Milly’s Pizza owner aims for December 1 opening of thin-crust Jake’s Place in North Center

Robert Maleski, the owner of Milly’s Pizza in the Pan, is getting a thin-crust pizza shop called Jake’s Place ready at 4159 N Western Ave in North Center. Maleski expects to open on December 1, and another oven is being installed in the storefront, What Now Chicago reported on October 16.

The space last held Armand’s Pizzeria. What Now reported the Armand’s closing, and the city’s business license data shows the restaurant’s retail food license was canceled on July 23, 2025, well ahead of a November 15, 2026, expiration date.

Jake’s Place is going into the first floor of a two-story building on the southeast corner of Western and Berteau avenues, on the west side of North Center. City license records list auto repair shops and a hair salon among the neighbors on the 4100 block of North Western.

What is planned for Jake’s Place

What Now’s story, which built on an earlier Block Club Chicago report, says Maleski is “trying something different” in North Center. The plan is thin-crust pizza, with about six pies on the menu, including one topped with giardiniera and sausage and another with chili crunch and basil, according to What Now.

At Milly’s, the pizzas are pan pies. The online menu lists them in 10-inch and 14-inch sizes, plus a 14-inch Detroit-style pie called the Killtaker, and the restaurant’s about page credits Burt Katz, whose Chicago pan-style pies got Maleski to start making his own. Some of the North Center flavors already turn up on that menu. The Tom’s Killing pie has vodka sauce, pepperoni, everything bagel spice, red onion, chili crunch, ricotta and basil, and Mr. Bing chili crunch costs $2.50 as an add-on topping.

Here is what What Now’s report and city records say about Jake’s Place as of October 29:

• The address is 4159 N Western Ave, Chicago, IL 60618.
• The owner is Robert Maleski, who started Milly’s Pizza in the Pan in 2020.
• The menu is planned around thin-crust pizza, with about six pies, according to What Now.
• The expected opening date is December 1, 2026, a date What Now attributed to Maleski.
• The city’s business license data had no license on file for Jake’s Place at the address on October 29.

City records for the corner

Food businesses held city licenses at 4159 N Western from 2008 until 2025. Western Avenue Pizza, Inc., doing business as Armand’s Pizzeria, held a retail food license there from 2011 until the 2025 cancellation, and a different retail food business was licensed at the address from 2008 to 2010, according to city license records.

The city’s building permit data lists a 2007 permit for a $205,000 remodel that redid the first floor and turned the second floor into offices. The newest permits on file are for awnings, a projecting sign and masonry repairs, issued in 2011 and 2012. None appears for the address after July 31, 2012.

The address is in the 47th Ward under the city’s 2023 ward boundaries, the same ward listed on the Armand’s license record.

Ald. Matthew J. Martin is the 47th Ward alderperson, according to the city’s ward office records.

Getting to the corner without a car

If you are coming by CTA, city transit data puts these options closest to the storefront:

• The #49 Western bus runs on Western Avenue past the building.
• The #80 Irving Park bus runs on Irving Park Road, about two-tenths of a mile south.
• The Western Brown Line station is about six-tenths of a mile north, near Western and Leland avenues.

How Milly’s grew from a ghost kitchen

Maleski opened Milly’s in 2020, according to the restaurant’s website, and named the business for his grandmother Emily, who taught him to cook. City license records show Milly’s Pizza in the Pan L.L.C. received a shared kitchen user license on July 10, 2020.

The first storefront opened in 2022 at 1005 W Argyle St in Uptown. What Now reported in January 2022 that Maleski had run Milly’s as a Logan Square ghost kitchen for about a year and a half and that the Uptown dining room would seat about 20. The city license for the Argyle Street shop took effect February 1, 2022.

In 2025 Milly’s moved from Uptown to 925 N Ashland Ave in West Town, in the Noble Square section of the neighborhood. Time Out reported in April 2025 that the Ashland space came with a conveyor oven in place of the convection oven used in Uptown, enough to double output from 60 to 120 pies a day, along with 12 seats up front. The same report said Maleski started with 10 pies a day in the ghost kitchen and that a Berwyn location had opened in March 2024. City license records date the West Town license to July 11, 2025.

Lakeview came next. Secret Chicago reported on March 29, 2026, that Milly’s had announced a shop at 3409 N Broadway in a January Instagram post, and the city issued the license for Milly’s Lakeview shop on March 27, 2026. The Milly’s website now lists two locations, West Town and Lakeview, and does not list Berwyn.

Time Out’s June 2026 list of the best deep-dish pizzas in Chicago ranked Milly’s first among 20 pizzerias. Milly’s is also on the Windy City Magazine list of the best deep-dish pizza in Chicago.

In a February 18, 2026, report, Time Out said Milly’s placed No. 12 on the publication’s list of the world’s best pizzas, down from No. 11 the year before, as one of two U.S. pizzerias on the list. The restaurant’s press page also lists a 2025 Jean Banchet Award nomination for best pizza.

Where to get Milly’s pizza now

Milly’s has two shops open while Jake’s Place is being set up, and the restaurant’s website lists these details for both:

• The West Town shop is at 925 N Ashland Ave, and the phone number is (224) 809-7192.
• The Lakeview shop is at 3409 N Broadway, and the phone number is (224) 656-4732.
• Both shops are open Wednesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and closed Monday and Tuesday.
• Seating is first come, first served, and neither shop takes reservations.
• Menu prices run from $20 for a 10-inch You Do You cheese pizza to $37 for a 14-inch No Comply with nduja and saba syrup.

Milly’s makes a limited number of pizzas each day, and the restaurant’s FAQ page tells you to order online ahead or call to see whether any are left before you walk in. Pies come uncut unless you ask, which the FAQ says keeps them from getting soggy, and the suggested reheat is 400 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes.

What happens next

Anyone selling perishable food from a fixed location in Chicago needs a retail food establishment license, and the space has to pass a public health inspection before the city issues one, according to the Department of Business Affairs and Consumer Protection.

The December 1 target is Maleski’s, as What Now reported it. What Now’s photo caption calls Jake’s Place the third spot from the pizza company, and the outlet pointed readers to the Milly’s Facebook and Instagram pages for updates on the North Center opening.

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