Review: Opie's Sports Bar & Grill

Opie’s Sports Bar and Grill isn’t your usual pizzeria. First, it is located in Wedron, IL, a very small town far off the beaten path. Second, it’s officially a sports bar, not a pizzeria. Yet, they are known for their pizza (and Aunt Bee’s fried chicken), which is the best in the area.

In the interest of full disclosure, the pizza chef at Opie’s is my brother, Mike. He and his friend Steve (who owns Opie’s) spent a lot of time experimenting with different sauces before they were happy with the sauce they now offer on their pizzas. Mike, Steve, and their friend John have become “foodies” over the past few years and they spend a great deal of their time brainstorming food, cooking food, and eating food.

Back at Opie’s we ordered a cheese pizza for the kids, and Kim, Mike and I shared a sausage and mushroom pie. Opie’s serves both a thin and thick crust. On Mike’s recommendation, we opted for the thin crust. We also chose to have the pie cut in triangles rather than squares (that was a mistake).

The crust came out thin and uniform. It was cooked just right; done, but not overdone. The sauce was a more tart, Italian style sauce than I am used to. It was tasty. My only complaint was that there wasn’t enough of it. We talked at length with Mike and Steve about this and everyone agreed that more sauce was needed.

The other ingredients were fresh and delicious. The sausage in particular was very good. The mushrooms were also good, but there weren’t enough of them. Since Mike is not a big fan of mushrooms and he knew he would be sharing the pie with us, he went a little light on the fungi.

The kids also enjoyed their cheese pizza. They said they thought it was really good, but the thing that told me that they must have liked it was that they finished the whole pie; something they rarely do.

I mentioned that we made a mistake not having the pizza cut into squares. I can't fully explain it, but the pizza at Opie's is made for squares, not triangles. Maybe it's because Opie's pizza reminds me of pizzas we used to get from Gario's or Tony Weeds in Aurora, IL when I was a kid. It was always good and always cut into squares.

Overall, the pizza at Opie’s was very good. I would give it a 7 out of 10. If you are ever in Wedron, IL, stop by Opie’s for a pizza and a beer. And tell them Lou sent you.