Let me set the record straight here. Deep Dish Pizza is a marketing creation. It isnt a Chicago tradition, nor do we eat it like a staple food. Pizza is supposed to be cut into squares. Thats how we like it. In fact the only places to get deep dish seem to be next to hotels. This deep dish thing has to stop. italians eat it roma style - ultra crisp thin crust. The Italian American version is thin but doughy cut square. never would a self respecting Italian gorge themselves like a pig shoveling 3 pounds of cheese into them. We need to sue the paople who use "Chicago" style to describe their gluttonous goo for liable.
Chicago once had Riverview Park, which was torn down in the late 60's to build a strip mall.
As for pizza, my favorite deep-dish is Gino's East (the one on Diversey, not the tourist trap where Planet Hollywood used to be), Pequod's on Clybourn, and a little mom-and-pop place up on Sheridan that I can't remember the name of.
Uno and Due are good if you go to the original locations on Wabash... The national franchise Uno's are nothing more than theme restaurants owned by a company based in Boston (of all places) that bought the naming rights from the original Uno's but otherwise have nothing in common.
For the best thin-crust pizza, go to King of Pizza in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Chicago-style deep-dish pizza.
The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno, in Chicago, in 1943,[1] reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.[2]
Everyone knows chicagoans aren't picky about food... thin crust...deep dish...pan fried....whatever. Does it have cheese?...dropped on the floor...hmmm...does it have sausage? yum.
...that would explain why there's a large pizzeria uno right near fenway...
...evil, it sounds like you need to chill with a nice deep dish slice from Chicago's Pizza & Pasta (I really don't want to like this place 'cause of its name and the fact they have 11 spots now... but it's just too good)
...otherwise, if you miss the grease laden thin crust, i recommend Phil's in Bridgeport...
...and synergy, i can't help it if the majority of chicago food is delicious... (sans nutritious)
Phil's on 31st home of the giant breaded steak? Love it - La Malanise used to be down there too - sicilian deep fried steaks, chops, even a burger, deep fried, with 1/4" breadeing ea side topped with meatsauces and 1/2 pound of mozzeralla. I couldnt crap for a week after that.
Yeah Freddies is great, I used to live a couple blocks away on 33rd and Halsted when I was still going to IIT. The do everything good there. Good burger, good fries, good chicken wings, good breaded steak sandwich, good pizza, good italian ice. Awesome. Now you are getting nastalgic for the old south side haunts.
evil, freddies is delicious but not even remotely close to phils.
trust me, i lived across the street from freddies for a year... had everything on their menu including probably 100 pieces of pizza.
phil's is at least 1000x better.
you gotta try it, best sausage you'll ever have on a pizza.
freddies chicken parmesan sandwich however is another story... THAT is a good sandwich.
as for Lina's i agree, its very good... but again... phils is better... i know the people who own that place actually, they were good friends of mine in college. The daughter of the owner is an IIT kid.
phil's pizza is on 35th and halsted, i think the Phil's your thinking of is not the same place... the phils postal synergy and i are talking about only has pizza.
I'm heading to Chicago this week. Any other places, for pizza or other upper midwest delicacies, I should make sure to get to?
Buildings and places to visit, too, by the way. I'm staying on North Michigan Av, and will hit the Art Institute, Field Museum, IIT, Millenium Park, Oak Park, Hyde Park, Jackson Park...
Yikes, all those Parks! It's like going through the Korean phone book there...
Depends on your personal preference, other areas I like to take guests are Chinatown, Greektown, Daley Plaza to see the massive Picasso, the original Marshall Fields (now a Macys). The architectural boat tours can actually be really nice, I'd recommend you order tickets in advance and get them for one of the late night tours, it's nicer than being out in the son. Forget what some of these other guys have said above, Deep Dish Pizza is awesome. My personal favorite is Pizzeria Uno, but any of the following are also very good Gino's East, Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, If you want something really special and different, check out Chicago pizza and Oven Grinder Company, but prepare for a two hour wait.
Ok just got back from New York and ready to debate the merits of the pizza. Rays on 6th Ave in the village is decent but i was expecting to be blown away. I stopped at many pizza by the slice places around midtown and fashion district and was honestly appaled at how bad the pizza was - like sbarros under a heat lamp. And for the love of God they reffered to it as pie! Ben's ( which Im told is quite legendary) was better but again nothing out of the ordinary but excellent sauce. I did like their scicilian tomato alot. Went to some famous old ass Roma style place - excellent real Italian style brick oven thincrust. As for deep dish I dont know anyone in Chicago who actualy eats it or perfers it over thin crust, I usually only see deep dish at office partys for some reason. I will say NY has better selection of street carts with hallal food and the like but for some reason theyre banned from most areas of Chicago because of "littering" concerns. And for anyone wondering, yes I did eat pizza every meal save one for three days while wandering the city of New York.
Rule #1 of pizza-eating in NYC: Avoid any variant of "Ray's" like the plague.
I've had some excellent pizza in NYC, but I've also had lots of mediocre stuff. I'd guess that NYC isn't known for its pizza because the pizza is so good, but because it's so widely-available.
The best pizza I've found in NYC so far is at a couple of places:
A) Little hole-in-the-wall place on the southeast corner of 6th Avenue and 21st or 22nd Street. I can't remember the name.
B) Slightly larger place at the northwest corner of Spring and Mulberry Streets in SoHo. Name is Pompadillo's or something like that.
C) Cafe Amore, two locations that I know of. One is on the south side of 14th Street just east of Union Square; the other is on 6th Avenue and (I think) Bleeker Street in the West Village.
For Chicago pizza, I love both the thin-crust and deep-dish varieties, depending on the occasion. Thin-crust when I'm at a party or something and just want something to nibble on; deep-dish when I'm in the mood for a full-on meal. Gino's East is my personal favorite, although I like Giordano's and Uno/Due as well. IMO, the only outfit in Chicago that really sucks is Connie's Pizza. They're like what Taco Bell is to Mexican food.
All that said, the consistently best pizza I've ever had has been in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Try King of Pizza in Cherry Hill, Mad Greek's near the Penn campus, or Fiesta Pizza in East Falls.
First, Deep Dish and Thin are two wholly different species - think crocodiles and alligators. Both can be mean, both can be tasty.
Deep dish is a Chicago phenomenon. Other places may have pan pizza, but again this is different and if anything, pan is a bastard child to the deep.
Third, cutting round pizza into squares is just plain wrong. Like world is flat wrong. Making pizza square is also wrong, so then having to cut it into squares is like a cherry on top of the original sin.
Chicago has, until the last 10 years or so had terrible thin, mostly because everyone in chicago thought they needed to make a deep dish which made their thin suck (different crust, different cooking temps and measures) but since people realized they don't need to provide a deep dish in a chicago pizza joint things have gotten remarkably better here. When people in other places realize the reciprocal is true, you will have better deep dish.
I love this thread, so ridiculous. Types of Pizza are just like the toppings, everyone is going to have their own preferences and favorites. Some people like all meat, some like supreme with everything on it, some like canadian bacon and pineapple. It can't really be predicited or explained, it just is.
i live in chicago and i love (and eat rather frequently) deep dish pizza. Eduardo's is probably my favorite, they have one in printers row and one up on halsted between wrightwood and diversey...
as for the thin stuff evils talking about... i agree, its fantastic, and common. The best example of it is Phil's on 36th(ish) and halsted... good lord thats good.......
"Chicago has, until the last 10 years or so had terrible thin, mostly because everyone in chicago thought they needed to make a deep dish which made their thin suck"
Crowbert - to what do you owe this insanity? The only pizza places that make deep dish are tourist spots - the thousands of pizza purveyors make a thin and have perfected it for a hundred years
That Edwardo's on Halsted is owned by these Pakistani gentlemen and the pizza doesn't tasted as good as the one on Dearborn in Printer's Row.
I am partial to the Spinach and mushroom. I have to say that the salt content in these pizzas is so high that I need to down about 2 glasses before I goto bed or wake with legs spasms. ;-)
There's always been great thin crust pizza in Chicago. There's a place my parents started going to in the 1960s over on Montrose and Sawyer. Our family car was wrecked by a drunk driver who hit it and sent it through the pizza parlor window in 1973 while my father was inside picking up the pizza.
Anyway, there's a relatively new place on Montrose near Lincoln that's good.
"...Well, there is but only the wood fired kind and I don't always want that."
um that is real pizza. It should have a thin, light and crispy base with traditional Italian sourced ingredients for the topping. It deserves to be protected and seperated like champagne and bastardised generic sparkling wine. Take your pineapple and shove it where the sun don't shine
You guys have invented a new form of pizza elitism...leave it to architects I guess, man.
Can we please find something even more pointless to debate?
Why would you care which type of pizza was first made, an ocean away, when people obviously enjoy eating was is being made now? The same goes for thin vs. thick crust, ok you're picky or have issues with thick crust or whatever, but just let it go. I thought some of you liked progress and innovation. Why be so closed minded about a food?
I concede that Marie's on the NW side has some pretty good thin pie, and has done so for the last 50 years - But you've got to be crazy yourself if you think cutting pizza into squares is a good idea.
And there are tourist spots that serve pizza that is deep dish, and there are deep dish pizza joints. I happen to like Gino's because its not overloaded with cheese and the crust is not a soggy floury mess.
Synergy, what would you have us debate, buildings?
Deep Dish Pizza
Let me set the record straight here. Deep Dish Pizza is a marketing creation. It isnt a Chicago tradition, nor do we eat it like a staple food. Pizza is supposed to be cut into squares. Thats how we like it. In fact the only places to get deep dish seem to be next to hotels. This deep dish thing has to stop. italians eat it roma style - ultra crisp thin crust. The Italian American version is thin but doughy cut square. never would a self respecting Italian gorge themselves like a pig shoveling 3 pounds of cheese into them. We need to sue the paople who use "Chicago" style to describe their gluttonous goo for liable.
deep dish has been in chicago since the 40's dude.
does chicago have a "coney island"?
it didnt catch on
Chicago once had Riverview Park, which was torn down in the late 60's to build a strip mall.
As for pizza, my favorite deep-dish is Gino's East (the one on Diversey, not the tourist trap where Planet Hollywood used to be), Pequod's on Clybourn, and a little mom-and-pop place up on Sheridan that I can't remember the name of.
Uno and Due are good if you go to the original locations on Wabash... The national franchise Uno's are nothing more than theme restaurants owned by a company based in Boston (of all places) that bought the naming rights from the original Uno's but otherwise have nothing in common.
For the best thin-crust pizza, go to King of Pizza in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
thin crsped crust, spicey tomato sauces, generous vegtables cut into grids. The real Chicago Pizza. Dont perpatrate.
gin - your fag
From wikipedia, my only trusted encyclopedia.
Chicago-style deep-dish pizza.
The Chicago-style "deep-dish" pizza was invented at Pizzeria Uno, in Chicago, in 1943,[1] reportedly by Uno's founder Ike Sewell, a former University of Texas football star. However, a 1956 article from the Chicago Daily News asserts that Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnati developed the recipe.[2]
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Dish_Pizza
evilp, you suck for posting those pictures. i want pizza now.
i thought u would say because i use derogatory words in my posts
Damn you, I live in Australia and there is no good pizza here. Well, there is but only the wood fired kind and I don't always want that.
Pizano's on State is some of the best thin crust you'll ever eat
...it's carmelized much like Pequod's
Everyone knows chicagoans aren't picky about food... thin crust...deep dish...pan fried....whatever. Does it have cheese?...dropped on the floor...hmmm...does it have sausage? yum.
...that would explain why there's a large pizzeria uno right near fenway...
...evil, it sounds like you need to chill with a nice deep dish slice from Chicago's Pizza & Pasta (I really don't want to like this place 'cause of its name and the fact they have 11 spots now... but it's just too good)
...otherwise, if you miss the grease laden thin crust, i recommend Phil's in Bridgeport...
...and synergy, i can't help it if the majority of chicago food is delicious... (sans nutritious)
Phil's on 31st home of the giant breaded steak? Love it - La Malanise used to be down there too - sicilian deep fried steaks, chops, even a burger, deep fried, with 1/4" breadeing ea side topped with meatsauces and 1/2 pound of mozzeralla. I couldnt crap for a week after that.
that can't be the same phil's EP, the one postal is talking about....you can't stop crapping for a week...
La Malanise was the one where the coagulated cheese plugs you up, Phils is the one with the side window if I recall. Accross from the gas station.
The best thin crust in that hood is on Morgan at 32nd, Lina's.
damn, that was supposed to got straight to 3552 South Halsted.
i was thinking of "Freddies" - 31st and union - dam good.
link
Yeah Freddies is great, I used to live a couple blocks away on 33rd and Halsted when I was still going to IIT. The do everything good there. Good burger, good fries, good chicken wings, good breaded steak sandwich, good pizza, good italian ice. Awesome. Now you are getting nastalgic for the old south side haunts.
evilp - don't be hating on Chicago Deep Dish. It sure beats the crap that Papa Johns & Domino's delivers on a daily basis.
evil, freddies is delicious but not even remotely close to phils.
trust me, i lived across the street from freddies for a year... had everything on their menu including probably 100 pieces of pizza.
phil's is at least 1000x better.
you gotta try it, best sausage you'll ever have on a pizza.
freddies chicken parmesan sandwich however is another story... THAT is a good sandwich.
as for Lina's i agree, its very good... but again... phils is better... i know the people who own that place actually, they were good friends of mine in college. The daughter of the owner is an IIT kid.
phil's pizza is on 35th and halsted, i think the Phil's your thinking of is not the same place... the phils postal synergy and i are talking about only has pizza.
i got Freddies and Phils confused - never had freddies at 35th
or phils - at 35th i should say
well now you know, and will have to make a special trip...
large pizza comes with a free 2L RC cola
I might have to go catch a sox game while Im there
should have known: the schmuck dissing chicago-style pizza is a sux fan
schmuck is a east coast word - in Chicago we just say Cocksuckers - Like did you see all the cocksuckers were on jeperdy last night?
Okay, what else?
I'm heading to Chicago this week. Any other places, for pizza or other upper midwest delicacies, I should make sure to get to?
Buildings and places to visit, too, by the way. I'm staying on North Michigan Av, and will hit the Art Institute, Field Museum, IIT, Millenium Park, Oak Park, Hyde Park, Jackson Park...
Yikes, all those Parks! It's like going through the Korean phone book there...
have a burger @ the billy goat.
make sure you ask for fries and a coke. =)
er fries and a pepsi, rather.
Depends on your personal preference, other areas I like to take guests are Chinatown, Greektown, Daley Plaza to see the massive Picasso, the original Marshall Fields (now a Macys). The architectural boat tours can actually be really nice, I'd recommend you order tickets in advance and get them for one of the late night tours, it's nicer than being out in the son. Forget what some of these other guys have said above, Deep Dish Pizza is awesome. My personal favorite is Pizzeria Uno, but any of the following are also very good Gino's East, Lou Malnati's, Giordano's, If you want something really special and different, check out Chicago pizza and Oven Grinder Company, but prepare for a two hour wait.
Thanks!
Just came back from Chicago some 2 weeks ago. Giordano's has awesome deep dish pizza!!
Also, if you plan on checking out any architectural boat cruises, never go while it's raining...
hey, sometimes the boat cruises are deadly in the summer as well...
the infamous boat tour dump by dave matthews [hack]
Ok just got back from New York and ready to debate the merits of the pizza. Rays on 6th Ave in the village is decent but i was expecting to be blown away. I stopped at many pizza by the slice places around midtown and fashion district and was honestly appaled at how bad the pizza was - like sbarros under a heat lamp. And for the love of God they reffered to it as pie! Ben's ( which Im told is quite legendary) was better but again nothing out of the ordinary but excellent sauce. I did like their scicilian tomato alot. Went to some famous old ass Roma style place - excellent real Italian style brick oven thincrust. As for deep dish I dont know anyone in Chicago who actualy eats it or perfers it over thin crust, I usually only see deep dish at office partys for some reason. I will say NY has better selection of street carts with hallal food and the like but for some reason theyre banned from most areas of Chicago because of "littering" concerns. And for anyone wondering, yes I did eat pizza every meal save one for three days while wandering the city of New York.
Rule #1 of pizza-eating in NYC: Avoid any variant of "Ray's" like the plague.
I've had some excellent pizza in NYC, but I've also had lots of mediocre stuff. I'd guess that NYC isn't known for its pizza because the pizza is so good, but because it's so widely-available.
The best pizza I've found in NYC so far is at a couple of places:
A) Little hole-in-the-wall place on the southeast corner of 6th Avenue and 21st or 22nd Street. I can't remember the name.
B) Slightly larger place at the northwest corner of Spring and Mulberry Streets in SoHo. Name is Pompadillo's or something like that.
C) Cafe Amore, two locations that I know of. One is on the south side of 14th Street just east of Union Square; the other is on 6th Avenue and (I think) Bleeker Street in the West Village.
For Chicago pizza, I love both the thin-crust and deep-dish varieties, depending on the occasion. Thin-crust when I'm at a party or something and just want something to nibble on; deep-dish when I'm in the mood for a full-on meal. Gino's East is my personal favorite, although I like Giordano's and Uno/Due as well. IMO, the only outfit in Chicago that really sucks is Connie's Pizza. They're like what Taco Bell is to Mexican food.
All that said, the consistently best pizza I've ever had has been in Philadelphia and South Jersey. Try King of Pizza in Cherry Hill, Mad Greek's near the Penn campus, or Fiesta Pizza in East Falls.
First, Deep Dish and Thin are two wholly different species - think crocodiles and alligators. Both can be mean, both can be tasty.
Deep dish is a Chicago phenomenon. Other places may have pan pizza, but again this is different and if anything, pan is a bastard child to the deep.
Third, cutting round pizza into squares is just plain wrong. Like world is flat wrong. Making pizza square is also wrong, so then having to cut it into squares is like a cherry on top of the original sin.
Chicago has, until the last 10 years or so had terrible thin, mostly because everyone in chicago thought they needed to make a deep dish which made their thin suck (different crust, different cooking temps and measures) but since people realized they don't need to provide a deep dish in a chicago pizza joint things have gotten remarkably better here. When people in other places realize the reciprocal is true, you will have better deep dish.
oh snap. some good ass pizza. and they deliver anywhere. whoa.
Giordanos
http://www.giordanos.com/shop/home.php
I love this thread, so ridiculous. Types of Pizza are just like the toppings, everyone is going to have their own preferences and favorites. Some people like all meat, some like supreme with everything on it, some like canadian bacon and pineapple. It can't really be predicited or explained, it just is.
i live in chicago and i love (and eat rather frequently) deep dish pizza. Eduardo's is probably my favorite, they have one in printers row and one up on halsted between wrightwood and diversey...
as for the thin stuff evils talking about... i agree, its fantastic, and common. The best example of it is Phil's on 36th(ish) and halsted... good lord thats good.......
"Chicago has, until the last 10 years or so had terrible thin, mostly because everyone in chicago thought they needed to make a deep dish which made their thin suck"
Crowbert - to what do you owe this insanity? The only pizza places that make deep dish are tourist spots - the thousands of pizza purveyors make a thin and have perfected it for a hundred years
letdown,
That Edwardo's on Halsted is owned by these Pakistani gentlemen and the pizza doesn't tasted as good as the one on Dearborn in Printer's Row.
I am partial to the Spinach and mushroom. I have to say that the salt content in these pizzas is so high that I need to down about 2 glasses before I goto bed or wake with legs spasms. ;-)
There's always been great thin crust pizza in Chicago. There's a place my parents started going to in the 1960s over on Montrose and Sawyer. Our family car was wrecked by a drunk driver who hit it and sent it through the pizza parlor window in 1973 while my father was inside picking up the pizza.
Anyway, there's a relatively new place on Montrose near Lincoln that's good.
"...Well, there is but only the wood fired kind and I don't always want that."
um that is real pizza. It should have a thin, light and crispy base with traditional Italian sourced ingredients for the topping. It deserves to be protected and seperated like champagne and bastardised generic sparkling wine. Take your pineapple and shove it where the sun don't shine
You guys have invented a new form of pizza elitism...leave it to architects I guess, man.
Can we please find something even more pointless to debate?
Why would you care which type of pizza was first made, an ocean away, when people obviously enjoy eating was is being made now? The same goes for thin vs. thick crust, ok you're picky or have issues with thick crust or whatever, but just let it go. I thought some of you liked progress and innovation. Why be so closed minded about a food?
EvilP
I concede that Marie's on the NW side has some pretty good thin pie, and has done so for the last 50 years - But you've got to be crazy yourself if you think cutting pizza into squares is a good idea.
And there are tourist spots that serve pizza that is deep dish, and there are deep dish pizza joints. I happen to like Gino's because its not overloaded with cheese and the crust is not a soggy floury mess.
Synergy, what would you have us debate, buildings?
what about chicago pizza and grinders - that place that serves them like a pot pie.
I like that place Le Bossman, it is really unique, though the wait can be extremely long.
yeah and they don't take your name
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