Award-Winning Little Pops Pizzeria Expands to Lisle

by Eve Payne, What Now Chicago

Little Pops Pizzeria, the award-winning NY-style pizza shop with locations in Naperville and Aurora, will open its third location at 2799 Maple Avenue in Lisle. The family-owned eatery first debuted in Naperville in 2014, when Mike and Vicki Nelson, along with their three children, risked opening their very first restaurant together, featuring dishes the New York natives grew up on.

Well, the risk paid off. Voted Best Sauce, Best Crust, and all-around Best Pizza in Naperville Pizza Wars, Little Pops has worked hard to bring authentic New York-style flavors to Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

The Nelsons credit their families with inspiration for the eatery—Mike Nelson grew up at his uncles’ restaurant Deleno Brother’s, which opened in 1959 in Wappingers Falls, NY, while Vicki Nelson recalls her Grandma Berinato’s homemade Italian cooking and Sunday family dinners. ‘Little Pop’ pays homage to her Grandpa Berinato who went by the nickname.

In addition to the 14 and 18” New York pies and pizza-by-the-slice, Little Pops whips up Grandma pies, Bruschetta Pizza, and Brooklyn Sicilians, which feature thick, airy olive oil-infused crust topped with a sweeter, thicker Grandma sauce and baked in rectangular pans.

The restaurant’s sprawling menu doesn’t stop at pizza either—you can find soups, salads, and pastas, as well as larger entrees like Parmigiana, Chicken Milanese, and Chicken Marsala. And don’t get us started on the desserts—have you seen Vicki’s Homemade Amaretto Cheesecake?

A PR representative for Little Pops shared the tentative opening timeline for the Lisle location will be May 2022.

To learn more, find Little Pops Pizzeria online.