Freddy's Pizza – And the People Who Have Made It Wonderful Over the Decades

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We were standing in the backroom of west suburban Cicero’s Freddy’s Pizza, where owner Giuseppe “Joe” Quercia cures racks of sausages. Suddenly his wife, Ann Marie, stormed in, rolling her eyes, disgusted. Something was afoot.

Turns out, some guy had just ordered a sandwich of porchetta, a savory, traditional roast pork – but (and I hope you’re sitting down) he wanted it slathered in mayo and ketchup. Ann Marie wouldn’t do it; she did not, however, just say “no”: her look of jaw-dropping disbelief said it all.  The guy was miffed, and he let Ann Marie know about it.

Later, as Giuseppe, Ann Marie, and I were sitting in Freddy’s dining area, this angry man was there with friends, still ranting. So, what did Giuseppe do? He trotted to the kitchen and returned carrying two porchetta sandwiches prepared in the traditional manner – no mayo, no ketchup – no charge. The angry man’s table suddenly went silent. When he left after demolishing the two sandwiches, he gave a heartfelt, “See you next time,” to Giuseppe and Ann Marie, a customer for life.

Giuseppe has spent most of his life at Freddy’s. He started working there decades ago after immigrating from Naples. One fateful day, a nice Italian girl came in. Ann Marie and her mother had stopped by to pick up a pizza. It wasn’t ready yet, so Ann Marie chatted (and maybe flirted just a little) with Giuseppe. He asked for her phone number. “When you give me my pizza,” she told him, “I’ll give you my number.” And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Italian girl sass. They hit it off like pasta and sauce, and this happy couple is now the loving heart of Freddy’s.

Giuseppe was only 18 when he bought Freddy’s, which at first was just an old-timey corner grocery store with a take-out counter. Giuseppe has referred to Freddy’s as a “rosticceria,” a place to grab a quick plate of roasted meat, though Freddy’s serves a lot more than just meat. Behind the glass counter is a colorful display of griddled eggplant in olive oil, classic rapini and beans, lesser known dishes like the pasta frita (fried pasta, a favorite Sicilian street food), seafood salad, and many variations on the ever-popular theme of cheese, tomato sauce, and bread.

Recently, on a freezing Saturday morning, many customers were hustling back to their cars carrying large boxes brimming with Freddy’s pizzas, pastas, and sausages – and often Freddy’s gelato, too, honestly the best I’ve had here or in Italy.

While I chatted with the Quercias, Ann Marie occasionally excused herself to check on customers, who were filling up tables all around us. She greeted the customers (frequently by name), asked about their families and wondered how everyone was enjoying the food. The family feeling between the Quercias and their clientele is warm and tangible.

Giuseppe told me that his proudest moment is “when customers tell me Freddy’s is part of their childhood and family memories. I’ve served generations of people since working here in 1968. It is an honor to have people from all walks of life enter Freddy’s and enjoy our creations.”

Numerous people can testify to the strength of the connection. “Giuseppe knows my husband Michael adores their gelato,” Freddy’s regular Gwen Garmon tells us. “If I start leaving without buying some, Giuseppe shouts out, ‘Hey, what about Mike?!’”

Longtime customer Janet Miceli reminisces about a time when she was a teen and her mother forgot to bring cash to pay for pizzas for a family party. “She was so embarrassed, and so was I. Joe and Ann Marie consoled her, did not make her feel bad and still gave her all the pizzas! They totally trusted that she’d return the next day. We both did, and we never stopped returning. I still visit Freddy’s often; it wouldn’t be summer without a Sicilian square and an ice out front! Or picking up pizzas with friends and taking them to Ravinia and then making new friends because everyone sitting nearby would ask if they could have a taste!”

Steve Aquilino, who now lives in California, “just east of Disneyland,” remembers going to Freddy’s as a kid and getting Italian ice. “And to this day, every time we visit, we try a lot of the foods, but I always have chocolate and lemon ice. I've never had anything that good anywhere else. Joe and Ann Marie are such a nice, generous couple, and the food, oh my gosh, is just so insane. Old school. There is nothing like Freddy’s in California.”

“It was the pepperoni bread that made us regulars,” Oak Parker Ann Fisher confesses. “All of us loved it.  It’s just a length of wonderful Italian bread that before baking has been rolled up with pepperoni, so every slice has red strips of pepperoni surrounded by little yellow splats of spicy pepperoni oil.  Ann Marie is someone who remembers customers in ways I can't even imagine. One of the best moments of my west suburban life was the day she casually said to me ‘You can write a check if you like.’ In later visits, if she wasn't at the cash register when I pulled out the checkbook, before I started to get the ‘cash only’ spiel from one of the counter people, I got to say, ‘I have permission.’ The cashier would look over at Ann Marie, she'd nod, and I would stand a little straighter.”

Steve Dolinsky, Bobby Flay, Road Food’s Michael Stern, and many others have raved about Freddy’s. One gets the impression that a big part of the experience at this little corner rosticceria, almost bigger than the joy of eating their classic Italian food, is Giuseppe and Ann Marie, two people who love their work and love to see people enjoying their wonderful chow.

Freddy’s Pizza is one of those mom and pop places – beloved by locals, perhaps only vaguely known to the outside world – that are slowly fading from the urban landscape. You might want to visit Giuseppe and Ann Marie sooner rather than later.