When most people think of Chicago pizza, they think of the deep-dish pies with cheese on thebottom. But the best pizza restaurants in Chicago make all kind ofpizza. You’ll find organic, designer pies with gourmet pizza toppings,Neapolitan pizzas baked in wood-fired ovens, and square-sliced tavern-stylepizzas covered in Italian sausage.
No discussion of Chicago Pizza is complete without mentioning PizzeriaUno. The first Chicago-style pie was served here in 1943, and it was animmediate hit. So much so that they opened Pizzeria Due on the nextblock. The dough is made each morning, and the sauce-to-cheese ratio isjust right. They make healthy, flatbread pizzas here too. You canchoose multi-grain crust and top it with roasted eggplant, spinach, andfeta. But why bother? If you come to Chicago and want to try aChicago-style pizza, go to Pizzeria Uno, order a deep-dish with “the works” andrepent later.
Lou Malnati’s is the other legendary Chicago deep-dish pizzarestaurant. Lou’s dad, Rudy Malnati, was the chef at Pizzeria Uno, andsome even credit him with inventing the deep-dish pizza when he worked there inthe 1940s. The first Lou Malnati’s opened in Lincolnwood in 1971. Today, there are 30 Lou Malnati’s in the greater Chicagoland area. But ifyou don’t live in Chicago, no problem. They ship pizzas on dry ice toanywhere in the United States. The buttery crust travels prettywell.
Bacino’s specializes in stuffed pizzas, and several of them are prettyhealthy. The owner, Dan Bacin, is committed to uses the freshestingredients, and everything here is made from scratch. Spinach,broccoli, and mushroom are popular selections, but plenty of meat toppings areavailable. Bacino’s has been the top selling pizza at the Taste ofChicago for the last 30 years. The wine list is also a cut above.
Bricks Chicago has been serving gourmet, thin-crust pizzas since 1997. Try a Creole Shrimp Pizza with spicy shrimp, pesto, red peppers, mozzarella,and gouda or a Sweet Heat with chicken breast, bacon, diced jalapeno, smokedgouda, barbecue sauce, and mozzarella. If you don’t like any of thespecialties, you can create your own with interesting pizza toppings likeMaytag bleu cheese, pureed artichokes, or banana peppers. Bricks has agood selection of microbrews on draught and in the bottle.
Fans of Neapolitan pizza should head to Coalfire. The coal-burningoven here reaches temperatures up to 800 degrees Fahrenheit, which produced acrispy, yet chewy crust with a little bit of charring. In a departurefrom the Naples way, the pizza is topped with cheese first, and then tomatosauce. Three topping or fewer are recommended — the crust can’t hold upto more than that. The white pizza with ricotta, mozzarella, Romanocheese and fresh basil is delicious. And the Pizza Margheritamay be the best in Chicago. Coalfire used to be BYOB, but they’re nowserving beer and wine.
The first certified, organic pizza restaurant in the Midwest, Crust servesinventive flatbread pizzas that are cooked in a wood-burning oven. Try acocktail made with one of their vodka infusions. Start your meal withbrussel sprouts with crispy bacon, tapenade, roasted peppers, kalamata olives,caramelized onions, roasted garlic, goat cheese, and flatbread pieces, or awinter beet salad. Then try a pizza with slow-cooked beef brisket,house-made barbecue sauce and pepper jack cheese, or a Carbonara with bacon,béchamel, caramelized onions, peas, and a sunny-side up egg.
Famous for its stuffed pizzas, Giordano’s has been in business since1974. Two brothers from a town near Torino, Italy, named the restaurantafter their mother, who made a double-crust pizza that inspired the pies servedhere. The flaky, buttery crust is what set Giordano’s apart — that andthe prodigious amounts of stringy, mozzarella packed inside it. Forsomething different, try the shrimp pizza.
One of the other great places in Chicago for Naples-style pizza is Sapore diNapoli. They import many of their ingredients from Italy, includingMolino Caputo 00 flour, Bufala Mozzarella, and Calabria salami. Although the tomatoes aren’t the traditional San Marzanos from Campania, butStanislaus from California. In keeping with Neapolitan tradition,toppings are simple and few. Try Quattro Formaggi with mozzarella,Italian gorgonzola, fontina, and Parmigiano Reggiano or Patate e Rosmarino withsliced potatoes and rosemary. Save room for some of their deliciousgelato — there are more than a dozen flavors nightly.
The Art of Pizza serves deep-dish, thin-crust, and stuffed pizzas. They also serve Italian-style subs on yummy bread, ribs, wings, andpasta. But the deep-dish pies, voted best in the city by the ChicagoTribune, are the big draw. Try the Southwestern stuffed pizza withbarbecue sauce, ground beef, onions, and bacon. Or the special withsausage, onions, mushrooms, and green pepper. For dessert, have a creamy,ricotta-filled cannoli.
Members of all the Neapolitan pizza associations, including AssociazionePizzauoli Napoletani and L’Associazione Vera Pizza Napoletana, Spacca Napolimakes authentic Naples-style pizza in a custom-made, wood-burning oven. In business since 2006, they import their flour, San Marzano tomatoes, andextra virgin olive oil. There’s an assortment of novel appetizers likenew potatoes, tuna, cucumber, and capers or white anchovies over arugula,cherry tomatoes, and olives. A nice selection of Italian wines, and somelovely desserts. When the weather’s nice, you can dine outside on theterrace.