It was a full morning, starting at 8:30 am. Now you can make it at home- it’s easy and fun! The recipe–from Pizzeria UNO!Ī couple of years ago, I took the Deep Dish Cooking Class at Pizzeria UNO. I took a class at Pizzeria UNO…here’s my creation straight from the oven. The 13 Best Deep Dish Pizza Places in Chicago.The Essential Deep Dish Pizza Restaurants in Chicago.Not all are in Chicago, and many have multiple locations. Here are a couple of articles that list some favorites. It would be like convincing you the White Sox are better than the Cubs.or vice versa. I’m not about to tell you which is best–too risky. Lou Malnati’s half-brother, Rudy, Jr., opened Pizano’s in 1991. Giordano’s opened in 1974, re-creating Mama Giordano’s double-crusted “Easter Pie” recipe from Torino, Italy. One of the other employees at Riccardo’s was Lou Malnati, who struck out on his own in 1971, declaring his deep dish to be the most delicious of all. The thing is, they didn’t know a thing about pizza, so they hired Alice Mae Redmond , a black woman who had developed the dough recipe at a competing pizza restaurant and who had been at that company for 17 years. Two taxi drivers, Sam Levine and Fred Bartoli, who knew the area and hung around Ric’s, started Gino’s in 1966 because it seemed like a better idea that driving cabs. Here are the stories of some of the other famous spots still around: The concept quickly spread, with others advertising they were the first. In 1955, it changed names to UNOs, because it was first. So it went from free to being its own thing. Riccardo’s Pizza became famous, especially for tourists. Paying for pizza was unheard of–it was a freebie, meant to keep folks drinking longer. Sewell pitched the idea to Ric Riccardo, who loved Italian food and also happened to rent out the 4th floor of the Ohio and Wabash building for his Pelican Bar & Tap. This was important, because there was so much cheese that having tomatoes on the top keep the whole thing from drying out during the hour it required to bake. The crust stayed on the bottom, but all the other ingredients were reversed, with the tomato sauce on top. Ike Sewell had the idea of an upside-down pizza. It all begins in 1943, at the corner of Ohio and Wabash, a couple of blocks off of what’s now the Magnificent Mile. I go with the Pizzeria UNO story, partly because of the building it’s in, and partly because if I get to choose my deep dish, it’s UNO. Within a few years, places were cranking out the same product, with variations on the crust or seasoning. There may even have been a taxi driver or two involved. Everyone who claims to have invented it is either related to someone else who also claims it, or they worked for someone who claims it. The Chicago deep dish pizza community is small. (Photo by Suzanne Ball) The history: who was first? Legends and stories abound, but Pizzeria UNO seems to have the most claim the invention of Chicago deep dish pizza. If you’re coming to visit, sure, we’ll find a place to have an authentic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. A thin crust takes about 15 minutes in a restaurant oven. Expect to wait 45-60 minutes, depending on how busy the place is and what’s in your pizza. When you decide you’re in the mood for deep dish, plan ahead. The thin crust version isn’t like eating celery, but it’s about 360 calories, with 20 grams of fat. Not to bog you down in details, but a slice of deep dish pizza is about 630 calories, with 34 grams of fat. You don’t need to be a Registered Dietician to suspect that a slice of deep dish is going to have lots and lots of calories. (Fun fact: V&N is so old-school, they only take cash.) Your call. Compare these to a LARGE Vito & Nick’s…$20.00. At Lou Malnati’s, it will cost you $23.45. At Pizzeria UNO (my choice…more to follow) a medium-size 10-inch (serves 2-3) Classic Chicago deep dish is $21.99. Kevin Pang, of The Takeout, explains, “I would say the majority of deep dish pizza that’s consumed in town is within a one square mile radius of River North, and 80 percent is consumed by tourists.”ĭoes all this mean it’s not good or worthwhile? Absolutely not! It’s delicious! But I would be misleading you if I said it’s what Chicagoans adore and eat as often as possible. For the record, I was going there long before Guy Fieri “discovered” it.)ĭeep dish is mostly a tourist food. (For an example, check out my favorite spot, Vito & Nick’s, which is 100 years old in 2020. In fact, polls show that we prefer thin crust “tavern” pizza, which is always cut in squares. You may be surprised to learn that not every Chicagoan goes weak in the knees at the thought of a five-pound, two-inch slab of cheese that takes an hour to bake. It’s not just that Bourdain and Stewart weren’t born and raised in the Windy City.
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