re: 10 best pizzas in Chicago

Lived in Chicago 30 years. Been away for a bit, so I'm not up with the latest and greatest. Commenting only on classic providers of classic Chicago styles.

Incidentally, deep-dish pizza is something of a novelty even in Chicago, served by only a few places (mostly local chains). It is eaten once in a while as a glorious indulgence.

Most pizza eaten in Chicago actually has a thin, crisp crust - some versions super-thin and crackerlike, other versions slightly thicker and having a little yeasty chew. This style has a slightly-to-very sweet, garlicky tomato sauce unpolluted with dried herbs. Cheese is applied last, in massive quantities, so toppings do not crisp in oven - unless large chunks of fresh sausage (the glory of all Chicago pizzas of every type) are used, which project like mountains above the sea of cheese. This style is always cooked until the cheese is at least a little brown, and cut tavern-style into squares.

Nevertheless, don't give me any B.S. that Chicago deep-dish isn't pizza. A burger can range from an eighth of a pound of beef to a full pound or more. A steak can be 8 oz. or 72 oz. Magnifying the proportions of a dish doesn't make it a different dish.

Also, for the record, there is an insufficient distinction drawn among "deep-dish" pies between medium-thick, almost Sicilian-style (but overloaded) pan pizzas a la Lou Malnati's, and the truly gargantuan stuffed style pioneered by Giordano's, with a second crust on top of the base layer of cheese and "toppings". I have lumped those two styles together for convenience, but they are distinct.


Chicago-style thin-crust

1. Marie's Liquor and Pizza
2. Home Run Inn (original location)
3. Pat's Pizza
4. Lou Malnati's (original location, though most of its other outlets are good too)
5. Pizano's
6. Vito and Nick's
7. Palermo's
8. Bill's Pub
9. Candlelite
10. Salerno's


deep-dish/stuffed

1. Lou Malnati's (original location, though most of its other outlets are good too)
2. Pizzeria Due (The chain - Pizzeria Uno - is garbage; the original location has become an unpleasant tourist trap. Go to location #2 for the original deep-dish pizza.)
3. Louisa's
4. Pequod's
5. Burt's Place
6. The Art of Pizza (best stuffed pizza)
7. Gino's East
8. Gulliver's
9. Edwardo's
10. Giordano's

I've only had Gino's and Giordano's. These were the first real deep dish pizzas that I've ever had and I really enjoyed both. I probably liked Gino's better.

It'd be cool to try all of those other places, if they are supposed to be better.

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Aurelio's

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Definitely awesome pizza.