Upon entering U Build Pizza Workshop located at 18W046 22nd St in

Oakbrook Terrace, I was immediately met by the aroma of fresh pizza being cooked in the in-restaurant wood stone oven. In addition to walls specifically adorned with pizza-building utensils and ample open seating, the restaurant included a full Trugurt frozen yogurt bar.

As I approached the counter to order, I noticed that U Build Pizza Workshop’s menu was twofold: a mix of preconfigured pizza, pasta and salad options along with over 80 different ingredients available for customers to customize their own creations.

U Build Pizza Workshop deviates from your standard pizza joint due to its breadth of healthy options. Immediately behind the counter lies a large incubator home to a variety of herbs that will be used by the restaurant once they are fully grown. Additionally, U Build Pizza Workshop advertises ingredients such as non-GMO chicken, gluten free pizza dough and organic produce.

Shortly after ordering, our pizzas were ready. We decided to go with two of the preconfigured options in order to fairly evaluate U Build Pizza Workshop rather than our own potentially poor pizza topping judgment. Although the pizzas were classified as personal pizzas, they were sliced into six slices and large enough to be shared between two people.

First we tried The BBQ ($8.25) which consisted of mesquite BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, mozzarella cheese and grilled chicken. The flavors of the toppings blended miraculously, and the freshly fired crust added a rustic flavor that paired perfectly with the smokiness of the mesquite BBQ sauce.

Next, we tasted The Alfredo ($8.25): a pizza creation that replaces tomato sauce with Alfredo sauce and is topped with mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, bacon and spinach. The chicken and bacon liberally topped on the pizza invited a savory flavor that would attract any meat lover, and the combination of cheeses resulted in the perfect amount of cheesiness to balance the other strong flavors of this dish.

Our dining experience concluded with a Nutella Pizza ($5.99). This “pizza” included the same wood-fired crust as the other pizzas we tried except, instead of savory toppings, it was topped with Nutella, strawberries and whipped cream. Although the combination of Nutella, strawberries, and whipped cream is typically delectable in any context, this dessert fell short of my expectations. It was impossible to eat as the whipped cream slid off of the warm Nutella multiple times, and the flavor of the pizza crust dominated the rest of the toppings.

Bottom Line: U Build Pizza Workshop is the ideal location for any pizza lover. The customization element paired with the excellence of the preconfigured suggestions makes this restaurant a unique, family friendly oasis even for health conscious patrons.