No trip to Chicago is complete without trying its famous deep dish pizza. From the crust to the toppings, the city's pizzerias have perfected an entirely different idea of what a pizza can be — a deep, buttery pie you eat with a knife and fork.
What makes it 'deep dish'
Baked in a high-sided pan, the crust is pressed up the walls and layered in reverse: cheese first, then fillings, then a ladle of chunky tomato sauce on top so the cheese never burns. The result is a pie an inch and a half tall that takes 40 minutes to bake — order it the moment you sit down.
Where to eat it
The classic institutions — Lou Malnati's, Pizzeria Uno, Giordano's and Pequod's with its caramelised cheese crust — each have devoted followers. Pequod's, in Lincoln Park, is the local's pick for that blackened, crispy cheese ring around the edge.
Deep dish vs. tavern-style
Ask a Chicagoan what they eat on a weeknight and many will say tavern-style — a thin, crackery pie cut into squares. Deep dish is the special-occasion showpiece; tavern-style is the everyday love. Try both and pick your side of the city's oldest delicious debate.
