Chicago-Style Pizza
Ahh yes, we have all heard the term, but do you really know what Chicago-Style pizza is? Deep dish pizza best defines this style. Let’s start off with the crust. It is baked in a deep pan first and it stands a few inches high.
Chicago-Style pizza must be eaten with a knife and fork because if you try to pick it up, the ingredients will slop all over the place and you will look like a fool. As for ingredients, meats or vegetables are placed on top of the crust and then covered with a ton of mozzarella cheese. The top of the pizza is then coated with seasoned tomato sauce. A slice of Chicago-Style pizza ends up looking more like a piece of pie than a slice of pizza!
Deep dish pizza began back in 1943 at Pizzeria Uno in Chicago. Since then, it has developed into an iconic Chicago tradition and is considered to be in direct competition with New York Style pizza. Well, this isn’t New York, this is Chi-Town, so head out and grab some real pizza at some of the following fine locations:
Gino’s East at 633 N. Wells
Pizzeria Uno at 29 E. Ohio St.
Giordano’s at 730 N. Rush at Superior
Nancy’s Original Stuffed Pizza at 2930 N. Broadway
Fireside Lounge at 5739 N. Ravenswood
I can personally say that Gino’s East, Giordano’s and Fireside Lounge all have amazing deep dish pizza! I remember one particular time at Fireside when my sister and I were younger. We hadn’t had deep dish pizza before and we ordered our first one with cheese as the only ingredient. What came back to us was a round brick of cheese in between crust and tomato sauce. We didn’t realize that deep dish was much thicker than a traditional slice of pizza. Needless to say, we had a hard time eating straight cheese with sauce, so whatever you do, order your pizza with more than just cheese!