Deep Dish Pizza- NW side Chgo/burb?

Can you help out a lurker? I have a good freind in town tomorrow night (from New Orleans) and she would like some really good deep dish. I prefer the thin, so I am at a bit of a loss. I have just found out that Burts Place in Morton Grove is closed on Tuesdays.

Any recommendations? She is staying in Rosemont, and I am in the Norwood Park area.

Thanks in advance,

Peppi

There's both Gino's and Giordano's in Rosemont. Gino's is on Higgins, between Cumberland and E. River in an office park. Giordano's is at River/Higgins. I'm not a big fan of either location, but of the two I prefer Gino's. If you're willing to drive a little bit (which I'm guessing you are if you looked into Burt's), there's a Lou Malnati's on Higgins in Elk Grove Village (about a 15-minute drive from where your friend is staying). I much prefer Malnati's (especially when ordered with buttercrust) over Gino's and Giordano's, but when it comes to deep dish pizza, there's plenty of room for debate.

There's a Lou Malnati's in Elk Grove. Should do the trick:

Lou Malnati's
1050 East Higgins Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: 847.439.2000
http://www.loumalnatis.com/

There's a Nancy's out that way too. I love their stuffed -- in fact it's my favorite local stuffed chain and IMO it gets way overlooked compared to the big boys in town (Giordano's, Gino's East, Lou Malnati's, etc.) Lots of people like their thin crust too, though I admit I don't care as much for it.

Nancy's Pizza
1036 W. Higgins Rd, Park Ridge
(847) 825-2345

tapler wrote:There's a Lou Malnati's in Elk Grove. Should do the trick:

Lou Malnati's
1050 East Higgins Road
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Phone: 847.439.2000
http://www.loumalnatis.com/

Seconded

Lou Malnati's is usually a must go destination for out of towners with me. The Gino's East near Rosemont is not as good as other locations, plus the atmosphere inside is kind of blah. Hope you enjoyed wherever you took her.

By the way, I never lump deep dish pizza places (Malnati's, Gino's, Due, etc) with stuffed pizza (Giordano's, Nancy's, etc). They are not the same, and they don't taste the same. Deep dish is deep dish, and stuffed is stuffed.

If you are going to drive 15 minutes to Elk Grove Village for Lou's, you might as well drive 20 minutes to Lincolnwood so you and your dinner guest can eat at the ORIGINAL Lou Malnati's.

Definitely a go-to spot for an out of town guest wanting pizza in the 'burbs.



Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
6649 N Lincoln Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 673-0800

DClose wrote:If you are going to drive 15 minutes to Elk Grove Village for Lou's, you might as well drive 20 minutes to Lincolnwood so you and your dinner guest can eat at the ORIGINAL Lou Malnati's.

Definitely a go-to spot for an out of town guest wanting pizza in the 'burbs.



Lou Malnati's Pizzeria
6649 N Lincoln Ave
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
(847) 673-0800

Actually, both the Lincolnwood and Elk Grove locations are "originals". They both opened right around the same time, though technically you are correct, Lincolnwood was first by about six months or so. All the rest of the locations came much later. I worked in Elk Grove as early as 1974 and Lou's was already well established.

Lou's is pretty exacting about the dine-in quality of their pizzas. I've eaten at the Lincolnwood location since their opening in 1972, as well as Buffalo Grove & Wells St/Chicago. All great, all similar. As Lou (Piniella) would say, "They do a nice job."

Even though Lincolnwood is the "original", it probably hasn't been remodeled or rehabbed in any way since it opened. In my opinion, it is the least appealing place to eat of all the Lou's locations.

Their quality control is so good that I'd suggest you eat at any other Lou's than Lincolnwood. (Although I've never eaten at the EGV one).

Best,
M

jnm123 wrote:Lou's is pretty exacting about the dine-in quality of their pizzas. I've eaten at the Lincolnwood location since their opening in 1972, as well as Buffalo Grove & Wells St/Chicago. All great, all similar. As Lou (Piniella) would say, "They do a nice job."

Can't say I had such luck at their Lincoln Park spot.

Or heck, go to the Pequod's in Morton Grove.

Not the same name-recognition or history of Lou's, but IMHO the some of the best deep dish in the 'burbs, a respectable beer selection, and as close as you can get to Burt's when Burt's is not open. Close on the pizza at least...doesn't quite get the same atmosphere....


Pequod's Pizza
8520 Fernald Ave
Morton Grove, IL 60053-2819
(847) 470-9161

eatchicago wrote:Even though Lincolnwood is the "original", it probably hasn't been remodeled or rehabbed in any way since it opened. In my opinion, it is the least appealing place to eat of all the Lou's locations.

Had a drink at the Lincolnwood Lou's about a month ago. Don't know about the restaurant, but the bar and entryway/waiting area have been completely remodeled, including restroom.

Enjoy,
Gary

LTH,

Mixed up* my usual Lou Malnati's Deluxe (cheese, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers) with a Lou's (fresh spinach, mushrooms, sliced tomatoes, blend of mozzarella, romano and cheddar cheese). At first blush I was unhappy at the lack of a 9/lb disk of sausage, but one bite of the fresh flavored pie won me over. I particularly liked the sliced plum tomatoes topping the pizza.

I may just make the Lou my standard Malnati's delivery, for deep dish the pie was surprisingly light on the tongue and I did not feel like hibernating after two slices.

Enjoy,
Gary

*100% my fault, not Lou's

While I certainly enjoy Malnati's and Pequod's deep-dish pizzas, I will often go out of my way to have a deep dish at Gulliver's (on Howard just east of California Ave.)

I prefer their crust to Malnati's butter crust, which is very good, the sauce/cheese ratio is usually ideal, and the toppings, particularly their sausage, are ideal. If you happen to be driving to Lincolnwood, a little additional detour is well worth it.

Piginablanket wrote:While I certainly enjoy Malnati's and Pequod's deep-dish pizzas, I will often go out of my way to have a deep dish at Gulliver's (on Howard just east of California Ave.)

I prefer their crust to Malnati's butter crust, which is very good, the sauce/cheese ratio is usually ideal, and the toppings, particularly their sausage, are ideal. If you happen to be driving to Lincolnwood, a little additional detour is well worth it.

Speaking of Gulliver's, has anyone ever had luck finding decent regular non-pizza food on their menu? I knew a friend of mine from year's ago swore by certain things on their Italian menu(particularly eggplant), but outside of standardish appetizers being decent(but not great), it's always bad luck for me other than their pizza. Maybe someone else can better explain the appeal of that place, outside of the antiques and pizza.....

I saw a new Gulliver's being built at the infamous corner of Lake and Milwaukee in Glenview. Good luck if they hope to survive there. It seems to be a somewhat cursed location, but it's not that bad. You do have a few hotels nearby for one, and people could get their deep dish fix at Gulliver's. It would give the Glen another option too.

Ram4 wrote:I saw a new Gulliver's being built at the infamous corner of Lake and Milwaukee in Glenview. Good luck if they hope to survive there. It seems to be a somewhat cursed location, but it's not that bad. You do have a few hotels nearby for one, and people could get their deep dish fix at Gulliver's. It would give the Glen another option too.

Hmmm, I totally forgot about seeing this when I recently passed by there en route to Abt before Christmas(and directing my brother from where we were in the north burbs the quickest way there I knew), and I shook my head in silent confusion, as I'm not a very talkative type. It might work for the traveler trade who doesn't go out of their way to seek a little more than average food, haha we could probably agree there!

dumpstermcnuggets wrote:Speaking of Gulliver's, has anyone ever had luck finding decent regular non-pizza food on their menu? I knew a friend of mine from year's ago swore by certain things on their Italian menu(particularly eggplant), but outside of standardish appetizers being decent(but not great), it's always bad luck for me other than their pizza. Maybe someone else can better explain the appeal of that place, outside of the antiques and pizza.....

I was always a fan of their French Onion soup. And my wife always enjoyed their burgers. But it's been about 10 years since we've been there so who knows if it's still any good.

Drover wrote:There's a Nancy's out that way too. I love their stuffed -- in fact it's my favorite local stuffed chain and IMO it gets way overlooked compared to the big boys in town (Giordano's, Gino's East, Lou Malnati's, etc.) Lots of people like their thin crust too, though I admit I don't care as much for it.

Nancy's Pizza
1036 W. Higgins Rd, Park Ridge
(847) 825-2345

Seconded,, it's gonna do the trick

Ram4 wrote:By the way, I never lump deep dish pizza places (Malnati's, Gino's, Due, etc) with stuffed pizza (Giordano's, Nancy's, etc). They are not the same, and they don't taste the same. Deep dish is deep dish, and stuffed is stuffed.

As a Chicagoan for thirty-nine years I really should know the answer to this, but what is the difference between a deep dish pizza and a stuffed pizza? I even went to Nancy's website for the answer, but despite containing a lot of history about how they came to invent the stuffed pizza, it doesn't ever say what a stuffed pizza is and why it's not the same as deep dish. I've had plenty of both kinds in my nearly four decades in this town, but I've never been clear on what the definition was that distinguished them. (Put it this way: I can certainly tell the difference between a Malnati's pizza and a Giordano's pizza, but they seem like variations on a theme to me, rather than different themes altogether.)

riddlemay wrote:As a Chicagoan for thirty-nine years I really should know the answer to this, but what is the difference between a deep dish pizza and a stuffed pizza?

Stuffed has a layer of dough on top, under the sauce. It's usually not very well cooked so it basically seems as though it's just part of the whole layer of cheese and toppings and stuff.

seebee wrote:

riddlemay wrote:As a Chicagoan for thirty-nine years I really should know the answer to this, but what is the difference between a deep dish pizza and a stuffed pizza?

Stuffed has a layer of dough on top, under the sauce. It's usually not very well cooked so it basically seems as though it's just part of the whole layer of cheese and toppings and stuff.

Ah. So (just to make sure I have this straight), working down from the top of a stuffed pizza, it's sauce/dough/cheese-sausage-mushroom-whathaveyou/dough?

riddlemay wrote:

seebee wrote:

riddlemay wrote:As a Chicagoan for thirty-nine years I really should know the answer to this, but what is the difference between a deep dish pizza and a stuffed pizza?

Stuffed has a layer of dough on top, under the sauce. It's usually not very well cooked so it basically seems as though it's just part of the whole layer of cheese and toppings and stuff.

Ah. So (just to make sure I have this straight), working down from the top of a stuffed pizza, it's sauce/dough/cheese-sausage-mushroom-whathaveyou/dough?

Yup
I'm 99.99 % sure I have it right.
Deep dish is a bottom crust pie
Stuffed is a bottom and top crust pie, but the top of the crust is under the sauce. I've often thought of asking a joint like Giordano's to bake a stuffed pie sans sauce topping, and adding the sauce for like the last 5 minutes of baking time. Sometimes, the top crust is REALLY underdone - like raw doughy underdone. It kind of just melds itself into the other toppings / innards and almost seems like it masquerades as cheese, but I notice it. I'm more of a cracker crust type, so I just leave the stuffed pies alone unless the whole "out of town guests want to try stuffed pizza" thing comes into play.

seebee wrote:Sometimes, the top crust is REALLY underdone - like raw doughy underdone. It kind of just melds itself into the other toppings / innards and almost seems like it masquerades as cheese, but I notice it.

Thanks, seebee. I think you've correctly identified the reason I've failed to perceive the difference between stuffed and deep dish--the underdoneness of the top layer of dough has fooled me into not knowing it was there.

A stuffed pizza is typically taller than a deep-dish pizza, so you get more cheese. The top layer of dough helps it hold together. If well made, it isn't so much undercooked as permeated with the sauce.

Stuffed pizzas also tend to have thinner crusts than deep dish pizzas -- some pizzerias call "deep dish" what I would call a "pan pizza": a pizza with more breadlike crust made in a deep-dish pan.

Just to elaborate on what LAZ and seebee said... Funny to think that Chicago has evolved from being truly a thin crust, tavern-style, cut in squares pizza town for a long time and now people think of deep dish and stuffed more when they think of us. But deep dish and later stuffed were the exception for decades, with only a few places having those type of pizzas.

So to the best of my knowledge, maybe this can add to the explanation.

Tavern-Style Thin Crust (Marie's, Vito and Nick's, Pat's, D'Agostino's, etc) - Usually very thin, crispy, cut in squares.

Marie's



Vito and Nick's


D'Agostino's


Deep Dish (Uno, Due, Lou Malnati's, Gino's East, Burt's, Pequod's, Gullivers) A thick pizza, with the crust being a bit more dense than stuffed, sometimes more buttery, and sometimes a chunkier sauce.

Pizzeria Uno - Note only the original is true to the recipe. The pizza served at the Pizzeria Uno chain has nothing to do with this pizza anymore and should be avoided like the plague.


Lou Malnati's



Gino's East


Burt's Place (with ring of carmelized cheese)


Stuffed Pizza (Giordano's, Nancy's, Art of Pizza) Typically the tallest, thickest, cheesiest, heaviest pizza there is. Looks similar to deep dish with sauce on top, but it has a thin layer of dough under the sauce and doesn't usually taste like a deep dish (in my opinion). It seems like spinach is the favorite addition to this pizza. One thing to note is that neither Chicago Deep Dish or Stuffed have what we consider thick doughy bottom crusts.

Giordano's


Nancy's


Pan Pizza (Pizza Hut, Garcia's (RIP), numerous other places) This is a pizza cooked in a pan like stuffed or deep dish, but has cheese and toppings on top and the crust is a very thick, bready dough. This is not typically associated with Chicago, but somehow the Uno chain started steering the original Uno's recipe towards this. Connie's Pizza and Art of Pizza serve pizzas like this too.

Pizza Hut


Connie's (can't remember if it's "pan" or just thick pizza)