Bartender Jamal gets a taste of his own medicine.

Rock ’n’ roll. Pizza. Beer. I’m tempted to leave this column on Piece at just those three terms — together they define the very essence of this Wicker Park brewpub. But I assume you’d like a few details. 

I was recently lingering over a smooth, creamy, glass of Flat Iron Stout and chatting with my high school friend Jamal, now a manager at Piece. He mentioned that Rick, a part owner, was bringing members of Heart and Journey to the bar. Who’s Rick, you ask? Try Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick; his five-headed guitar hangs on the wall. Piece’s rock cred doesn’t stop with memorabilia  and clientele, though — it was the raucous, live band karaoke on Saturdays that got me coming here in the first place. Former Karaoke Dokies member Ellie Maybe once got escorted off the stage at Piece for attempting to sing “I Believe in a Thing Called Love” buck naked (there are pictures on her MySpace if you want proof).

While it is true that Piece is fuckin’ rock ’n’ roll, it’s the food that keeps me coming back. There are a lot of places in town where you can get pizza and beer. There are not many places with Piece’s combination of seriously amazing pizza AND some of the best craft beer in town. While my stodgier friends give me dirty looks for ordering stuff like artichoke hearts and goat cheese on the enormous square pies that Piece turns out, the waiters never do. But if you’re feeling stodgy, order the white pizza with sausage and bacon — it’s totally worth the instant cardiac arrest.

Artichokes or sausage, you’ll need a pint to wash down your pizza. Piece Brewmaster and Illinois Craft Brewers Guild member Jonathan Cutler is a veteran of Goose Island and Sierra Nevada, and has developed a few standards of his own: Golden Arm (love the Nelson Algren reference), a smooth, Kolsch style German ale with a slight bitter finish, and the well-rounded, malty Worryin’ Ale. And then there’s the rotating cavalcade of seasonal brews with amazing names: Dysfunctionale. Cameltoe. Wingnut. Baron Von Awesome. Big Black Moriah, which is also aged in bourbon barrels to make Jockey Full of Bourbon. Piece does takeout in growler jugs, and even sells growler cozies with a convenient strap for extra BYOB fun. And for the beer-haters out there: you can always occupy yourself with a Framboise lambic float while the hopheads have their fun.

Piece, 1927 W. North Ave., 773-772-4422, Mon.-Thurs., 11:30-1:30 a.m., Fri., 11:30-2 a.m., Sat., 11-3 a.m., Sun., 11-1 a.m.