Thread #2861553
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I'm planning to take a trip to Chicago possibly this summer. Does anyone from the area know the best pizza places in town? Or any other good places for food. Doesn't have to be fancy. Also, any other things you would recommend for fun?
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>>2861553
Where will you be staying? When you exclude all the "diverse" neighborhoods it's not that big of a city but no pizza is going to be worth a 45 train ride. Also don't fall for the deep dish meme people rarely eat that shit and you have to get it in the restaurant or it will become a sweaty mess.
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The biggest local chains for Traditional Deep Dish are Lou Malnati's, Gino's East, and Pizzeria Uno. Giordano's is also a popular chain, but it's technically a "stuffed" deep dish pizza.
But depending on what part of Chicago you're in, there's better Mom and Pop pizza shops that locals can direct you to. If anyone on the north side suggests Oven Grinders, that's actually a "Pizza Pot Pie" and isn't really pizza.
Tavern Style Pizza is also a Chicago thing, but it's the same thin crust pizza they sell everywhere else in America. The only difference is that it's cut into small squares for little kids that can't finish an entire pizza slice.
But fair warning, Downtown Chicago is for bankers and tourists. The museums and parks are fun, but the rest is mostly tourist traps and chain restaurants. Everything downtown Chicago closes EARLY, especially on the weekend.
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>>2862232
I travel all the time for work. I can find good thin crust pizza practically anywhere, even in southern states. But finding Chicago deep dish is impossible outside of the Greater Chicago Region. The rest of the world thinks deep dish is just a normal pizza with extra dough.
If someone's traveling all the way to Chicago for pizza, they're usually looking for deep dish.
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>>2861553
Get a burger at Au Cheval. Put your name in...might be a wait. Get drunk at a bar next door...go back and eat when you get a text your table is ready. For pizza stick to Lou's, Burt's, or Pequod’s...theres better but not worth the hassle to get to
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>>2864636
In what fever dream can you get Deep Dish at ANY Pizza Hut?
Pizza Hut is just commercialized New York Thin Crust Pizza. Even when Pizza Hut did sell a "deep dish" in Chicago in the 1990s, it was just a thin crust with extra dough. Little Caesars did the same thing with their "Bigfoot Pizza".
Don't get me wrong, there is "Detroit Style" deep dish that you can get across the Midwest, but that's not the same thing.
Chicago Tavern Style is fun for birthday parties, but it's not the pizza that people visit Chicago for. You can order thin crust pizza anywhere in America and ask them to cut it into squares. You cannot get Chicago Deep Dish anywhere outside of the Greater Chicago Region. I've eaten at Pizza restaurants outside of the Midwest that advertised "Chicago Style" pizza, and even had the Chicago Flag in their parking lot. But their "Chicago Deep Dish" was just normal pizza with extra dough. I wouldn't have even called it Detroit Style, just normal pizza with more bread.
If you live in Chicago and enjoy thin crust pizza, that's fine. But Chicago Tavern Style is just the same thin crust pizza you can buy in any major city, but cut into squares.
If I had a friend from Thailand that was visiting Chicago, I might get Tavern Style for them. But for anyone else, it's Deep Dish 100%.
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