Aurelio's Pizza Wheaton / Winfield IL

Great Pizza, Terrible Party Experience

I recently hosted my mother’s 60th birthday party at Aurelio’s because it’s her favorite restaurant, and she loves their pizza. Unfortunately, while the pizza was good, the overall experience was completely unacceptable, and I would never recommend this location for hosting an event.

Booking the Event – Frustrating from the Start
I attempted to book the party space a month in advance, calling five times (four during business hours) and leaving voicemails that were never returned. On my sixth attempt, I finally got through to someone who put my name on the calendar. When I went in two days later to sign the contract and provide my credit card, the staff asked almost no questions beyond the start time. I even called a week before the event to provide menu selections, but again, no questions were asked—an early sign that they weren’t invested in making this a smooth experience.

Day of the Event – Unorganized and Unprofessional
I arrived an hour early to decorate, as previously discussed, but no staff greeted me or checked in. After 30 minutes, I had to track down an employee to ask who my server was, and she responded dismissively with “Ya, sure.” I explained I was the host and how I wanted alcohol handled, but she did not seem engaged or attentive.

Shortly before the party started, a staff member asked when I wanted food brought out. I specified 4:30 PM to give guests time to settle in.

Food Service – Cold Pasta and Missing Orders
The food arrived on time, but the buffet setup was a disaster:

There were no sternos to keep the pasta warm. Instead, it was pre-cooked and had sauce poured over it, leaving the noodles clumped together and cold within minutes. After just a few guests served themselves, the remaining pasta was barely edible.
The pizza was the only highlight—everyone enjoyed it. However, when I ordered an additional cheese pizza, it never arrived. Since it wasn’t on the bill, I assume the server never placed the order.
Service – Practically Nonexistent
Despite having a full staff present, service was abysmal:

No dedicated server for our party of 30; guests had to go to the bar for their own drinks.
No one refilled our pitchers of soda—I had to take empty pitchers to the bar myself.
Dirty plates were never cleared; we had to stack them at the end of the tables, where they remained for the rest of the event.
When it was time for cake, I had to track down an employee who was on their phone in the bussing station just to ask for plates and a knife.
After the party ended, my family and I had to bus our own tables, find boxes for leftover food, and clean up—tasks that should have been handled by staff.
Final Thoughts – A Huge Letdown
Many of our guests have worked in the service industry and immediately recognized the poor service. Despite my cousins and me stepping in to compensate for the restaurant’s shortcomings, our guests still noticed and commented on how bad the service was.

The consensus? Great pizza, but terrible service. I cannot recommend this location for hosting events unless you’re prepared to do the work yourself. The lack of communication, disorganization, and neglect from the staff turned what should have been a stress-free celebration into a frustrating experience.

Aurelio’s might be great for takeout or a casual dine-in experience, but if you're planning a party, look elsewhere.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 3

Service: 1

Aurelios is typically the food highlight of my visit when I come in from out of town. I have been eating Aurelios for 40+ years and this pizza tonight tasted NOTHING like Aurelios pizza. The cheese was different, the sausage was different and the crust was completely different. We received a refund, but my disappointment lingers. I was really looking forward to this tonight. ☹️

$85 for the most disgusting meal ever. Never again.

Not as good as the original Aurelio's in Homewood.

Food: 2

Service: 4

Aurelio’s is both my partner and I’s favorite childhood pizza so we were thrilled when we moved to the area to be able to get it delivered all the time.
In the past few years, we have tried many pizza places in the area but always end up going back to Aurelio’s. We come for the tangy-sweet sauce and mounds of cheese but stay for the service.
We like to enjoy a drink outside in the warmer months and are always served immediately even though I’m used to outside service being slow elsewhere.
Henry has been our server many times and has also nicely greeted us at our home for deliveries. We are always thrilled when he is working as he remembers our drinks and brings out waters right away and continues to show kind, efficient service, serving our pizza and appetizers while they are piping hot!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Chicken Tenders, Caesar Salad, Thin Crust Cheese Pizza Fiesta 18, Bruschetta

This is the most expensive pizza place within 40 mile radius. Not joking, I checked, I plotted over 130 pizza places, all with the price of a 14” supreme pizza (or similar) and a 14” pepperoni. There is no restaurant in duoage county, will county, or the entirety of the city of Chicago that is more expensive than Aurelio’s Winfield. It’s actually unbelievable how expensive it and how bad of a value it is for the price.

Seriously, look for yourself, if you can find a place charging more money for pizza than here I’ll give you $100 (the price of two 16” the works pizzas). Go to Rosatis up the street if you’re determined to have crappy chain pizza

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

First time trying the gluten free pizza, its delicious!!! Doesn't even taste like gluten free!!!

Food: 5

Service: 5

We showed up last minute for a birthday get together since we knew they usually have room for bigger parties. Food is good but it comes down to the service. Waiter didn’t remember he took our order already and brought 1 pitcher of pop for 9 people. Pizzas were brought out quick to our area but wasn’t ours. Come for the pizza and maybe there’s other servers that can do the job.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 4

Service: 3

Not sure which was worse-the bad food or the awful service. Was an all around terrible experience. They literally gave a half-eaten pizza to another customer, messed up multiple orders, took forever for any service, and waiter was clearly out of his mind high.
Food is a poor excuse for "Italian" (from someone who lived in Italy for many years and does still eat at actual Italian restaurants in the US).
If you have any allergens or sensitivities watch out - received an item with items I cannot eat, even after triple checking the ingredients listed on the menu.
Save your time and money and go literally anywhere else.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Best pizza in the Chicago area! Will go out of my way to find an Aurelio's and this location was great!!!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommended dishes: Fiesta Size Cheese and Sausage Pizza

Ordered carry out last weekend. Pizza was real tasty. Sauce and that carmelized chz was nice as well as the green peppers.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Great food, but we were the only people in the whole damn restraunt. Ran out of water, took them so long to give a damn and take our orders, then they started complaining about us trying to speed them along so we could get back to our day. Also, claiming "covid protocols" when they don't have masks or gloves on and have no mitigating efforts anywhere in the restraunt is a lazy excuse for not working

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 1

Pizza was salty in parts, couldn't figure out if it was the sauce or cheese or sausage. It was overcooked as well. The wings had very little sauce. Very disappointed.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 5

Stopped for a lunch time slice, but found they don't do slices... server was nice enough to explain they can make small personal pizzas. So I took a chance.. very short wait fir a Thursday afternoon. Great tasting pizza as always and perfect size for 1. Will remeber this for lunch next time.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Decent pizza. Nice place to hold a small gathering.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4