in Lincolnwood on March 17, 1971, with Chicago Bear Dick Butkus and other celeb pals in attendance. Those first years were tough, but were getting better when all nearly came crashing down when Lou died of cancer in 1978. Rick was still in high school, and Marc, a 22-year-old fresh from Indiana University, where he had earned a degree in business, found God and met his future wife, a coed named Jeanne Louise Murphy. Though he was an occasional user of stronger stuff, he was innocent enough to ask her out on a date to an ice cream parlor for a milkshake. She said no, but eventually they did date, have five kids and, as he writes in the book's dedication, 'My eyes continue to sparkle for you, even after 45 years.' The book moves swiftly. Yes, it covers a few missteps, but also great successes and some wild times at ChicagoFest and Taste of Chicago. Credit is given to many loyal employees, many of whom started as kids, for the development of business practices and self-help therapies, all presented as stories rather than lessons. In the book's acknowledgements, he thanks many people, including 'hundreds of all-star individuals who gave the best years of their lives to build the culture of our company.' He thanks Richard Babcock, 'who worked tirelessly to smooth out the rough edges. I didn't make it easy on him.' Babcock, a native of Woodstock, Illinois, was an editor for some years at New York magazine before editing Chicago magazine for decades. He is married to writer wife Gioia Diliberto, whose latest book is 'Firebrands: The Untold Story of Four Women Who Made and Unmade Prohibition' (University of Chicago Press). He still writes and edits. His latest novel, 'Absolution,' will be published this summer, and I asked him what it was like to work with Malnati. In his typically cheerful manner, he told me, 'Working with Marc was a delight. He knew the story he wanted to tell, and he was remarkably candid about his childhood and the excesses of his father. I know it wasn't easy coming clean on all that. Also, I don't think many people know of Marc's unusual management style — a system that obviously worked very effectively as he grew a local business into a national company. Finally, for a small, additional editing chore, he paid me in frozen pizzas — best deal I ever made.' Malnati is a thoughtful guy. If he seems to lack the boozy ebullience of his father, that's understandable. A religious man and self-aware, he loves his wife, he loves his kids, his employees and his mom. 'I am very grateful for the life I have had,' he says. He's sentimental too. As he writes, after sending the book off to his publisher, his wife and kids 'surprised me by sitting me down and opening a bottle of Caymus Cabernet, my favorite.' Then each read a favorite passage from the book and told him why they had chosen it. 'I cried all the way through,' he writes. 'And told them it was the greatest day of my life.'
New York Times
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Talking to ‘The Pope' about the Pope, Caleb Williams, Ben Johnson and White Sox
After the white smoke cleared and the world found out that the Pope is not only from the United States but also — and more importantly — from Chicago, there were naturally a lot of important questions. Is the South Side native a White Sox fan or a Cubs fan? Does he prefer deep dish or tavern-style pizza? Does he have thoughts about Caleb Williams? Advertisement Let's start there with Williams. 'I am excited about (Williams),' The Pope told me in an exclusive phone conversation Thursday afternoon. 'I definitely am. I just felt like the Bears haven't put anybody around him. It's a problem. You know he had no line at all. He was running for his life all the time.' Thoughts on new Bears coach Ben Johnson, Pope? 'It seems like they should have a really good coach right now,' he said. 'I'm definitely excited about him. He'll help out with Caleb.' Yep, our Pope is a real Grabowski. He also loves the White Sox and Lou Malnati's pizza. And yes, he's been suffering like the rest of you during his abysmal stretch of local sports. 'It's definitely been rough to be a Chicago sports fan these days,' said Donn 'The Pope' Pall, the former White Sox pitcher and a Bloomingdale, Ill. resident. Did you think I was talking about the other guy? I don't have his number. But I did get in touch with the original Chicago Pope after the news broke on Thursday. 'I've had a couple of people texting me about it, correcting other people who said it's the first American pope,' Pall told me in a phone conversation. Both are south suburban natives. Pall is from Evergreen Park and Cardinal Robert Prevost was from Dolton. Pope Leo XIV, formerly American Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, steps out on the balcony overlooking Saint Peter's Square to a cheering crowd. — ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) May 8, 2025 While Prevost, the first American-born Pope, was named Pope Leo XIV by the conclave in Vatican City on Thursday, Pall was anointed 'The Pope' by the holy duo of Hawk and Wimpy back in Chicago in the late 1980s. 'I think it was Tom Paciorek when they were giving nicknames to players,' Pall said. 'They had Big Hurt, Little Hurt, One Dog. They came up with one for me, The Pope, because Donn Pall sounded like John Paul.' Advertisement That would be Pope John Paul II, the head of the Catholic Church from 1978 until his death in 2005. Meanwhile, Pope Donn Pall pitched exclusively out of the bullpen in the majors from 1988 until he retired in 1998. He had a great career for an Evergreen Park kid who hustled his way onto the University of Illinois roster. Pall got drafted by his hometown team in the 23rd round in 1985. In six years with the Sox, he appeared in 255 games, going 21-10 with a 3.45 ERA. He was a college kid rooting for the 'Winning Ugly' team and then found himself pitching to Carlton Fisk. 'It was the absolute best,' he said 'It was a dream come true to play major-league baseball, period, but to play for your hometown team on top of that, it was unbelievable. The first few years of it, I was living at my parents' house at home. I think I was the only major leaguer living at home with his parents.' It wasn't because he took a papal vow of poverty. Relief pitchers didn't make a ton of money in those days and he never knew if he'd be sent back down. Pall, a Catholic who is 100 percent Polish like Pope John Paul II, got a kick out of the nickname, though he said his grandmother wasn't a huge fan. 'I don't think she thought that was appropriate,' Pall's wife, Katie, told me. Every so often, a fan didn't either. 'I got some fan mail as a player and one or two people were ripping into me for proclaiming myself as the Pope, that it's sacrilegious,' he told me. 'I'm thinking to myself, I'm not going around calling myself the Pope. It's not on my end.' He did wear a Pope costume at a White Sox fantasy camp one time as he participated in a skit about pitchers making a 'call to God' after a home run. And when he got married to Katie, the priest got a few laughs out of the name. 'He was a White Sox fan,' Pall said. 'And during the ceremony, he said I never thought I'd get a chance to marry the Pope. It got a lot of laughter.' Advertisement Pall said they heard the Chicago Pope news on the way to a Memorial Park cemetery in Skokie to see Katie's parents. His folks, Eugene and Irene, called him about it. 'My parents said they read somewhere he's a Cubs fan,' he said. I told him I think a lot of people misinterpreted a TV reporter's joke about the Cubs and Cardinals and it spread so quickly, even the Cubs acknowledged the falsehood. A WGN reporter later interviewed Prevost's brother, who confirmed the actual Pope is a Sox fan. Obviously the biggest question surrounding Chicago native Robert Prevost now that he is Pope Leo XIV: Cubs or White Sox? His brother gave the definitive answer to @WGNNews' @DanaRebikWGN — Josh Frydman (@Josh_Frydman) May 8, 2025 In honor of the news, the White Sox promptly lost to the Royals 10-0. 'Can he say a few extra prayers?' Katie Pall wondered. It's been a rough few years for the franchise, as you might've heard. 'To say the least,' Pall said. 'It's really too bad.' Pall is a White Sox ambassador and he goes to a few events a year, doing things like having dinner with season ticket holders or signing autographs at the ballpark. Given how desperate the team is for positive attention these days, I'm guessing they could shoehorn in a Donn Pall Night this summer. Meet The Pope! The team loved it when South Sider Barack Obama won the presidency. He wore that Sox hat everywhere. Imagine the Pope wearing it in the Vatican? Or rocking a Williams Bears jersey after Mass? In the coming days, you can be sure Chicago news outlets will beat this story into the ground as reporters canvass south suburban Dolton and the pope's old St. Mary of the Assumption parish for every bit of minutiae they can find. Though he's lived abroad for much of his adult life, the new Pope did spend some time studying and working in Chicago, which means he might have listened to Mike Ditka swear on TV or had some strong opinions of his own about Jerry Reinsdorf. It's mind-blowing to think of the Pope eating an Italian Beef sandwich. If there's one thing Chicago loves, it's a Chicago angle. Wouldn't it be something if the Pope was a Donn Pall fan? 'We need to find out,' Pall said. (Photo of Donn Pall: Bill Hickey / Allsport/Getty Images)
