Chicago Deep Dish - Recommendations?

CServant

The service at Giordano's sucks!!! I'd NEVER go back for that reason. Racism is alive and well in North Chicago!

Father Hubbard

Lou Malnati's by far.
Ginos East would be second.

RS49442

Giordano's stuff crust pizza all the way. Was just in Chicago for the first time ever on business in May....Skip Pizzano's..... Giordano's small stuft pizza is enough for 2 very hungry people.

boxorbag

Go to Uno's or Due's. Trust me.

Discopij

Pequod's is the best place for the connaisseur - awesome deep dish and thin crust. Also, much better atmosphere than the tourist traps; usually full of locals

Piece has excellent thin crust and a great selection of house-made micro brews. Also usually full of locals. Great place to hang out while digesting too.

Uno/Due and Gino's East are always packed with tourists and i generally don't find the pizza to be as good as some of the local joints - but they are in River North so it's probably easier to get there if you are staying downtown.

I live across the street from a Malnati's and it's got great deep dish - but I'd still pick Pequod's over it

For Beef, try Al's (on Ontario) - if i'm not mistaken, i think it's right across the street from Gino's East in this little hole-in-the-wall standalone building. Get the Combo (beef and sausage) with hot peppers and cheese. Portillo's is also excellent, but it's a much bigger operation all around the Chicagoland area.

I love food

LOV2ROCK

Giordanno's all the way!!!

5882300

SPEEDY MCCREADY wrote:

i am going to let..............
solat13
flagg
and
mrs.vedder78

decide which pizza joint we are going to on saturday......................

For the love of god Mrs. Vedder take them to Gino's East but not the one on Wells. Go to the original on Superior. remember it takes about 35-45 minutes to cook one of these delicious pies so make sure you plan accordingly. Bring silver sharpies so you can draw PJ stuff all over the walls, tables, booths, bathroom stalls, cups, and whatever else you get your hands on. You can easily kill the 45 minutes with art work, some beer and some apps. Wish we were going to back from Toronto to join you. It can be quite a wait so get there at the early side of the lunch hour and get ready to be stuffed. ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

crowes74

Giordanno's is all i can vote for. its fantastic. if we drive into chicago for a show we usually make time to go get a pie there (unless i go with the wife, damn pizza hatters). its well worth the wait, you'll be plenty hungry once the pie's finished.
not sure if all the giordannos are non alcohoic, but the one nearest the rivera is if that is a factor in choosing.

either way i bet the others are great too.

PJBuckeye

CServant wrote:

The service at Giordano's sucks!!! I'd NEVER go back for that reason. Racism is alive and well in North Chicago!

Your quote is funny, b/c North Chicago is a town well north of Chicago that is about 98% African American. I think you mean the North Side of Chicago. This statement is true of the whole city. Chicago is the most segregated city in America.

mca47

Yefa wrote:

With all the talk of Philly cheese steaks, I thought I'd start a thread about Chicago deep dish pizza. Here are a few of the ones I've read about. Chicago folks are welcome to weigh in on which ones are their favorites and why.

Giordano's
Pequod's
Lou Malnati's
Gino's East

If I had to rate those 4 ^, it would be in this order...

Pequod's
Lou's
Gino's
.
.
.
Giordano's

PJBuckeye

boxorbag wrote:

Go to Uno's or Due's. Trust me.

I need to clarify the Uno's recommendation that is being made. The Uno's that is being recommended is the one downtown by Due. It is not the shitty chains. The chains suck. They take short cuts in their ingredients and cooking methods. They defintely violate the integrity of deep dish pizza.

chicagojammer06

go to Pequods, its unique out of most of the places, but living here im pretty sick of deep dish and go with thin pizza at petes mostly now, that deep dish will make you one fat bastard, haha

rizznizzy

Been living in chicago ten years, been to all of the places listed on this thread mutliple times and by far, the best deep dish pizza in the city is.....

PEQUODs!!!

Great little bar/atmosphere too.

Piece in Bucktown/Wicker Park is a great place for thin crust, microbrew, and atmosphere...

CServant

PJBuckeye wrote:

CServant wrote:

The service at Giordano's sucks!!! I'd NEVER go back for that reason. Racism is alive and well in North Chicago!

Your quote is funny, b/c North Chicago is a town well north of Chicago that is about 98% African American. I think you mean the North Side of Chicago. This statement is true of the whole city. Chicago is the most segregated city in America.

Yeah, I meant the North Side. I'm Latino, but I didn't expect this in a BIGGER city. Was just quite surprising to me at the time. (I tend to see the good in people). My wife was classic, left a $0.09 tip just to let that little scrub know we were tipping, but his service was pitiful.

I had roomies in college from the South Side and they couldn't stand the North Side. BIGGEST Cub haters I ever met in my life. Glad to see you're a White Sox Fan! I think Obama put it best. "I don't root against the Cubs, I just don't root for them either."

PresentlyAlive

No one has mentioned the best pizza in Chicago, both Deep Dish and Thin Crust.........ART OF PIZZA!!! (On Ashland, North of Diversey). Chicago's Pizza is pretty decent, too. I would say Geno's East & Giordano's are a step below Chicago's & especially AoP. Pequod's is in there too. Lou Malnati's sucks in my opinion. Now I'm going to have to swing by Art of Pizza on my way home from work since I'm talking about it.

Manteno98

Yes. The Art of Pizza is amazing.

mca47

chicagojammer06 wrote:

go to Pequods, its unique out of most of the places, but living here im pretty sick of deep dish and go with thin pizza at petes mostly now, that deep dish will make you one fat bastard, haha

Pequods thin is one of my favorites!!


Mmmmm!

Their crust is out of this world. Deep or thin!

chicagojammer06

i tried art of pizza when i lived over by paulina stop, i didnt know what to try so i just got the pan, i wasnt a fan, it was basically all bread. Maybe i messed up and didnt get the right kind of pie, since i do hear alot of good things about that place.

PresentlyAlive

chicagojammer06 wrote:

i tried art of pizza when i lived over by paulina stop, i didnt know what to try so i just got the pan, i wasnt a fan, it was basically all bread. Maybe i messed up and didnt get the right kind of pie, since i do hear alot of good things about that place.

Yes, you messed up! haha. The three pies that they have there are Thin Crust (Amazing!)...Almost as good as NY in my opinion, but lets not get crazy here.

Secondly, they have the "Stuffed", which is also amazing! The stuffed is like a traditional Chicago Deep Dish, but better! The thing I hate about most Chicago stuffed pizzas is the solid 1/2 inch layer of cheese that is like a solid brick in the middle of the pizza. Art of Pizza's cheese is still plentiful, but not as hard and thick, so its not too much.

Last, and definitely least, they have the "Pan", or "Deep Dish", which is very limited in the use of their best ingredient...The SAUCE! The Art of Pizza has the best sauce, HANDS DOWN, out of any pizza I've ever had in my life. It is basically all bread as you said. You should go back and try one or both of the other two kinds that they offer. I guarantee you will taste what all the fuss is about!

mirrorthelight

Lou Malnati's for deep dish AND thin crust!
HANDS DOWN!
Their sausage is delicious and they have the best butter crust!