Deep dish pizza has been called a lot of things: tourist food, a “Midwestern mutation” (Anthony Bourdain), and “a f—ing casserole” (thanks, Jon Stewart). Say what you want, deep dish pizza IS pizza, a delicious incarnation of big, blustery Chicago style. By the way, Bourdain eventually came around to find one he loved (it’s on our list).
Is Chicago deep dish a local’s first choice for pizza? Not on the regular. Most of us prefer thin crust, tavern-style squares on a typical Friday night. But deep dish is the occasional treat, especially when we have time to sit down to dinner with family — and a fork and knife. The construction is hefty, yes, but oh-so special. It all begins with a thick, buttery crust followed by a layer of mozzarella and fresh fillings, and finally, tomato sauce on top.
Of course, there are a few sub-variants to the traditional Chicago deep dish architecture. In this list of best restaurants, we’ll work our way through original deep dish versus stuffed pizza, and also pan styles. However you slice it, Chicago deep dish is far from dainty. Its storied history is just as bold.
Pizzeria Uno & Pizzeria Due
There’s no better place to start than the Windy City’s culinary landmark, Pizzeria Uno. Restaurateurs Ike Sewell and Ric Riccardo (Richard Novaretti) devised the original deep dish pizza in this historic Ohio Street building in 1943. According to local lore, Ike (who was originally from Texas) wanted to create something big and different from the food being served in Chicago’s Little Italy. The business partners came up with a thick-crust pie loaded with rich, Italian-recipe ingredients. From that point on, pizza was no longer a snack or appetizer — it was the main course…