By Kevin McDonald ‘22

As a community, the Southside of Chicago is truly blessed with some great food options. This community has anything you could possibly ask for. One restaurant that has constantly been a staple to the south side is Barraco’s Pizza.

With several locations surrounding the area, Barraco’s Pizza has been a “south side staple” without a doubt. Serving customers in Evergreen Park, Mount Greenwood, Beverly, Crestwood, Orland Park, as well as two carry-out locations in Burbank and Orland Hills. Barraco’s has been dominating the game for nearly forty years, especially interesting coming from a family-run business.

Not only does Barraco’s have great food, they have great taste as well. Several members of the family have walked the halls of Brother Rice, along with Mother McAuley. Being a Crusader family, Barraco’s has been a go-to in terms of any food related events here at Rice. At almost any sporting event, you can most likely grab yourself a slice of Barraco’s pizza.

“My favorite thing to get is for sure the petite filet dinner, or a good pasta dinner,” said Cameron Slavin ‘23.

“The wings, burgers, and pizza have to be my favorite things to get from Barraco’s,” said Kaden McDonald ‘22.

Not only has the community supported Barraco’s, Barraco’s has certainly supported the community. Most recently, Barraco’s in Evergreen Park hosted viewing parties early in the morning to support local Olympian, McAuley alum, Abbey Murphy. Every single time the USA Women’s Hockey team played, it was being featured at Barraco’s, how cool is that?

“I mean there’s nowhere else like the Southside of Chicago. We just love each and every customer that takes a chance on us, we are forever grateful for anyone who has let our family into their homes, schools, districts, hospitals, weddings, and so many more amazing events,” said Daniela Barraco.

Barraco’s has surely been a community hub over the last forty years, and without the buffet running Monday through Fridays from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., many students would be lost during summer break. What would the Southside of Chicago do if it weren’t for Barraco’s Pizza?