5 hours Ago By USA TODAY
A pizzeria in Chicago is attracting more than just human customers. Hundreds of dogs are lining up in their holiday best outside in West Town for yummy treats as their owners grab slices from the popular Chicago pizzeria. "Oh my god, there's hundreds that they walk by every day," Bartoli's Pizzeria owner Brian Tondryk told USA TODAY over the phone.
"I mean, it's all day long. They love coming for the treats." "When the owners are walking the dog, they always want to stop at the pizzeria because (their pups) get a treat.
We go through a lot of treat boxes." he added. The window, which was initially set up to facilitate customers during COVID, has now become a busy hotspot for treat-seeking pooches, Tondryk said.
"We've had the dog window for four years now," Tondryk said. "We opened up (the branch) one week before COVID shut down Chicago. When that happened, we put the walk-up window in.
It was originally a lock up window for customers who didn't want to come inside the restaurant. (It) ended up becoming a dog window." Tondryk said the window started with them just keeping a bowl of water and some treats outside for the dogs, adding his manager Stacy Rozack, "a huge dog person," played a key role in developing it into the "doggie treat window,".
Treats mostly include milk bones, though some owners sometimes indulge their dogs with pizza slices from the restaurant, Tondryk said. While most recent videos on show dogs dressed up in their holiday fashion, Tondryk said, the window is popular all year round. Following the popularity of the dog window, Tondryk said the pizzeria is planning to have a best-dressed dog competition and award the winner a free slice of pizza or a discount on their next order.
Plans for the competition are still being worked on, Tondryk said. While Bartoli's itself has been in Chicago since 2013 with their Roscoe Village location, the new branch opened right before the pandemic hit. The pizzeria is popular for its deep-dish Chicago-style pizzas as well as thin crust pizzas, which are a hit with consumers, Tondryk said.
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