(Photo by Jake Williams)
Patricio’s Pizza & More — Urbana’s newest pizzeria — doesn’t open until 10 a.m., but Lazaro Patricio and his staff are already at work before 8 a.m, prepping dough, ingredients and more for a day of service.
“We make our own pizza sauce, our own dough,” Patricio told Chambana Eats. “We make almost everything from scratch. We don’t buy already cut vegetables, we cut everything over here to make sure it’s fresh for everybody. That’s what we do.”
The pizzeria opened April 21 in the food court at Lincoln Square Mall, replacing the spot previously occupied by Baldarotta’s Porketta & Sicilian Sausage.
Before the move to Urbana, Patricio’s was an anchor of a small strip mall on Eastwood Drive in Mahomet. After his lease ended in Mahomet, Patricio started looking for a spot in Champaign-Urbana.
“I saw a good opportunity over here to start something,” Patricio said. “There were too many pizza shops [in Mahomet], so when my contract was finished, I decided to look for a spot in Champaign-Urbana.”
He settled on Lincoln Square Mall — the mall in the center of downtown Urbana — as the perfect spot to move his business.
“We’re looking forward to being with the community over here, and to take care of people over here,” Patricio said. “We are happy to be over here and see how it’s going to be.”
The restaurant is open every day, except Sunday, from 10 a.m. until 8:30 p.m., but they stop taking orders at 8 p.m.
(Photo by Jake Williams)
The pizza menu alone has 14 different whole pizza options, ranging from a simple cheese pizza to their “classic” pizza which features capicola, pepperoni, sausage, onions, banana peppers and black olives. The 10-inch pies range in price from $11.50 to $16, and can be modified with additions and changes. The restaurant also serves 14-inch and 16-inch pizzas, as well as calzones, spaghetti and a limited sandwich selection.
The Champaign-Urbana pizza market (other than chains like Papa John’s or Dominos) is mainly anchored by deep dish heavyweight Papa Del’s, thin crust from Jupiter’s, multi-style Rosati’s and artisanal Pizzeria Antica and Manolo’s.
For Patricio’s, a Mahomet (or now Urbana) take on New York-style pizza is the goal.
“I wanted to focus on something a little different from everybody else,” Patricio said. “It’s kind of New York-style, but it’s our own stuff.”
Patricio has lived in Champaign for around 20 years, and worked with family in restaurants in Chicago, all the while dreaming up his own spot.
“[I’ve always been] excited to do my own restaurant,” Patricio said. “We’re here and we’re happy to serve people.”