I’m a relatively recent transplant to Chigacoland so I feel a bit of an instinctive need to defend deep dish. But really, its more of a love for all forms of pizza.
New York style? Hell yes
Chicago style? Two slices and long nap, but still hell yes
Detroit style, tavern style, California style, thin crust, thick crust, stuffed crust? Yes yes yes yes yes and yes!
I’m a native Chicagoan and I just wish people would stop thinking of it is “Chicago style” pizza lol
There’s only a handful of restaurants that make it and it’s not even their best seller, the way more common “Chicago style” pizza is basically just square cut tavern style.
Deep dish is pretty good but I feel like it’s its own category. IMO it’s a bad choice for most of the situations you’d order pizza. It’s extremely filling so it makes you tired. You have to eat it fast because it’s only good hot (and it cools down quick). The slices are heavy so it’s harder to eat without making a mess.
Like if I want deep dish, I want deep dish. But if I want pizza, I’m not even considering deep dish, you know? It’s like noodle pasta vs lasagna
Exactly. The confusion lies in limiting “Chicago Style Pizza” to specifically a pie. Don’t get me wrong, love a great pie on occasion. Growing up there and visiting other states made it super clear. It means ya got options and they are gonna be quality.
Tavern was always the go to. Shout out to OG Aurelio’s. The best places had killer pan, tavern and some had their version of pie. Some had insane New York style. To me, Chicagoland pizza was knowing you usually were gonna get some of the best, no matter the style.
Oh and Chicago “fast food” - dogs, Greek and Italian Beef’s…. Sometimes available at the same place as the killer pizzas. Come on.
Ah man, I miss Aurelio’s. They used to have a few locations in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, but the last one closed a little while ago. Their pizzas were great, but the spinach calabrese was the best.
There’s two types of square cut, and one is fantastic while the other should be punishable by a week in the stockade.
The good way, is starting with a square or rectangle to begin with, and then slicing once down the middle long way, once down the middle short way, and then one down the middle-left and middle-right, for a total of 8 rectangular/square slices. Then you have the corners with more crust, but at least every slice has some crust and some size to it. Most tavern style places will do this one.
The abomination, is to start with a circle, cut a cross into it, and then divvy it up from there like graph paper. The middles get square but with no crust and about the size of a cracker. The edges get at least 4 points that are just crust with about 1cm worth of pizza, and it doesn’t get better from there. There’s literally 4-8 squares on that whole thing that have enough crust to pizza ratio and they’re still the size of a cracker. “It’s better for sharing” no it isn’t, pizza is already perfect for sharing you just didn’t want to order enough. Dominos does their thin crust this way by default (and they fuck up because of muscle memory if you ask for it pie cut like a smart person.)
I’m a relatively recent transplant to Chigacoland so I feel a bit of an instinctive need to defend deep dish. But really, its more of a love for all forms of pizza.
New York style? Hell yes Chicago style? Two slices and long nap, but still hell yes Detroit style, tavern style, California style, thin crust, thick crust, stuffed crust? Yes yes yes yes yes and yes!
Napoli?
I’m a native Chicagoan and I just wish people would stop thinking of it is “Chicago style” pizza lol
There’s only a handful of restaurants that make it and it’s not even their best seller, the way more common “Chicago style” pizza is basically just square cut tavern style.
Deep dish is pretty good but I feel like it’s its own category. IMO it’s a bad choice for most of the situations you’d order pizza. It’s extremely filling so it makes you tired. You have to eat it fast because it’s only good hot (and it cools down quick). The slices are heavy so it’s harder to eat without making a mess.
Like if I want deep dish, I want deep dish. But if I want pizza, I’m not even considering deep dish, you know? It’s like noodle pasta vs lasagna
Exactly. The confusion lies in limiting “Chicago Style Pizza” to specifically a pie. Don’t get me wrong, love a great pie on occasion. Growing up there and visiting other states made it super clear. It means ya got options and they are gonna be quality. Tavern was always the go to. Shout out to OG Aurelio’s. The best places had killer pan, tavern and some had their version of pie. Some had insane New York style. To me, Chicagoland pizza was knowing you usually were gonna get some of the best, no matter the style.
Oh and Chicago “fast food” - dogs, Greek and Italian Beef’s…. Sometimes available at the same place as the killer pizzas. Come on.
They’re all just jealous.
yes. and their pies were cheap, we lived on this in the 80s.
Yeah, we just don’t have a “signature” pizza in the same way Detroit does.
Italian beef feels like such an accidental secret. It’s so good but nobody talks about it outside of Chicago
Ah man, I miss Aurelio’s. They used to have a few locations in the Minneapolis/St Paul area, but the last one closed a little while ago. Their pizzas were great, but the spinach calabrese was the best.
I actually just talked to a friend about this last night. He moved to Missouri and he hates all of the pizza there.
Deep dish is delish, it’s simply… not pizza.
Tbf square cut is also a travesty. It is the norm where I live, but I have a great Neapolitan joint that knows how to cut triangles.
Incorrect, square cut is great. Definitely my preferred cutting method
Triangles have a natural handle so your fingers don’t get greasy. Squares are smaller and easier to overeat. “Just one more square.”
There’s two types of square cut, and one is fantastic while the other should be punishable by a week in the stockade.
The good way, is starting with a square or rectangle to begin with, and then slicing once down the middle long way, once down the middle short way, and then one down the middle-left and middle-right, for a total of 8 rectangular/square slices. Then you have the corners with more crust, but at least every slice has some crust and some size to it. Most tavern style places will do this one.
The abomination, is to start with a circle, cut a cross into it, and then divvy it up from there like graph paper. The middles get square but with no crust and about the size of a cracker. The edges get at least 4 points that are just crust with about 1cm worth of pizza, and it doesn’t get better from there. There’s literally 4-8 squares on that whole thing that have enough crust to pizza ratio and they’re still the size of a cracker. “It’s better for sharing” no it isn’t, pizza is already perfect for sharing you just didn’t want to order enough. Dominos does their thin crust this way by default (and they fuck up because of muscle memory if you ask for it pie cut like a smart person.)