Purgatory Pizza, Chicago
“The success of a single brand can ruin an entire industry — Survivor made all television ‘reality,’ while CPK made all pizza Thai Chicken. Stemming that tide: Purgatory Pizza.
“From the guy behind Risque Café, PP’s a heaven-and-hell-themed diner (clouds hand-painted on ceiling, flames/smoke etched around walls) whose cracker-thin ‘za offers a fresh take on the fundamentals — the Horace Grant of bubbly, carb-loaded dinners. The magic moves from a 6-cheese blend (mozz, white cheddar, smoked provolone, brick cheese, asiago, parmesan), to the owner’s Grandma’s Southern Italian sauce, to a crisp and airy crust made from dough that forgoes H20 in favor of PBR, much like you during college. Specialty pizzas range from the Humility (ground beef, tomato, onion, jalapeños) to the Restraint (garlic butter, ricotta, prosciutto), but no personal pies are offered, since like Care Bears and the clap, pizza is for sharing. […]” –Thrillist, March 27, 2008
Reports suggest that Purgatory Pizza has since closed.
Sighting Citation:
“Purgatory Pizza, Chicago.” Dante Today: Citings and Sightings of Dante’s Works in Contemporary Culture. Elizabeth Coggeshall and Arielle Saiber, eds. December 11, 2025. https://www.dantetoday.org/sightings/purgatory-pizza-chicago/.Related Sighting
Dante’s Pizzeria in The Handmaid’s Tale (S04E05, 2021)