Rome's Piccolo Buco Opens in Schaumburg on June 29th

Piccolo Buco, the century-old Roman pizzeria known for its crust, is opening its fourth US location in Schaumburg, Illinois on June 29. Built on three ingredients, Italian-imported flour, sea salt and extra virgin olive oil, and shaped by decades of practice, Chef Luca Issa's crust is tall and cloudlike with a crisp, substantial rim. It’s presented tableside and cut with scissors. 

The story of Piccolo Buco begins in 1916, just steps from Rome's Trevi Fountain, where Chef Luca Issa grew up working alongside his father before taking over the family restaurant in 2015. On a trip to Italy in 2019, Cooper's Hawk Founder Tim McEnery was eating his way through Rome when he found it, fell hard for the pizza and brought it home for the rest of us.

"We're thrilled to bring Piccolo Buco to Schaumburg. The first time I sat down with Luca at his original restaurant in Rome, I knew I had come across something very special. The pizza was incredible, but it was Luca's passion, hospitality and sense of community that really stayed with me. I immediately started thinking about how we could bring that experience back home," said Tim McEnery, Founder and CEO of Piccolo Buco. "Pizza is serious business around here and Piccolo Buco is unlike anything else. It's a little slice of Rome, built around great food, great wine and bringing people together. We can't wait to open our doors and welcome the Schaumburg community." 

The pizza is the centerpiece of the Piccolo Buco experience. Everything else on the menu—the antipasti, the pastas, the desserts—is built around the same philosophy: simple things. That starts with the ingredients:

• Organic San Marzano-style tomatoes for the red sauce are grown in California and harvested at peak ripeness, then processed and jarred to preserve their flavor.
• Yellow tomatoes for the bisque and specialty sauces come from Southern Italy.
• Salami and ‘nduja are made by an artisan salumi maker in Chicago using Italian-imported spices following Luca’s grandmother’s recipe.
• The dough is made with "00" Caputo flour, the gold standard of Italian milled wheat.

Beyond the pizza, the menu features Roman classics like Mama Luca's Meatballs, Crispy Stuffed Squash Blossoms, Cacio e Pepe, Truffle Fondue Cappellacci, Braised Short Ribs and Mama Luca's Tiramisu. The lunch menu offers Toasted Sardinian Sandwiches made with the restaurant's own pizza dough, served daily until 3:30pm.

The wine program starts in Italy, with wines made exclusively for Piccolo Buco in partnership with Italian winemakers including Chianti from Tuscany, Pinot Grigio from Northeastern Italy and Buca Riserva, a Super Tuscan-style blend. It runs from light Lambruscos and Frascatis to Super Tuscans and Barolos, with Cooper's Hawk signatures rounding out the selection. Every dish on the menu carries a pairing recommendation, and every pairing is intentional.

At the heart of the wine experience is the Gusti Bar. Drawing from the Italian tradition of small wine tastings called Gusti di Vini, it offers eight pours on a rotating theme at the bar, with a four-pour version of Classico, Bianco, Rosso, Dolce and Cantina available tableside. 

Happy Hour is available every Monday-Thursday from 2-5:30pm and features select $15 pizzas, $8 wines by the glass, $5 draft beers, $8 cocktails and wine slushies.

The Schaumburg location seats 158 inside and 30 on the patio, with a large tasting bar at the entrance layered with collected objects, artwork and vintage-inspired details, alongside a semi-private dining space that can be draped off for private gatherings. 

Piccolo Buco is part of the Cooper's Hawk brand portfolio. Cooper’s Hawk Wine Club members enjoy points and preferred pricing on retail bottles at all locations.