Nation's First Pizza Museum Opens In Chicago
The U.S. Pizza Museum, which has existed for a few years mostly as a virtual museum and a pop-up exhibit, is now getting a home for a few months at the Roosevelt Collection in the South Loop. The museum is currently scheduled to be open from Aug. 10 to the end of October.
Depending on public demand, that stint might be longer, the Chicago Tribune reports, citing museum founder Kendall Bruns. Various events are planned for the museum, such as book signings and dough demos.
For now, the mixed-use Roosevelt Collection at 1146 South Delano Court West will provide the museum with 3K SF, which is larger than any pop-up. It will also include a gift shop.
The museum will not be a restaurant, though food trucks will be nearby to offer pizza to eat.
The U.S. Pizza Museum will exhibit pizza-themed art and ads, clothing, old-time menus, toys — including a toy Noid Dominos, video games, books and even records, such as The Gaylords' 1958 "Let’s Have a Pizza Party.”
Though consumers are reportedly craving novel experiences these days, opening a specialty museum can be a tough row to hoe. Just in Chicago, the following museums have all come and gone in recent years: the ABA Museum of Law, the American Police Center & Museum, the McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum, the Museum of Holography, the Peace Museum and the Terra Museum.
Not everyone is persuaded that Chicago is the place for a museum that aspires to be a national institution about pizza.
Look, for the sake of social peace I’m willing to suspend fact, logic, and morality and call Chicago casseroles “pizza.” But putting the Pizza Museum in Chicago is like putting the pastrami museum in Riyadh. At least pick neutral ground.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahNRO) August 6, 2018
Congratulations! What’s with the photograph of the casserole? https://t.co/7OuhHxkaG6
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) August 6, 2018
Kids, this is a bowl of tomato bisque, not pizza. Don’t do drugs.
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) August 6, 2018
There’s already a US pizza museum - it’s 71 square miles and it’s called Brooklyn. https://t.co/z59ZQaktcr
The museum seems undeterred by such comments.
The U.S. Pizza Museum celebrates all styles of pizza—and the people behind the pizza, throughout America August 6, 2018
The museum reports that tickets — which are given out at no charge — have all been taken for the grand opening this weekend.
