A slice of pepperoni pizza has taken on a deeper meaning at one suburban pizza parlor.
Aurelio’s Pizza, a chain with locations across the Chicago suburbs, has announced a ‘Poperoni Pizza’ to celebrate Pope Leo XIV dining at the restaurant.
The chain first hinted at the new menu item months ago, the Chicago Tribune reported in May. The restaurant also dedicated a table to the pope shortly after Leo was elected.
Thursday, the shop officially launched the new pie on their website and social media.
“We have created the Poperoni™ Pizza to honor the Pope’s most recent visit and love of Aurelio’s Pizza,” the website reads.
Leo, the first American-born pope, was born in Chicago as Robert Prevost and grew up in the south suburbs.
In a video announcing the special menu item, Aurelio’s Pizza President and CEO Joe Aurelio said Leo ate at the chain since the 1960s. Most recently, he visited the restaurant’s original Homewood location in August of 2024, he added.
According to the parlor, the Poperoni Pizza is a traditional Aurelio’s pepperoni pizza with an extra layer of cup and crisp pepperoni, “adding heat, crunch and flavor.”
The specialty pie will be available at all Aurelio’s Pizza locations, according to the chain. The parlor has locations across the Chicago area and a couple in other parts of the country, like Florida and Nevada. However, the chain’s only Chicago location shuttered in May.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
