Last month July, nearly 50 area teens participated in a Teen Pizza Taste-Off at the Villa Park Public Library, and Aurelio’s came out the winner.

Participants were served sample slices of thin-crust, cheese pizza in five rounds — one for each pizzeria featured. Pizzas were distinguished from one another only with a number. As a result, the tasters did not know where specific pizzas had come from but were told ahead of time the names of the five pizzerias who were participating.

The teens used a 10-point scale as they voted for their favorite crust, sauce, cheese and best pizza overall. Aurelio’s, a Roosevelt Road mainstay, took first place in each individual category and was picked as best pizza overall.

“We are very happy with the results. It’s awesome,” Aurelio’s general manager Mike Kulikowski said. “I was glad to be asked to participate with the other pizzerias. We were glad to participate, and we’d do it again.”

He attributes the restaurant’s success to the sauce Aurelio’s uses.

“Our sauce really sets us apart from the other guys,” Kulikowski said. “I always tell new customers that they’ll know after a bite or two whether they’ll like it. It’s a sauce with a sweetness to it that is different than other pizza sauces.”

In a few weeks, Aurelio’s will be moving across the street to the Courtyard Mall near Outback Steakhouse. Kulikowski said the pizzeria will be offering take-out and delivery but will not have sit-down service. The restaurant had to quickly find a new location after being notified that the mall was bought out and the restaurant would be torn down.

“We had to scramble to find a place and couldn’t find a location that would allow us to offer sit-down and a party room,” Kulikowski said. “We’ve been around for 31 years, so we wanted to keep the name in the area.”

As for the library’s contest, here are the runners-up listed in order of ranking received:

• Crust: Dominick’s, Billy’s Pizza Dugout, Villa Nova, Michael Anthonys
• Sauce: Michael Anthonys, Villa Nova, Billy’s Pizza Dugout, Dominick’s
• Cheese: Michael Anthonys, Villa Nova, Billy’s Pizza Dugout, Dominick’s
• Overall: Michael Anthonys, Villa Nova, Dominick’s, Billy’s Pizza Dugout

Tony Oddo, a manager at Michael Anthonys, said the pizzeria is thrilled to have taken second place in so many categories.

“We’re very happy with the results. We’ve been in business for over six years and are happy to be part of this community,” he said. “We were glad to take part in this competition. We’re going for first next time.”

Villa Park is lucky to have such a wide variety of pizza to choose from. While there were winners in specific categories, every delicious pizza was enjoyed by the dozens of teens who voted.