June 14th, 2021
Chicago, IL
We walked around a lot to work up an appetite for two deep dish pizzas after our stop at Bonci. We knew from our first trip to Chicago that deep dish can take a really long time to cook, so when we got to Giordano’s we were prepared. We went with a plain cheese with spinach, and sat down to wait 45 minutes.
We’ve now had a decent amount of deep dish in Chicago (Pequod’s, Lou Malnati’s, Pizzeria Uno, Gino’s East) but two of the most famous deep dish pizzas in the city were left off the list in 2015, and only made it on to later lists. Every time we talked to someone about deep dish pizza they asked if we had been to Giordano’s, and we had to admit that we hadn’t. Giordano’s pioneered the stuffed pizza in the US when two brothers brought their mom’s Easter pie back from Torino, Italy, and started making it in 1974. (Note: there is some debate about this since the story here is very similar to the story of Nancy’s Pizza, also which started making stuffed pizza in the same year.) Stuffed pizza is deep dish with an extra crust on top – and we did not try it.
So, the verdict: for deep dish, this was good. Was it as good as Pequod’s? No. But it was solid. The crust is crunchy, not like a pizza crust. It was HEAVY with cheese. The sauce was good.
We went to the original location, but it should be noted that there are now a number of locations around Chicago, and around the US. You can also ship it.
The second deep dish (and third pizzeria) of the day was Pizano’s. We got this one to go, since it was also going to be a long wait and we wanted to walk around Millennium Park.
We went with a small 10″ cheese here, having still some leftovers from Giordano’s. Pizano’s came on to the 2016 list at #54, but made it as high as #50 in 2018. You can probably see that the two crusts are noticeably different. This crust was softer and a bit more oily. The crust was heavier, which made the whole pizza heavier to eat. The sauce was also noticeably different and was chunkier and sweeter.
Pizano’s was opened in 1991 by the son of Rudy Malnati, Sr., who opened Pizzeria Uno. Apparently, Oprah also loves their thin crust, so we’ll have to try that the next time.
It was difficult to eat deep dish pizza while walking, but Eric managed to do it. I took a bite or two and decided I was full.
To taste:
Giordano’s: 730 N Rush Street, Chicago, IL 60611
Pizano’s: 61 E Madison St. Chicago, IL 60603
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