I believe Chesterton and the neighboring towns have some of the worst pizza places to offer. I have lived in Chesterton for almost four years now and I have been able to try many different pizza restaurants, none of which have lived up to my expectations.
Right off Calumet Ave. in Valpo sits a cute family brunch restaurant called Le Peep. It wasn’t until a few months ago that construction of a new restaurant began right next to Le Peep. The new building was to be a more updated location for the brunch restaurant and a different restaurant would take over the old building. Just recently, a sign was put up on the old building that read “Lenny’s.” After a quick Google search, I found that the city of Valparaiso was getting a new pizza joint, and to say I was excited would be an understatement. After many years of sad, tasteless pizza, I had high hopes for this new eatery, but unfortunately, I was disappointed again.
I went to eat at Lenny’s for the first time and took my older sister with me. Walking in, the restaurant was super family-friendly, cozy, and very inviting. Lenny’s has a great menu with plenty of options to choose from. The restaurant offers 9 different coal-fired pizzas and additional toppings can be added to the pies well. Lenny’s offers plenty of salads, wings, appetizers, and other entrees. The variety of foods is helpful to cater to anyone’s tastes.
My sister and I ordered a simple Mozzarella Pie for $15 and Garlic Parmesan Wings for $13 as our meal. A cheese pizza isn’t hard to mess up, and you can’t go wrong with ordering it. It’s the safest option to order at a new pizza place, and I expected the pie to be at least somewhat decent. The service was fast and the pizza came out right away. I was super excited to dig into the cheesy deliciousness but was disappointed when the first bite tasted similar to a Hot-N-Ready pie from the popular chain pizza restaurant, Little Casesar’s. I don’t oppose Little Caesar’s, but I expected much more from a restaurant that specializes in pizza.
Shortly after the disappointing pizza tasting, the wings arrived at our table. I am a huge fan of wings and love trying them from any restaurant, so I hoped these wings would change my mind about Lenny’s. The wings came on a plate with two large cups of ranch and looked promising. The wings were covered in a garlic sauce and were topped with grated parmesan. The wings were very flavorful on the outside because they were coated in a sauce, but the chicken itself was bland and needed to be doused in ranch to be enjoyed. I think these wings were not the best, and they were not something to write home about.
Ultimately, I give Lenny’s a 5/10. The fast service and welcoming atmosphere were quite enjoyable, but the food was not worth the price, which was not the most affordable for a high school and college student. I might have had high expectations for this new restaurant, but I was let down by subpar food. I would consider going back to the restaurant to give it another try, but I would lower my expectations after trying it the first time.
