New York pizza is composed of a thin, bendable crust on top of which
someone has accidentally placed some cheese and tomato sauce along
with a meager portion of some topping(s). This makes a fine culinary
experience if, say, you're in a prisoner-of-war camp, but it does not
rate highly elsewhere.
Chicago stuffed pizza is, of course, the only real pizza, and anyone
who would deny this is a communist pinko weinerhead fascist
antichrist bozo who should be made to eat New York pizza as a penance.
Now, what makes Chicago stuffed pizza so good is a combination of
things; the double crust; the sauce; the particular mixture of
cheeses used; and the abundance of "goodies" that are usually stuffed
inside there. Most of the places I've been to produce a flaky crust
(rather than a heavy, "doughy" crust) and use a delicate mixture of
various cheeses to provide a terrific background for the sauce (which
ranges from mild to spicy) and the stuffed ingredients (most of which
are the standard fare, though items like spinach are available).
Good places to get Chicago stuffed pizza are difficult to find
outside of Chicago; however, there's a Gino's near Redondo Beach (LA)
that does a credible job. In Chicago, I recommend Giordano's on Rush
(or any Giordano's for that matter), Bacino's on Lincoln, Nancy's on
Clark or My Pi on Clark. Some of my friends prefer Pizzeria Uno,
Pizzeria Due, or Gino's East. [ Update: The Old Chicago restaurants
in Denver, Boulder, and Ft. Collins do a credible job. Whatever they
lack in pizza finesse is made up by their generous selection of beers
(about 120 varieties). ]
How *good* is this stuff? We have driven three hours from here
(Lafayette) to Chicago on numerous occasions just to get some. When
I lived in Chicago, friends who were changing flights at O'Hare
frequently asked me to meet them at the airport with one or more
Bacino's 'sky-pies" (half-cooked; you freeze 'em for later thawing
and cooking...works well) so that they could take some real pizza
home to California or New York or wherever. Heck, it's so good that
I'll eat the spinach-and-mushroom stuffed special at Bacino's, and I
*hate* spinach! [ Update: you can now buy Bacino's frozen pizzas
from their stand at O'Hare. ]
Now, this stuff isn't cheap; pizza for four runs around $17. But for
that money, you'll get enough to take care of a huge appetite with
some left over for later. It also takes a while to cook, so it's
best to be prepared for a 30-minutes-or-so wait after you order.
If you're in Chicago, you owe it to your taste buds to try this at
least once; I haven't found a single pizzeria anywhere else in North
America that can do it as well as they do there.Chicago, IL