Mama K's Pizza and Grille

We read reviews online before we visited Mama K's and shook our heads at the vehement love/hate comments about it. People either called it the best pizza they've ever had or the biggest disappointment they've had in dining. The truth of it, Mama K's falls pretty squarely in the middle. The pizza menu is impressive, offering 11 types of specialty pizzas in addition to build-your-own, with prices ranging from $13.50 for a 12-inch Mama K's Special (homemade sausage, green pepper and onion) to $20.50 for a 17-inch Supreme. You'll also find calzones, more than two dozen kinds of sandwiches and wraps, burgers, dinner salads, and spaghetti and meatballs. A lengthy dessert menu includes hand-dipped ice cream sundaes, shakes, frozen yogurt and smoothies. We tried the Spartan Special, a Greek-inspired pie topped with gyro meat, feta, chopped tomatoes and onions. Sprinkled with dried oregano, the toppings all sang with flavor and nicely browned cheese. The hand-rolled flour-dusted crust fell flat when it came to flavor, but it certainly was better than frozen pizza dough. Our burger and fries arrived hot and cooked to order, and the golden toasted garlic bread made the spaghetti worth ordering. To bill this as a sports bar is entirely inaccurate. It's a storefront with about six tables in it, and you walk up to order at the counter. A flat-screen TV mounted on the wall was showing an episode of "Friends" on WGN during our visit. But the staff was friendly and wanted to please, and you certainly get value. We'd say it's worth skipping spending money on overpriced amusement park food and crash here at the end of your busy Six Flags day for a meal before you head home.