A sausage pizza at Kim's Uncle Pizza in Westmont on Aug. 11, 2022. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

One of the best pizza makers in Chicago has unexpectedly revived a beloved suburban pizzeria through long and fortuitous family connections.

Kim’s Uncle Pizza, formerly Uncle Pete’s Pizza in Westmont, is the first dedicated pizzeria by E.F. Pizza, the pizzaiolos at Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream and Marz Brewing in the Bridgeport neighborhood.

The new shop specializes in their Chicago-style thin crust tavern pizza, and has debuted their take on the hottest food this summer: Italian beef.

The menu might be small, but the back story is as epic as a Korean drama.

Kim's Uncle Pizza owners Brad Shorten, from left, Cecily and Billy Federighi are surrounded by knotty pine in the dining area of their restaurant in Westmont on Aug. 11, 2022. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

Kim's Uncle Pizza in Westmont. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

“The last owner, not the original owner, was a Korean woman named Kim,” said Cecily Federighi, one of the new owners. “She had been running the restaurant basically by herself for the last few years, through COVID and everything, and was just ready to retire.”

Kim Sinclair originally bought the business in 1971. She’s lifelong friends with fellow Korean American woman business owner Maria Marszewski, the namesake and founder of Maria’s Packaged Goods and Community Bar. Her son, Ed Marszewski, the Bridgeport-based entrepreneur, worked as a teenager at Uncle Pete’s, which he bought with E.F. Pizza in late 2020. The brand once known as Eat Free Pizza was created by Federighi, her husband Billy Federighi, and their business partner Brad Shorten.

Westmont has long been a culinary destination for the International Plaza food court, once home to the Korean-inspired Hanbun, and the original Katy’s Dumplings, but it still seemed surprising that the creators of an underground pizza project (out of an apartment in Ukrainian Village) took over a suburban pizza place, even to some of the new owners.

“Half of us needed convincing, and half of us were fully on board,” said Cecily Federighi, laughing. “Just the commute was the big thing for us.”

Shorten is actually from Westmont and Uncle Pete’s was his childhood pizza place.

“It was sort of a homecoming for him and he really wanted to do it,” said Federighi. “So we’re like, all right, let’s just jump on board and get it done. And it was pretty wild.”

The place needed a lot of work and there was an unexpected twist right before they bought the business.

A small electrical fire ignited birds’ nests in the wall, according to an investigation by the village of Westmont. There were no casualties or human harm, but the building was rendered uninhabitable.

“The fire set us back on our timeline,” said Federighi. “Which is why it took nearly two years to open.”

Italian beef and sausage sandwiches, a pizza and a City Pop in a Formica booth at Kim's Uncle Pizza in Westmont. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

They considered changing the pizzeria’s name to Uncle Pizza, but there are other shops by the same name, and another unrelated Uncle Pete’s for that matter. Kim’s Uncle Pizza pays homage to the woman who ran the business for nearly 50 years.

“We’re really happy it’s finally open,” said Federighi. “And it’s been really well received by the community. I think that’s been the biggest push forward for us.”

Kim’s Uncle Pizza quietly opened July 28.

“We got so many people coming in and phone calls that I was wondering how people even knew we were open,” said Federighi. “But I think everyone had been anticipating it for so long and word had spread.”

So far it’s mostly families who’ve been fans of Pizza Fried Chicken Ice Cream, relocated to the west suburbs.

“And then I’ve also been seeing people who say, ‘Oh, I’m so happy to finally see this place open again! Uncle Pete’s was my longtime pizzeria. And I’m just so happy that something’s in here,’ ” she said.

They are branching out a little bit beyond pizza.

“We’re also doing Italian beef and sausages and a combo,” said Federighi. They’re using the same house blend sausage that’s on their pizza but encased by Makowski’s Real Sausage Co., open since 1920 near the old Union Stock Yards. “So simple Chicago classic sandwiches.”

“The sausage is probably my favorite,” she said. “We use Turano bread because when you wrap the sandwich, it steams the bread in a really perfect way. We throw on roasted green peppers and onions for a little bit of sweetness, and then J.P. Graziano giardiniera to make it spicy, all wrapped up in this little tiny blanket of a sandwich.”

While the sandwiches are new, they inherited a legendary pizza oven with the space.

“It’s a Faulds, which is a Chicago oven that was originally made for breadmaking, but has kind of made its way into the pizza world, with people like Pat’s and Armand’s using it as their preferred ovens,” said Federighi.

They had never used one before, but now say out of all their ovens it makes a perfect pizza, though not without its challenges.

“Ours is from 1954,” she said. “And it’s a beast with a mind of its own, but it’s been really fun to work on that.”

The 1954 Faulds oven at Kim's Uncle Pizza in Westmont. (Vincent D. Johnson/for the Chicago Tribune)

Seating remains limited and vintage with two tables inside and a picnic table outside.

“Originally, Kim had one Formica booth in the front, with a little plastic outdoor table on the other side,” said Federighi. “So we went with the Formica booth, and we bought two new ones from a warehouse lunch room in Wisconsin that are sort of orangy-red in color.”

They plan to add patio seating in back, hopefully this year, but it will probably have to wait until next year, along with air conditioning.

“We want to fill the backyard with tables and lights and create a nice little outdoor atmosphere for people to eat with their kids after T-ball,” she said. “Those are just things that feel very suburban and cozy to me.”

207 N. Cass Ave., Westmont; 630-963-1900; toasttab.com/unclepizza

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