2 IL Pizzerias Win At International Competition

ILLINOIS — Several Illinois establishments have been named among the world's best at the recent International Pizza Challenge, which brought together the premier pizzerias from around the globe for an intensively judged, category-specific competition.

Some 550 competing eateries took part in the recent event, which was part of the recent Pizza Expo celebrations in Las Vegas.

The winners for Illinois were:

• Giovanni Labbate, Tievoli Pizza Bar (Palatine), who finished second as a Midwest region winner in the traditional preliminaries
• Anthony Scardino, Professor Pizza (Chicago), who won in the Midwest region for "World's Best Cheese Slice" preliminaries

Last month, Patch spoke with Labbate, who won first place in the non-traditional category of the 3-Cheese Challenge and claimed the title of grand champion in the Secret Basket Face-Off at the first California Pizza Challenge last year.

"We couldn't be happier with our business," Labbate said. "We're doing better every year, and we continue to grow."

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The International Pizza Expo bills itself as the premiere pizza judging competition in the world. A total of 550 eateries, most of them from Italy, compete.

Patch Editor Justin Heinze assisted with this report.