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Sorry. As delicious as that is, it's not pizza. It's tomato and cheese (and sometimes meat and other stuff) pie.

I'm from Texas but even my idea of pizza is a lovely crispy thin pizza. The first time I had a Chicago-style pizza I didn't even know where to start eating it. Where was the lovely flaky crust? When my husband went to Chicago I told him to try one, but throw all thoughts of what we consider "pizza" out his head.

I lived in a small village outside of Rome and have never had a slice of mushroom pizza like it - it was greatness.

Lou Malnati's is THE place for a good Chicago pizza. Having grown up the the Chicagoland area let me also add that the windy city is known for a lot more than Capone and Jordan. Describing Chicago by discussing it's mobster days of almost a century ago is like saying that NY is best known for Ellis Island. Get a good guide and visit Millenium Park, the Sears Tower, the museums. It's a wonderful, city full of modern fun.

I must say i don't buy the "it's not a pizza" argument on deep dish, one which has nearly destroyed my relationship with my partner, a die-hard ny chauvinist. Besides, that argument distracts from the fact that Chicago-style thin crust pizza that is really delicious, and totally overlooked. just saying.

I moved to NY from Chicago 7 years ago, and I do share a deep love for NY Pizza, but Chicago Pizza (deep and thin) calls to me from the windy city on a nearly weekly basis.

Daniel - Uno outside of Chicago is nasty. In the first year I lived here I was homesick for some deep-dish and went to one of the Uno chain restaurants. It was truly a terrible experience.

I have to say my favorite Chicago deep dish is probably Pequot's in Lincoln Park and I'm partial to Barnaby's for thin crust.

Pizza is by definition a flat bread, made from yeast risen dough containing no shortening (at most some olive oil,) cooked directly on a hot oven surface, topped lightly with san marzano tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and a drizzle of olive oil. Anything else is not pizza. "Deep dish pizza" is more akin to quiche than it is to pizza.

What Simon said. If you have to use a knife and fork to eat it, it ain't pizza!

I make my own pizza, dipshit.

It would seem that the Neapolitan standard for pizza is the one that Simon outlines. The Neapolitan standard is great but do all pies have to conform to it in order to be called pizza? I think not.

@holdthemayo: simon can't even get the neapolitan standard right - he's missing basil in his definition of pizza. the dude is a little mixed up. the fact that he makes his own pizza is completely irrelevant - a common theme in his posts, unfortunately.

you're a trouser trout, simon, but i still love ya!

I've never been to Uno's in Chicago but it is indeed terrible anywhere else. I like Giordano's. As a visitor that's the only deep dish pie I've had. How does it stack up to some of the other's mentioned?

I liked Giordano's, too, the times I trekked south to Chicago. In Milwaukee, the Uno's pizza is awful - the crust literally tastes like hot Walker's shortbread (which, don't get me wrong, is a fine cookie, but not with sausage and cheese on it).

I was born and raised in NYC. I love my big foldable slices and my big crunchy "square" as well (corner piece, please).

I have eaten, and enjoyed, pizza in Chicago. Although the two dishes fall under the same term - "pizza" - these two animals are as different as night and day. Comparing them to one another is like comparing apples to giraffes.

I have been consuming pizza long enough to have a conscious memory of when a Neopolitan slice was 20 cents and a Sicilian slice was 25 cents. I wasn't tall enough to see over the counter of my favorite pizza place in Brooklyn, Da Vinci on 18th Avenue and 65th Street, when I was brought there by my mom. And God knows how much of the stuff I consumed when I was in diapers and had it cut and hand fed to me as a baby. As far as NY Pizza is concerned, Da Vinci is second to none.

As far as Chicago pizza, the "casserole-y" dish, I must be in the minority because I actually enjoyed Pizzeria Uno's slice. It's knife and fork pizza, a pretty foreign concept to me, a New Yorker. ((Shrugs)) I gave it a try. Hot, saucy and cheesy, it was delicious. Did it replace my beloved NY Pizza? Not a chance.

Chicago pizza simply gives me another excuse to enjoy someone else's interpretation of pizza. Italy has its own - and many variations at that.

I rarely use this expression because it's become a "non-answer" like "let's agree to disagree" but here goes: It's all good.

Daniel - welcome aboard and DJ Bubbles hit the nail on the head with his casserole comment. Chicago casserole is still delicious, just not in the same class as pizza napoletana margherita. A couple questions for you - having spent three years in NYC, what are your favorite gotham pizzerias and is anyone making a good pizza napoletana in Chicagoland or the entire midwest, for that matter ? Also, be on the lookout for a guy named Juan Meatball as he knows alot about Windy City pies

@therealslimshady: Thanks for the welcome. I must confess that I was not nearly the pizza connoisseur when in NYC that I fancy myself to be nowadays. The result was that I didn't seek out enough good pizza. That said, Lombardi's and Arturo's were my favorites.

Neapolitan pizza has indeed made it's way to Chicago. The best known are Spacca Napoli, which recently became the first American member of Associazione Pizzaiuoli Napoletani (APN), and Trattoria D.O.C. As for the rest of the Midwest, I'm no expert, but I will be visiting Punch Neapolitan Pizza when I'm in St. Paul, MN this weekend.

As for the casserole comment, I didn't get it when Ed Levine put it in his book and I haven't understood it when I've heard it repeated. Perhaps my experience with casserole is different from some of you, but a casserole is essentially a bowl of slop (periodically tasty, but still slop). I see nothing in the flavor or texture of deep dish or stuffed pizza that reminds me of a casserole.

casserole (kăs'ə-rōl') n.

1. A dish, usually of earthenware, glass, or cast iron, in which food is both baked and served.
2. Food prepared and served in such a dish.

NYers are so predictable. Is it so unfathomable that the universe is big enough to contain more than one style of anything that NY already offers? Seriously, NY is probably the most provincial, insular city in the world.

Only NYers come and insist that their style of EVERYTHING is the one and only valid style. Hot dogs, pizza, whatever. Get over yourselves.

And you'll note that I haven't said one kind of pizza is "better" or "worse." Just accept that there is more than one kind. Beatles and Beethoven, folks.

But they both made music. Which seems to be the point that you apparently failed to understand or at least inappropriately chose to ignore.

Nevertheless, you are the one that seems to be taking this much too seriously. Does it really matter that much to you that someone on the internet that you don't even actually know has a different opinion than you? And even if it does, being an ass about it is hardly going to convince anyone to join your side.

By the way, sharing knowledge and appreciation of the product at hand is what drives this blog. I don't think starting a pissing contest between cities was a wise approach to opening a new article. Write about the food, not Chicago, and receive less flack.

haha... this whole comment section for this article has been a pretty enjoyable read. The following is not directed at any specific person (unless noted)... Anyway, i am a born, raised, and currently living Chicagoan. That being said, I just love food. I love Chicago STYLE style pizza and would love to try New York STYLE (going to NY in August) or any other STYLE of pizza there is. i don't think you can say anything (food wise in general) is any better or worse just because it is a different STYLE. Taste is based on the individual. if it tastes good to you, that's good enough for me. either you like it or you don't. But don't completely dismiss something because, in your eyes, it doesn't conform to what you believe is right. if that's the way you roll, you'll be missing out on some serious eats:)
on a side note(s)...
simon's comments are funny to me (some people just get a kick out of provoking others. it's not worth getting mad at these people. Although, DJ Bubbles had some pretty funny retorts to his comments)
welcome Daniel! I have been following CPC for a while and you are a welcome addition here, good to get another perspective in here.
also, i would venture to guess that Daniel's headline at the top, "Greetings from the Pizza Capital of the World!" was meant more as a playful greeting for his first post, rather than a "screw you NY" as some people have taken it... just my two cents

also, sorry for chiming in a bit late on this. i was away from a computer for a while and i just got to this. i actually felt compelled to sign up for the site just so i could throw down some words on this discussion... Keep up the good work Serious Eats crew!