Decatur is known for thick crust pizza which is a delicious and authentic type of Italian pizza. Made from a yeast-based dough topped with a rich tomato sauce and traditionally finished off with buffalo mozzarella, it's a simple but exceptionally tasty pizza. You'll find very few variations from thick crust on the menus of the pizzerias in Decatur. The odd exceptions are a couple who offer another kind of traditional Italian pie, the thin crust. Another pizza that is popular in Decatur too is stuffed pizza that's baked with a double crust. They don't tend to go for gourmet topping combinations in the Decatur pizzerias either, but mostly let you choose what you like. If you have a creative culinary mind, that's great, as you can invent your own special personal gourmet pizza.
Del Carmen's Pizza West may have recently moved premises, but that hasn't affected business operations and they still make the best delivery pizza in Decatur. From their new premises on North Water Street they send out their signature thin and double-crust pies at the speed of light. Del Carmen's previous premises weren't a patch on the new one which is decorated in a delightful burnt orange which gives it a warm look and blends well with the untreated pine diner-style tables and benches. The one thing that hasn't changed at Del Carmen's is the pizza menu so if you've ordered a delivery pizza from there before, don't worry, you'll still be able to get your favorite pie.
If you've been out exploring Decatur's historic downtown district or getting some exercise in the city's Central Park, you're only a few minutes away from where you can pick up the best take-out pizza in Decatur. All you have to do is head down East Main Street until you find Napoli's Italian Restaurant and as far as a great take-out pizza is concerned, you're home and dry. The frontage of Napoli's Italian Restaurant may look a little forbidding, but inside you'll find a well-decorated dining area finished in neutral colors with dark wood furnishings. At Napoli's they only cook pizzas to order so you'll have a few minutes to wait while they bake your pizza. At Napoli's, you know what you're going to take out has come straight from the oven, and getting a fresher take-out pizza would be impossible.
Being in such a rural inland area as Decatur is means that when you want some beach time, you need to go searching for it. Take a trip twenty miles north of Decatur to Clinton and you'll find what you're looking for in the Clinton Lake State Recreation Area. At the heart of the recreation area is Clinton Lake which has a super sandy swim beach where you can laze away a warm and sunny day. If the sun isn't shining there's still lots to do. There are trails for hiking around the shoreline, you can sail or navigate a craft with an electric motor, go fishing from the shore or a boat or if it's wintertime, go ice fishing or snowmobiling. You can get a good pizza in Clinton from Monical's Pizza in Sunrise Court.
If there's one Illinois city history fans living in Decatur won't want to skip visiting then it has to be Lincoln. Lincoln is just a forty-minute drive north and a place where you can really delve deep into the bygone days. Start out in the Lincoln Heritage Museum which is dedicated in part to the man who the city is named after, Abraham Lincoln, then follow there with a visit to the Postville Courthouse or the Mill Museum on Route 66. Shed the cobwebs of time from your brain cells with a walk along the trails in the Kickapoo Creek Park before sitting down for a pizza at Daphne's Family Restaurant on Woodlawn Road.
You can get back in touch with nature pretty much anywhere around Decatur, but for a change of scene try heading ten miles south to Mount Zion. Mount Zion is surrounded by magnificent conservation areas like the Spitler Woods State Natural Area where you can explore over two hundred acres of super scenic woodlands and alongside a creek. It's well worth heading a few miles further east to the Fort Daniel Conservation Area too if you have the time. On the way home, stop off at Filippo's Pizza and Pasta on IL-121 for a pizza.
Question:What restaurant has the best double-crust pizza in Decatur?
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Question:What restaurant has the best veggie pizza in Decatur?
Question:What restaurant has the best spicy pizza in Decatur?