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Finding the Best Chicago Pizza in Chicago: Go to Pequod's.
I can't in good conscious agree: the Art of Pizza, with My Pi[e?] as an honorable mention.
That said, if you haven't had pizza from Burt's out in Morton Grove you're not allowed to enter the judging. Outside of that, my favorites are Pequod's, The Art of Pizza (on Ashland) and Nancy's (specifically from the one just north of Diversey on Broadway)
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I grew up in Chicago and I don't like "Chicago-style" pizza either. I put that in quotes because no one called it that in Chicago, everyone always referred to it as deep dish.
Exactly. We called it deep dish and saved it for when friends came to town. Meanwhile we all ate cracker-thin pub-cut slightly-burnt-on-top pizzas at home on our own. Oh and a shout out to Vito and Nick's on 86th and Pulaski. Best pizza I've ever had in the city.
Meanwhile: so much of pizza quality is in how it's cooked --- you absolutely need ridiculous heat to turn out a decent crust --- I can't imagine how anything shipped cross-country could ever hope to rate.
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Probably get downvoted for this, but as a longtime resident of Chicago who literally lives on the same block as Giordano's, why anyone would look for Chicago-style pizza anywhere, including Chicago, is beyond me. As good as San Francisco's baking culture is, surely there's NY-style (real! :)) pizza to be had?
It looks like there's a lot of bias in the data as well. Notice, of the 5 pizza places, that the top 3 are SF based when the test is suppose to be Chicago style pizza... (the other question to SF'ers... do you really know what snow is! =P ) I'm thinking the testers leaned towards a more SF style diet and the pizzas reflect that preference.
Yes, we know what snow is...it is that stuff you go visit up in Tahoe and ski or snowboard on, not that brown semi-frozen slush that slopped over the top of my boot as I stepped off the curb or kept me wondering which side of the street I had parked on when I saw it start to fall from the sky while living in Chicago :)
Chicago style pizza (both kinds) is overrated. You want to impress us, find an italian beef in San Francisco that stacks up to Johnnie's or Mr. Beef. Meanwhile: so much of pizza quality is in how it's cooked --- you absolutely need ridiculous heat to turn out a decent crust --- I can't imagine how anything shipped cross-country could ever hope to rate.
Chicago style pizza (both kinds) is overrated. You want to impress us, find an italian beef in San Francisco that stacks up to Johnnie's or Mr. Beef. Meanwhile: so much of pizza quality is in how it's cooked --- you absolutely need ridiculous heat to turn out a decent crust --- I can't imagine how anything shipped cross-country could ever hope to rate.
Is temperature really an issue for deep dish? I know for a thin crust pizza you need to get above 750 or so to even be in the game, but I always thought a deep dish pizza was cooked at a lower temp to keep the top from carbonizing before the interior had cooked.
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It looks like there's a lot of bias in the data as well. Notice, of the 5 pizza places, that the top 3 are SF based when the test is suppose to be Chicago style pizza... (the other question to SF'ers... do you really know what snow is! =P ) I'm thinking the testers leaned towards a more SF style diet and the pizzas reflect that preference.
If you are in the bay area then Patxi's will be better than anything sent from Chicago because the Chicago pizza had to be frozen for shipping. If you want to understand why a "real" Chicago pizza does not rate out here then the next time you are arriving home at O'Hare buy one of those frozen ones for sale in the concourse, pop it in the oven when you get home and then go get a fresh one while you wait for it to bak…
An easy solution would be to overnight all the pizza's in the freezer... but I assert that there will still be regional taste differences.
I've visited the bay area quite a bit, when my folks lived out there; lou malnati's deep dish is still the best by far.
I do notice that the food selection in the bay area is a lot leaner and healthier, hence that was my point in the bias. The midwestern diet is much heavier, with a bit due to seasonal patterns. Need some of that extra padding to stay warm.. the high for tomorrow is 31F in chicago, while the low right now in Mountain View is 51F....
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Exactly. We called it deep dish and saved it for when friends came to town. Meanwhile we all ate cracker-thin pub-cut slightly-burnt-on-top pizzas at home on our own. Oh and a shout out to Vito and Nick's on 86th and Pulaski. Best pizza I've ever had in the city.
Yes, the cracker-thin, pub-cut pizzas. I never liked the pieces in the middle that had no crust to grab a hold of, so I was always battling for one of the edge pieces.
For inspiration, read http://slice.seriouseats.com/tags/California or whatever state you happen to live in, eh.