Chicago Pizza
 

Just moved here not too long ago, where is the best PIZZA.?

I've eaten at BJ's Chicago Pizza & Brewery on several occassions here in Southern California and have found their pizzas to be among the best there is. I'm assuming that given the name, they would have plenty of locations throughout the Chicago area. I would be shocked if they didn't have any there.

If they don't exist. You can always go to a nearby Pizza Hut, I have no complaints on the quality of their products. :D

The original Uno's and Giordanos
 

When I was in Chicago a few years ago I went to the original Pizzeria Uno's and had a deep dish pizza and salad. Even the smallest deep dish pizza is big enough. The cool thing is to eat Pizza cold for breakfast. Giordanos is also good.

Too bad I can't have a Deep Dish Pizza here in CA as good as Chicago. Good luck. And Happy eats.

Some of the Chicago crew have suggested DUE as the best pizza place.

dh

Head north on the highway until you get to Lake Bluff. There is a place called the Silo that has the best deep dish in the entire Chicago area.

:)

I'm delighted to see a vote for the Silo so soon in this thread. It's a great cheesy pizza.

I also like Malnati's when I'm in the mood for a deep dish, and Rosati's for thin crust.

But then, I never met a pizza in Chicago that I didn't like!

(Now I know what I'M having for lunch!)

I grew up on Silo deep dish; it is the best deep dish in the northern burbs for sure. The 2nd best Northside deep dish being Gulliver’s on the border between Chicago and Evanston.

BUT that being said, Pizzeria Due is executing the best deep dish pizza in Chicagoland.

DO NOT GO TO THE UNO’S FRANCHISES, THAT PIZZA IS AN ABOMINATION COMPARED WITH DUE’S OR THE ORIGINAL UNO’S (29 E OHIO)

On a side note, Sausage is the #1 topping for pizza in the Chicagoland area, elsewhere it is pepperoni.

Pizzeria Due
619 N Wabash (at Ontario)
Chicago, IL
312-943-2400

The Original Pizzeria Uno’s
29 E Ohio
Chicago, IL
312-321-1000

Silo Pizza
625 Rockland Rd (RT. 176)
Between RT 41 and Waukegan Rd
Lake Bluff, IL
847.234.6660
http://www.silopizza.com/

Gulliver’s Pizza
2727 W Howard (Howard is border street dividing Chicago/Evanston)
Chicago, IL
77.338.2166
http://www.gulliverspizza.com/

be shocked :) this is a primarily based California chain, there are no locations in IL at this time.

OMG, I was so fooled by the name. :o

I preferred the original Geno's to the original Uno.

What, no votes yet for Chuck E. Cheese? :p

Nah... I was holding out my vote for CiCi's. ;)

I second Geno's. Corn meal crust rocks!

Also no votes for Domino's

Great words from Sweet Willie in this thread. I'd throw out Giordano's, too. At the moment, I've been very, very pleased with their consistency and quality. Geno's, which I went to a couple months ago for the first time in a while, was quite a disappointment because they're not using enough cheese. It's all still very high quality at Geno's, but they need to about triple the amount of cheese. Talked to the waiter about it, and he said they had switched their recipe on that a few years back.

The Uno franchises are most certainly an abomination. Stick with the original, and the original only. Due is top-notch, too. But I'll stop there because Sweet Willie got it right on.

YES! Finally, someone said Geno's. ^

Yep. ^

Mama Luna's Pizza
5109 W.Fullerton

The original
Father and Son Pizza
2475 N.Milwaukee

I agree with the previous posts. STAY AWAY from the Uno franchises. :td:

Mmmmmm...... CiCi's.... :D We finally got a couple of them out here, in Texas they are everywhere, but I could never find one here :D

You guys are all NUTS. Those pizza places are where people who's never eaten Chicago pizza go...BJ's??? Uno's??? PLEASE...Chi-town would keel over an have a collective heart attack! Here are the hands down three best places to get Chicago Pizza (in order of tastiness with #1 being the best):

1) Giordano's - multiple locations in Chicago and 'burbs
http://www.giordanos.com
*Hands down, the best Chicago stuffed deep dish pizza with a very flakey and buttery crust*

2) Edwardos - multiple locations in Chicago and 'burbs
http://www.edwardos.com
*Also a Chicago stuffed deep dish pizza, but not as good as Giordano's. This place is known for their spinach pizzas...yes, sounds weird until you actually eat a slice.*

3) Lou Malnati's - multiple locations in Chicago and 'burbs
http://www.loumalnatis.com
*Deep dish, but NOT stuffed, thus not as tasty as the two posted above. Good for people who like lots of sauce, but not necessarily as much cheese and toppings. I personally don't care too much for this, but it's still better than BJ's and Unos!*

P.S. I was raised in a Chicago 'burb and went to college in Chicago...I *know* my pizzas! ;)

Nancy's deep dish pizza is also good:

http://www.nancyspizza.com/html/locations.HTM

You can get Malnati's deep dish frozen to take home from their stores, and I've seen it at Sunset Foods. We tried it once or twice and liked it. You do have to let it defrost a day in the refrigerator, though, before cooking; it doesn't turn out as well if you try to go straight from freezer to oven.

As for the frozen, grocery-store versions of Chicago pizzas, I like Home Run Inn. But one of the chains has a nice pizza of its own, which one is that ... oh, Connie's, I like that. Is that a Jewel store brand? Not that it's such great pizza; maybe it's just that it reminds me of my mother. And you can't beat the price. Well, yes you can, if you buy Tombstone, but that's too cardboardy a crust for my taste.

cubbie

Gino's East is pretty good as well.

http://featuredfoods.com/cgi-local/S...c95+1121464550

Dude, we were expressly clear that going to the original Uno is the way to go. Avoid the franchises like the plague. Uno and Due are totally great. I've never seen the big fuss about Lou Malnati. But Giordano's, my friend, that's what I'm talking about. Great stuff coming out of there.

1. Pequod's in Lincoln Park - Carmelized Crust!

2. Lou Malnatis

my 2 cents!

Gotta say DUE is the best - with an additional selection thrown in, if you're up for a change: CPOG. (Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Co.). Kind of unusual (they bake the pizza as a kind of "pizza pot pie" thing that is very tasty).

They're at 2121 N Clark St, and worth a try if you want some variety.

I like the original Uno and Due's are both good; however the franchise pizza like the one in ORD is not very good. I really want to try Giordano's the next time I am in Chicago.

Exactly right!

AURELIO'S.... Quantity, Quality, Value, and more
 

Alright, alright, I gotta put in my 2 cents here, as I'm a lifelong Chicago resident, and also grew up in the home-suburb of one of Chicago's finest Pizzarias (which hasn't been mentioned yet).

Aurelio's Pizza

It hasn't been mentioned yet, predominantly because I think it's one of those places that is ever so much more a locals thing, than a tourist thing, but it's FANTASTIC. Try their "Super Six" pizza which I believe is a mix of Sausage, Pepperoni, Onions, Mushrooms, Green Peppers, & Ham. Truly must be experienced.

They do have a "downtown" location, over at the Holiday Inn across from the main post office over at Canal & Harrison, but it's not the most atmospheric place, to say the least.

Their main location, and a really wonderful Pizzaria, is located in the lovely South Suburb of Homewood (where I grew up). Take a drive down the Ryan and I-57 to Homewood and check it out!

-A

With all due respect, and I say that knowing from good sources that Homewood's a nice place to grow up...Homewood's not Chicago. Neither is Skokie, of course, nor LaGrange, or any of the other places where they've got suburban pizza. Yes, there are some reasonble substitutes if you don't feel like traveling. But let's not be silly.

Feel free to taste the others to see if they're worth eating when you don't have the energy to get somewhere better. Otherwise, stay in the city and eat at Uno or Due.

By the way, just as the Uno FRANCHISES are a cheap imitation, ask yourself whether you can possibly eat the BEST pizza at a chain. Giordano's and Edwardo's are competitive pizzas. Lance Armstrong? No way.

I agree. My read of this thread (and based on my own experience) is that the original Uno and Due are very good, but the chains are a far cry from the original. I had this verified at Due - the pizza is NOT the same at the chains. Lou Malnati's is pretty good in my book, too. I also like Giordano's.

Now I'm starved and it's only 10:00 am here in NY. I need a quick weekend getaway to the Windy City!

When I lived in assorted suburbs around Chicago, I also thought Lou Malnatis was the shizzle (that sahzeetch covering the entire top with those tomato chunks....ahhhhh); a trip downtown to Uno, Due or Giordano also produced Pavlovian effects. For everyday stuff, I liked Rosati's, and there was a great little joint near where I lived in Carol Stream (lol, we called it sterile cream) by the name of Addante's...now in Seattle, I have to wait until I get back into Chi-town to get a fix, cause the 'za out here generally sucks. There's always 1-800-4MALNAT, but it just ain't the same...

Must agree on Pizzeria Uno...have not actually ate at Due's. Also, Edwardo's has locations other than Chi-town. My first Edwardo's was in MSP. A good pie, too. Boy do I miss my biz trips to Chicago. BTW...GO CUBBIES!!!

[QUOTE=AtomicLush]So using this logic, if I was raised in a Chicago 'burb and ate these pizzas througout my time in college and still live here, I should know the pizzas better?! :confused:

Just had Giordano's for lunch and Lou Malnati's tonight. I have never really been a fan of Giordano's but decided that I needed to give it a try to make sure my bearings were correct.

Here is why IMO Giordano's is NOT a great deep dish pizza. Sauce taste like Ragu, crust is weak (think wonder bread toasted), sausage was non-existent tasteless, too much bland cheese.

Malnati's on the other hand had very tasty sausage, tart chunky tomato sauce, CRUSTY CRUST, and a good amount of cheese that was not overwhelming. A really good pie tonight for sure. ^

Pizza talk...I feel a rumbly in my tummy. Will try some of these suggestions when in Chicago. Any recommendations on places that use brick ovens?

I was in agreement until I read this part; is it really possible to create a pizza containing too much cheese?? :confused:


Pizza's not worth ordering if you don't order extra cheese.

:D

I've had pizza with you. And you seriously know the stuff. ^^^ And, we should try to do it again soon :)

im in agreement with most of the posters, giordanos, ginos and uno's. my favorite is gino's. my mouth is watering. mmmmmm pizza

Giodano's is "ok", I agree with Willie on them 100%, Malnatis's is pretty decent, good sausage and a great crust. Surprisingly my best local thin crust is at Barnelli's, awesome crust, and topping on of those with their meatballs makes for one awesome pizza!

Is that the same Barnelli's I can see from the train (Metra)?