PrintIs Deep Dish Pizza Over in Chicago?
According to Chicago Tribune restaurant critic Phil Vettel, the Windy City's deep dish pizza mania may finally be on the wane.
In other words, the tasty casserole that is deep dish is being shoved aside for more serious Neapolitan and Roman-inspired creations. Vettel cites the popularity of new thin-crusted pizzerias La Madia, Frankie's Fifth Floor Pizzeria, A Mano, and Pizzeria Via Stato.
What do Slice readers, in Chicago or not, think of this heretical notion? As someone who practically needed police protection for suggesting in Slice of Heaven that at best Chicago pizza is a good casserole, I wholeheartedly welcome this development. But maybe I'm in the minority on this issue.
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14 Comments:
Love the thin-crusted pizzas but a slice of Giordano's sure is good once in a while...
bobbob at 8:08AM on 01/03/08
i'm from chicago and the only two restaurants i ever really want to visit when i go there are walker brothers and pizzeria due. their sausage pizza is my own particular slice of heaven, my absolute hands down favorite pizza i've ever eaten in the states.
one of my high school friends goes back much more often than i do and tells me that she's more interested in the thin crust these days. i can find out the names of the places she's been going if you like.
cybercita at 8:43AM on 01/03/08
i have to say that i'm a thin-crust gal myself. tried the deep dish in chicago a few times, when in rome etc. but it just wasn't for me. the best pizzas are pizzas that are as good, if not better, cold. deep dish just doesn't cut it.
lexophile at 9:57AM on 01/03/08
I was a 30 year Chicagoan, born and bred, transfered to RI 10 years ago. Deep Dish was an occassional indulgence in my household growing up but good thin crust from the Northwest Suburbs was a couple times per week staple. Since it is nearly impossible to get a good deep dish or thin crust pizza in RI, I get both when I back in Chicago.
RIdiot at 10:22AM on 01/03/08
Yeah. This discussion came up on LTH Forum in November, which I posted about here on Slice. Seemed like the consensus on LTH was that deep dish was an occasional treat but that most people on that board ate a thin-crust variant for everyday pizza.
Adam Kuban at 10:59AM on 01/03/08
Lord knows i'm a fan of everyday pizza.
Prairie at 12:13PM on 01/03/08
zOMG. thank the lord. i grew up in SE wisconsin (racine, home of wells brothers), chicago gal now, and i CANNOT get a good thin crust in this town!
it's a change for the better i say. good deep dish good...REALLY GOOD, but there is so many amatures around this city!
missmolly512 at 2:05PM on 01/03/08
When I visit Chicago, I want deep dish - it's a treat that I associate with the city.
but since I am willing to try any pizza, bring on the thin crust!
SayWhat at 2:30PM on 01/03/08
I went to grad school in Chicago and could not stand the deep dish craze... I love pizza, but all that weird bready crust... I am soooooo glad Chicago is making more thin crust pizzas available.
My favorite... NYC-style pizza rocks. I also lived there for a few years and still, when I visit, I can't leave without eating pizza a few times.
MadelynRodriguez at 4:05PM on 01/03/08
I've been to Chicago once...our friend who is a pilot and has eaten all of the country took us to Giardano's...we loved it. Now we live in Albuquerque and have found a local bakery, Golden Crown Panderia, that makes great thin crust pizza. They also make a "green chile" crust.. which I haven't tried.
elaine nan at 4:12PM on 01/03/08
I live in Chicago and lots of non-deep dish pizza places are popping up all over. There is an all organic place, Crust, that is the only all organic pizza place in America ... although they call it flat bread, so does it really count as pizza? There are lots wood-fired Neapolitan-type pizza places and one coal-fired pizza place, aptly named Coalfire. These places have all the buzz right now and are where the locals tend to go for pizza. It's so much lighter and healthier. Plus many of these are smaller, "hipper" joints and many are BYOB (like many smaller restaurants in Chicago) which is appealing to the young, working professional crowd.
But no worries, the deep dish pizza joints will still have plenty of tourists to fill their restaurants like Giordano's, Pizzeria Uno and Duo, and Gino's East (this one is where you can get a sausage patty on your pie that is the same circumference as the pizza). I work across the street for a Giordano's and they aren't hurting for business.
Chris78 at 5:08PM on 01/03/08
Yeah. I'm surprised Vittel didn't name Spacca Napoli, which got a lot of raves when it opened, or Coal Fire, which has a long thread on it on LTH Forum.
Spacca Napoli: 1769 West Sunnyside Avenue; 773-878-2420 (closed now for holiday break; reopens January 16)
Coalfire: 1321 West Grand Avenue; 312-226-2625
Adam Kuban at 5:37PM on 01/03/08
If I were able to get deep dish pizza where I live I would eat it all of the time. I tolerate "thin" crust because otherwise I would have no pizza at all.
I sincerely hope that Chicago Deep Dish does not go the way of the Dodo before I get up there again. I see this as yet another example of the homogenization of our food and I think it is a shame. We should be proud of our regional differences and champion them against all challangers.
Next thing you know people will be telling me I cannot eat my waffles with chicken and syrup.
vox8ight at 9:32AM on 01/04/08
Hi guys after reading the comments I thought I put my two cents and ask for any sugguestions if aviailble. I am headed for chicago on sunday and definatly am in mood for a good NY style pizza in chi town. Did a search on Chow and came up with some places called Luigi, bacci and couple others spots, Also did search here but didint come up with any Slice Certified NY style Pizzaria's Chicago, So if anyone here knows of any good NY style pizza slices available in greater Chicago area pls do inform me ASAP here.. thanks alot...
just have one day left before going..
shan
mzshan79 at 6:49PM on 01/04/08