Is Homemade Pizza Company as good as homemade?

Plain pizza for the kids

If you're wondering if Chicago's own Homemade Pizza Company's pizzas are as good as homemade, the answer is that it depends on what your standard of homemade is.

If "homemade" means a Trader Joe's pizza crust, jarred sauce, shredded mozzarella and a half-hearted attempt at toppings, than yes. Emphatically yes.

If you're talking homemade by my foodie husband, who cultivates his own dough the day before, uses a pizza stone in an ultra-hot oven and has a collection of cookbooks expressly dedicated to the craft of pizza-making, then no. Not really.

That said, my two girls, 3 and 6, wolfed down the entire plain cheese pizza pictured here by themselves. I've never seen them put away so much food.

But most busy moms don't have a stay at home dad/gourmet chef at their disposal (although believe it or not I am close friends with one other girl in my lucky position), and for them Homemade Pizza Company is a terrific option. Miles better than delivery. Or DiGiorno.

Disclosure: Homemade Pizza Company invited me to review their pizza and provided me with a $40 gift card.