Cool! Yeah it's great. Inside can get pretty loud - lots of hard bare walls.

My Favorites...
 

I live on the North side of the city, and here are my favorites that are in accessible areas:

• Labriola - centrally located off the Mag Mile for visitors. It's a bakery as well, so the crust is amazing.
• Side Street Saloon - This is in a quiet section of the Lakeview neighborhood where I live. Easy access via Brown Line train or a taxi/uber. It will look like you are walking into a dive bar, but it's the best tavern style pizza in the city IMO. Cash only.
• Michael's Original on Broadway - Huge wall of TVs, great pizza, close to Wrigley Field and the lake.

Oh man - when I googled Michael's Original, I did a double take. You're talking about the place in Buena Park? I lived in/near Lakeview for almost a decade in the 90s/early 2000s, including a year on Gordon all of one block from that place, and I'm reasonably certain I've never been. What's more, none of my friends or relatives in the city have ever mentioned it over all that time. What do you recommend there? I'm very curious now.

A friend and I are on a quest to try lots of tavern pizzas in Chicago. We really liked Side Street Saloon and were very underwhelmed by Michael's. I have no idea why Michael's gets the rave reviews it does. It was a cardboard crust and sauce from a can.

So far my favorites aren't really tavern style at all, but more Neapolitan or New York: Robert's in Streeterville, Pizza Lobo in Andersonville, and Bungalow by Middle Brow in Logan Square.

For actual tavern style, call me basic but I think Lou Malnati's thin crust is hard to beat.

Yessir! Broadway/Irving. I recommend a thin crust pizza "well done" with whatever toppings you like, but I get almost all of my pizzas cooked that way so that's a personal preference. Cheap pitchers of beer, too.

Glad to hear you like Side Street, it's one of my favorites. I love Michael's but to each their own. It has been consistently crispy for me, and I judge tavern style by if I can hold a middle piece without it flopping over.

Not a fan of Bungalow or that style in general for the most part, but my favorite Neapolitan places are Spacca Napoli and Coda di Volpe.

Is it any better than the Chef's Kitchen frozen thin crust sausage from Jewel? :D

That was always a special treat when I was growing up, and I still think fondly of it.

I would kill a man to be able to buy some more "Culinary Circle" brand frozen pizzas from Jewel. Those were legit amazing.

I remember Chef Boyardee pizza fondly growing up too, but I'm sure it would be pretty putrid now. :D

No, the Chef's Kitchen ones (sausage in particular) were delicious. I can confirm that having eaten them on occasion as an adult. These weren't the frozen ones made in a factory somewhere and packed with preservatives that sit in the supermarket freezer for six months - they were made by hand at the deli counter, then wrapped in plastic and frozen. So they tasted fresh because they were. And the sausage they used was crumbly when cooked and had a fennel flavor to it - so good.

I'm talking about the box with the flour mix to add water to, with a can of sauce and a can of "sawdust" parmesan.

Ok, that sounds awful.

Speaking of frozen pizza. I'm a fan of Home Run Inn frozen pizza. So, one time we went their Darien location. Their frozen pizza was a bit better than the fresh ones.

Did my annual summer weekender in Chicago, where I lay waste to the Chicago pizza scene, last month. In honor of the Malnati family I went to both Lou Malnati's for deep-dish and Pizano's for tavern-style. I unexpectedly will be finding myself in Chicago again this coming weekend and want to try at least one place I haven't been to yet. I've narrowed it down to Milly's Pizza in the Pan or PIZZ'AMICI. What's the recommendation if I only have time for one or the other? I'm aware these are two completely different styles. TIA.

Milly's used to be in my neighborhood and I always thought it was really salty. People love it though.