Gillman Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 One of the few times I drink bourbon and water well iced is with pizza.I notice that the Netscape home page currently has one of those periodic best ofs for pizza, it lists readers' favourites in 21 cities. In Chicago, no. 1 is Giordano's on North Rush Street. I ate there last year and thought it was great. But is it the best in Chi...? I suppose I could pick other cities on the list and put its best up for discussion but, i) Chicago is always fun to talk about, ii) we have two (at least) members on the board from the Windy City with opinions on pizza (I know), and iii) Chi is the home of deep dish pizza so any no. 1 in that town has to be good! Plus, if you like bourbon after pizza instead of with, one can repair to Delilah's after, a primo bourbon house as many here know..Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 I'm always leery about trying to identify the "best" of anything. To me, the definitive Chicago deep dish pizza is Pizzeria Uno. Chicago has great pizza of every type. It isn't all great, but there are a lot of places where it is, not just one or two. It always gets me when I see people lined up to eat at Giordano's or Uno when there are half a dozen places with pizza that is just as good, and no line, within a block or two.I actually prefer thin crust and for that my favorite is a little north side neighborhood pub called Candlelite, although my friends who live near there say they've been off their game lately. There's a place in my neighborhood, called Fornello, that is my go-to for delivery and they have a great pie too.I know it's environmentally incorrect, but they also have killer Chilean Sea Bass.There is a Gino's East just north of Delilah's that has a real good pie too.To me, pizza is like sex, when it's really good, it's really good but even when it's not so great, it's still pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Leslie and I love Pizzeria Uno. It's one of the only "chains" that we frequent. We always get the four cheese pizza and a wicker-bottle of Chianti! :yum: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 23, 2006 Author Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm getting hungry and I've just had dinner!Why is Chilean Sea Bass non-environmental though..?Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrinkyBanjo Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm getting hungry and I've just had dinner!Why is Chilean Sea Bass non-environmental though..?GaryBecause they are ill tempered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm getting hungry and I've just had dinner!Why is Chilean Sea Bass non-environmental though..?GaryThe species, more correctly known as the toothfish, has been a victim of its own popularity and is being overfished, though it's not classified as endangered.Awfully tasty, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sijan Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Patagonian Toothfish, in fact. But that doesn't look as good on the menu... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I get to Chicago about 4X's per year. (The company I work for is based in Willowbrook) I always request to go to Lou Malnati's on one of the nights. Great pizza IMO. Can't get stuff like that here in Atlanta. A couple of pieces of the deep dish and a couple of beers though, and you might EXPLODE!! So switching to bourbon with a little ice is a nice combo.JOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasking Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Something that bemused me when I moved here was that almost every possible variation of pizza, from ultra-thin crisp crust to stuffed, and everything in between, has been described as "Chicago-style pizza".My favorites are Pat's, on Sheffield south of Belmont, across from the Vic Theater, and Pete's No. 2 on the northwest side---both relatively small neighborhood joints. They may have pan pizza but I prefer the thin crust style.A friend of mine recently went into business distributing frozen pizzas to bars on the South Side and in the suburbs. As far as frozen pizzas go, the ones he carries---Big Al's---are pretty good. But, I wouldn't plan your trip to Chicago around them. :grin: Of the iconic Chicago pizza joints, I like Giordano's okay. I don't think I've had a pizza from Uno or Geno's East in years. Lou Malnati's is really different from any other pizza---tough to compare. (Like bourbon and Scotch: they're both whiskey, but practically different categories of spirit.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FlashPuppy Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 i am from the chicago-ish area, and i have to say that by far my favorite pizza is from Home Run Inn. oh yeah!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratcheer Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm getting hungry and I've just had dinner!Why is Chilean Sea Bass non-environmental though..?Gary Because illegal long-line fishermen are "harvesting" hundreds of tons of them at a time. And when they are all gone, they will be all gone. Just like anything else. :hot:Also, the term "Chilean Sea Bass" is a marketing term. The actual name of the fish is "Patagonian tooth fish".There was a major news article about this in the Wall Street Journal a few weeks ago. International sea police of some kind chased one fishing boat for several weeks, halfway around Antartica in unbelievable high seas and storms, before they finally captured it with several million pounds of illegally taken fish. The fishermen are just trying to make a living, but they flaunt all the laws and conventions.Tim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 24, 2006 Author Share Posted June 24, 2006 Okay thanks for all this about Chilean sea bass/toothfish. It would be a pity to fish it out and I hope some stocks will be preserved. But long term I think fish farming is where it is at. New York Times magazine had an interesting article on it this past Sunday. We've lost commercial cod in Canada, and in the EU herrings commercially are way down, ditto many other species: aquaculture is the answer.Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrispyCritter Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 Some of my favorite Chicago pizzas:Uno (or Due)Louisa's (in the south suburb of Crestwood)Aurelio's (all over the south/west suburbs)Monical's (barely reaches the Chicago area; it's more an east central Illinois chain)Uno, Due, and Louisa's specialize in medium-dish pan pizzas; Aurelio's and Monical's are mostly thin-crust.As for toppings, my preference could be summed up as "anything except anchovies." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 24, 2006 Share Posted June 24, 2006 Another weird, Chicago-only pizza expression is the pizza pot pie served at the Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company. I haven't had one in years as the place is always packed and when I go there's always a wait, so I just walk up the block a little to Renalli's. The Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company is an authentic holdover from when Lincoln Park was Chicago's version of Haight-Asbury. It has the additional attraction of being right across the street from the site of the St. Valentine's Massacre, in a building that was standing at that time. (The building in which the Massacre took place is long gone.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scopenut Posted June 29, 2006 Share Posted June 29, 2006 Down here in south Florida, we used to have a location of a chain called My Pi, which I thought was a Chicago chain. I didn't hear any of you Chicagoans mention it. Is it in fact a Chicago chain, and is it popular? When it was here (late 70's early 80's) it was my favorite pi(e). Deep dish, great crust. Also garlic bread sliced diagonally but kept whole, with the slices filled with mozarella cheese. Great stuff, but sadly gone from here.Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Would there be any good local pizza in Broward or Dade Counties?Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 My Pi (Actually My π) is a small pizza place on North Clark, just north of Fullerton. I know it has been there forever, but have never seen another location. Maybe it's a chain of two (or of 3.14159). :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomH Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 There used to be another My PI location out in the western suburbs in the 70's. I think it was on Roosevelt Rd. Haven't tried to find it lately, but they did have excellent Chicago style pizza (and a great hot fudge sundae with mint ice cream for after the pizza). Haven't thought about them until this thread, think we will have to go again when we come up to Sam's this week.Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasking Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 Down here in south Florida, we used to have a location of a chain called My Pi, which I thought was a Chicago chain. I didn't hear any of you Chicagoans mention it. Is it in fact a Chicago chain, and is it popular? When it was here (late 70's early 80's) it was my favorite pi(e). Deep dish, great crust. Also garlic bread sliced diagonally but kept whole, with the slices filled with mozarella cheese. Great stuff, but sadly gone from here.As the other Chuck said, I was aware of the My Pi on Clark Street, but didn't know it was a chain. Years back when I used to live in that neighborhood I went there from time to time, and I thought it was pretty good. But since I moved, due to the general unpleasantness of driving and parking around the Lincoln Park neighborhood I don't go back there to just hang out much. Actually, the driving and parking factor has kept me away from Uno/Due as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokinjoe Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 My Pi (Actually My π) is a small pizza place on North Clark, just north of Fullerton. I know it has been there forever, but have never seen another location. Maybe it's a chain of two (or of 3.14159). :) When I lived in Ft. Wayne, IN in the 70's and early 80's, there was a My Pi there. Can't say for sure if it was connected with the Chicago ones though. JOE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scopenut Posted June 30, 2006 Share Posted June 30, 2006 To address Gary's question about good pizza in Dade (properly Miami-Dade) and Broward counties, I guess it depends on who you ask. The latest trend seems to be pizza cooked in wood burning ovens, but the few that I've tried have been disappointing. Crust is too thin for my tastes, and at one place, comes out very charred. Doughboy's on 17th St. in Ft. Lauderdale has a very good pie, and a huge menu, for such a small place. Don't get down to Dade county much except for Jamaican and Vietnamese food.Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillman Posted June 30, 2006 Author Share Posted June 30, 2006 Thanks, reason I asked is I was in both areas last year and had trouble getting a good recommendation for pizza. The chains were legion but there seemed not that many independents. Couldn't find anything really good in this line in South Beach, even. But there must be some good places...Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musher Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 There were also a couple of My Pi locations in the Twin Citites, but I don't believe they're around here anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cowdery Posted July 10, 2006 Share Posted July 10, 2006 Reports are coming in from all over. I saw mention of a Long Island location on a blog. All except the one here in Lincoln Park seem to be past tense.Since the one I know is such an idiosyncratic hole-in-the-wall, I wonder if we are dealing with, instead of a chain, a coincidence. It can't have taken a big leap for someone to think "pie" and come up with "pi," and putting "my" in front of it is a pretty obvious rhyme. A mystery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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