Another one of the trips we did this summer was to Chicago, and we had a lot of fun in the area:  we visited Lake Michigan to see the dunes in Indiana and do a tour of a few local wineries, and we also took one of the famous architecture tours on a boat floating down the Chicago River.  But of course while we were there we also tried a bunch of food – namely pizza, as Chicago is famous for having it’s own home-grown version.  Here we’ll show you all the pizzerias we had a chance to visit, and what we got at each spot – and as it happens, all of this delicious food is vegetarian!

The very first place we visited was Pizano’s, which has four locations around Chicago.  All of them are open for carryout and delivery until 1am or later, which was perfect after our flight into the city wgot  delayed.  They serve up a classic deep dish, so we got one with green peppers and garlic.

Also near our hotel was the original Pizzeria Uno, so of course we had to go to the place that claims to have invented deep dish, and which spawned a whole nationwide chain of pizzerias.  There we got their spinoccoli, made with spinach and broccoli.

We also headed out to Burt’s Place in Morton Grove – which is really a subrub of Chicago, but it’s close to the city limits so we’ll still count it.  Burt’s Place is just a few blocks from a Metra station, so it was easy to hop on a train and visit.  Our pizza there was this one, with mixed bell peppers and garlic.

Our favorite deep dish pizza came from Gino’s East, which has three locations in Illinois plus two in other states and one in Singapore.  We went with a plain cheese topped with garlic, and we loved this one best because the crust was just the right amount of crispy and buttery and the tomato sauce was the perfect flavor – slightly sweet and a little chunky.

But deep dish isn’t the only good pizza in town:  there are several places that serve up other excellent styles of pie.  For example, Coalfire (which has two locations in the city), makes a good Neapolitan pizza – this is their margherita, with Calabrian chiles added on top.

We also tried some Neopolitan style at Spacca Napoli – this is their cinque formaggi, made with fior di latte, gorgonzola, fontina, caciocavallo and pecorino.

Later we hit up two spots that serve up thin tavern pies:  first Falco’s, which has one location in the city and two in the Chicago suburbs.  This is their cheese pizza with jalapeño on top.

Then Vito & Nick’s, where the pizzas are super thin, so we got two.  Here’s their plain cheese pie …

… and here is a cheese topped with giardiniera, which is a pretty common topping in Chicago – it’s made from pickled vegetables marinated in olive oil.

And finally, one place that really surprised us was Piece Brewery, which offers not just beer but also New Haven-style pizzas.  We decided to go all in on that theme and got a red pizza with hot cherry peppers on top.

That was definitely a lot of pizza – to be fair, we were in Chicago for four days so we were able to spread it all out.  We were very strategic in planning routes to hit up all these pizza places, so we really got a lot in and had the chance to sample a ton of different pizzas.  Of course we were looking forward to deep dish, and Gino’s really stood out to us there – but we were pleasantly surprised by the tavern pies we got, and enjoyed the Neopolitan pizzas, and we honestly never thought we’d encounter New Haven-style pizza outside of Connecticut.  It was fun traveling all around for these pies, and combined with the other activities that we did this was a fun way to spend a long summer weekend.

Where We Ate: Some Good Illinois Pizzas

This past weekend we headed out to Illinois for a gathering of some of Miriam’s family and a memorial service for her grandmother.  It was nice to see people, and to honor her grandma’s 97 years of life, and we also got to visit a few pizzerias with the whole crew.

If you know anything about Illinois and pizza, you’ll understand that we didn’t sample any of the typical kind of pizza we’re used to – instead, it was a weekend full of deep dish!  Deep dish pizza was invented in Chicago almost a hundred years ago, and it’s now a staple across all of northern Illinois.  It’s a style that’s a lot heavier and more filling than a thin crust New York-style pizza because each pie is cooked in a deep pan, which means that sauce, toppings, and lots of cheese are piled into the pizza to make for some pretty hearty slices that you need a fork and a knife to eat.  Being from the East Coast, we’re not used to this type of pizza, but we’re always up for trying regional cuisine and visiting some highly rated pizza places, so here are three spots we enjoyed.

First up was Lou Malnati’s, a chain that started in the Chicago suburbs in 1971 and now has 60 locations across the Chicagoland area, plus a few restaurants in Wisconsin, Indiana, and Arizona.  We visited their River North location, right near Lake Michigan in Chicago, and we customized our own pizza there – here’s a cheese deep dish with garlic and spinach sandwiched in the middle.

We also got a chance to visit Pequod’s Pizza, which has locations in both Chicago proper and in the suburb of Morton Grove (which is the one we went to).  Pequod’s is consistently rated as one of the top pizza places in the U.S., so we were very excited to visit.  Miriam got a cheese pan pizza with green bell peppers and sliced spicy pepperoncini …

… while Cyril got one with pepperoni and sausage.

And finally, we absolutely had to stop by a Giordano’s.  Why?  Because this is the most beloved of all the Chicago pizza chains – and as proof, we’ll tell you that on our bus back to the airport, almost every single other passenger had a take-out box of Giordano’s with them to carry home on to the plane.  They’re most well known for their stuffed pizzas, which take deep dish to a whole new level:  it’s made with two separate layers of crust, plus plenty of cheese in the middle and toppings scattered through the whole thing.  We ended up going to their restaurant in Rockford, about 90 miles west of Chicago, and got to sample two different pizzas.  First was their signature stuffed deep dish, which we added garlic broccoli and giardiniera peppers to.

And then Cyril also tried their Special deep dish, which has sausage, onions, green peppers and mushrooms buried under all that sauce and cheese.

It certainly was a lot of pizza, and we flew home with some slices in our bags to save for later.  It was also nice to get a pizza change of pace – we’re so used to our thinner crust pies here in the New York area, but different kinds of pizza are good too!  This is especially with deep dish, because that tall crust is a perfect vehicle for lots and lots of cheese.  There are a ton more pizza spots we’d love to visit in Chicago on another trip, but for now these are the places that we really enjoyed with family.