Was Little Nero’s Pizza From ‘Home Alone’ Real?
What To Know
- Little Nero’s Pizza from Home Alone was not a real pizza chain, but was created for the film and inspired by the popular Little Caesars brand.
- The filmmakers designed Little Nero’s to feel like a believable local Chicago pizzeria, making it a memorable and authentic element of the movie’s world.
- Recently, Disney+ and Prince Street Pizza brought Little Nero’s to life with a limited-time pop-up in Chicago, allowing fans to experience the iconic movie moment firsthand.
Every kid in the ’90s watching Home Alone wanted to have a slice of Little Nero’s pizza, but is that even possible? While Little Nero’s plays a surprisingly important role in the film, it wasn’t actually a real pizza chain. However, it was believed to be inspired by one of the most popular places to grab a slice around the country: Little Caesars.
Little Nero’s is the pizza that the entire McCallister family orders the night before leaving for Paris (paying $122.50, or $312.31 in 2025 dollars), as well as the same place Kevin calls when he realizes he has the house to himself. That famous “lovely cheese pizza” moment, complete with Kevin staging dialogue from Angels with Filthy Souls, helped cement Little Nero’s as one of the most memorable fictional restaurants in movie history. The filmmakers wanted it to feel like a believable Chicago-area pizza chain, something local families would really order on a busy night.
The look and vibe of Little Nero’s were said to be widely inspired by Little Caesars, which was especially recognizable in the late ’80s and early ’90s for its simple branding and no-nonsense pizza boxes. Rather than use a real company name, the production created a soundalike brand that fit the era and avoided blatant product placement. That choice ended up working in the movie’s favor, letting Little Nero’s exist entirely in the world of Home Alone without tying it to a real chain.
Where can you eat Little Nero’s pizza in real life?
Now, decades later, Little Nero’s has crossed over into real life. To celebrate the ongoing love for Home Alone, Disney+ has teamed up with Prince Street Pizza to create a Little Nero’s pop-up in Chicago. The West Loop location is temporarily transformed with Little Nero’s boxes, themed decor and an updated menu that includes a renamed classic cheese pie called “The Lovely Cheese Pizza.” It is a limited-time experience that lets fans step directly into one of the film’s most iconic moments.
Other Chicago-area spots have joined in on the fun, too, proving that Little Nero’s may be fictional, but its place in pop culture is very real. What started as a clever stand-in inspired by Little Caesars has become a holiday-season tradition for fans who still watch Home Alone every year.
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