Why Can't I Find Good Sausage Pizza in Chicago?

Of course, my subject title is a little tongue in cheek, but it also has a serious slant to it. I grew up in NWI where most of the good pizzas are made slightly differently than those available here. Before Gary tanked out in the 70s, pizza joints like the Tivoli Tap, Flamingo, Ricochet, and Al's set the bar for great pie, and they all had a couple of similarities. The main one was their method of sausage preparation. It was baked in the oven like a meatloaf, allowed to cool, and then ground up or chopped into small pieces, which were crumbled or spread over the dough during construction. The meat was not overcooked, it was still juicy when removed from the oven. This preparation method allowed for much of the fat and grease to be removed from the final product and also ensured that no customer ever bit into a hunk of raw pork sausage that had not been fully cooked. It also allowed pizzas with sausage to be cooked quicker than otherwise possible, with no negative side effects. This method allowed for a thorough comingling of the cheese, sauce, and meat which produced a very flavorful and unique taste sensation. Also, all of these places cut their pies in half and then cut it into strips, which allowed all of the slices to have some crust on them. I like this method better than the "squares" cut style used almost universally here; it is pretty hard to hold a hot piping center cut slice from one of these.

My current favorite spot in NWI for this style of pizza is JJ's Pizza Shack in Lake Station. They have satellite shops in a few other locations including Hobart, Valpo, and Merrillville. I have not eaten at the well-known John's pizzerias, but understand that they use a similar method for their sausage also. But like I said, this was what almost everybody made sausage pizza in that area when I grew up. I was surprised to find that it seems to be a non-existent technique in Chicago.

Anyway, I know that a lot of this is "what you grew up on" is often what you prefer, and that most people around here probably love and are addicted to their greasy fat pork globules that are sometimes undercooked. But I really find the other method preferable, both from a health and taste point of view.

Does anyone know of any places in the Chicago area that make their sausage pizzas like I want? Or do I have to force a road trip to NWI for my current pizza jones?

My initial snarky response to the topic "Why can't I find good sausage pizza in Chicago?" is "Because you're an idiot," but actually your wisdom has helped me understand why I dislike the sausage pizza I have elsehwere: Unlike, say, a pepperoni pizza, which is a fully-cured sausage sliced atop the pizza, the Chicago sausage pizza has always been applied raw, cooked into the dish. It's that rendered fat that gives the top of the 'za a sheen, and its spices permeat the whole.

I find many sausage pizzas elsehwere in the US to have a dry, flaky texture to the meat that's unpleasant.

Like you said, it's a matter of what you grew up with (See my sig line as of 9/07). Unfortunately, I have no suggestions for you except to occasionally get out of town. Meanwhile, I want another slab-o-sausage style pizza that you get at the original Uno's & Due's, Gino's East and Lou Malnati's.

JoelF wrote:I find many sausage pizzas elsehwere in the US to have a dry, flaky texture to the meat that's unpleasant.

Meanwhile, I want another slab-o-sausage style pizza that you get at the original Uno's & Due's, Gino's East and Lou Malnati's.

I like the pizza at all of the places you mentioned, with the exception of GE. I have come to appreciate this type of creation for what it is. It's just different than what I prefer. It's almost an apples/oranges kind of thing. But make no mistake, the pizzas I am talking about do not have dry, flaky meat. When you eat an Italian sausage sandwich here, most of the grease has been cooked out of it, but it is not dry or flaky. The same applies to the NWI style of pizza sausage. In most Chicago shops, you get all of the fat and grease; either pooled up around a hunk of meat, or absorbed by the crust. I can't tell you how many times I've had to "pry" a slice of pizza off the cardboard circle because the excess grease has basically glued it to the paper. I find this situation gross.

i find it delicious

JoelF wrote:I want another slab-o-sausage style pizza that you get at the original Uno's & Due's, Gino's East and Lou Malnati's.

I love sausage pizza - usually;
and I guess I grew up mostly on
the Southside Chicago-/NWI-style,
so I was grossed-out the first time
I ever tried a Gino's sausage pizza.
That thick "sausage patty" is just
f'n wrong! I avoided Gino's for
years, wrongly thinking I disliked
their pizza, until I tried a sausage-
less variety and finally saw how
good their pizza can be.
They need to put some kind of
warning on that sh!t.

As Cogito implied, it is what you are brought up on. I know people who think Domino's is pizza, as that was all they had growing up. For me, a NE Illinoisan, I was brought up on pizza with clumps of sausage on my pizza. While I gladly ate NW Indiana pizza when I briefly lived in the area, I always was put off by the less tasty sausage covering that had the appearence of a field of rabbit poop. Hence, when in Michigan City, we ordered the only thing we could get: "Rabbit Turd Pizza". Yum!

I like the slab concept. I just never liked GE's sausage.

In my experience, any of these places will happily substitute sausage balls for the slab. Just ask.

As for the sausage fat leaching into the pizza during cooking, I've always found that to be a good thing but definitely more so with balls than with slabs, which can render unpalatable amounts of fat.

=R=

Have you not found / tried CoalFire, Aurelio's, or Piece yet? Three of the most delicious sausage pies in the citta. CoalFire uses Bari, and in their heat, it deconstructs into delicious juicy pork surrounded by a shell of crackling and whole toasted spices. Aurelio's will do either sausage style - pre-browned (oven or pan), or raw on the pie with the whole thing going "fuller distance." Piece does a lovely crumble with quite moist meat, and will pre-griddle on request if you like a more lightly cooked overall pie.

The oddest sausage pizza I ever had was in Brooklyn. I ordered a sausage slice and they took out a link of cooked sausage, sliced off a couple of rounds and put them on top of the (rectangular) slice before they heated it. No melding at all.

Jamie wrote:The oddest sausage pizza I ever had was in Brooklyn. I ordered a sausage slice and they took out a link of cooked sausage, sliced off a couple of rounds and put them on top of the (rectangular) slice before they heated it. No melding at all.

As long as we're going off-topic, here is an account of the oddest sausage pizza I ever ate, delivered to my hotel room in Princeton, NJ. Three years on and I haven't forgotten it.

Next time, order a ground beef pizza. That tends to be pre-cooked and will have the dry texture you are looking for. Personally, I like the sausage applied raw and cooked along with the pizza.

I don't like the taste of ground beef on a pizza--it really doesn't have much taste, and I don't want dry. It is possible to cook Italian sausage without turning it into a semblance of sawdust.

Hey JILS, I went to school in Princeton, and think I have probably had that same pizza you are talking about. I don't remember the name of the place, but right in the middle of town on Nassau St. was a big pizza joint that had their huge slices displayed in their window, and you could see that the sausage was slices from a link. I never liked it much. Usually stuck to pepperoni. But if you had tried any of the other stores you would have found that they all have that same kind of presentation. I know, it sucks.

Santander, I have had Aurelio's pizza, and like it much. I didn't know you could request precooked sausage. Is that info on the menu, or if not, how did you know?

Glad you've enjoyed Aurelio's (a very peculiar and tasty sauce). My old stomping ground was the Villa Park / Oakbrook Terrace location, and since then I've been turned on to the first Homewood location, which has both the original and modern ovens (you can request either one depending on your preference; the original produces a crispier and smokier pizza in my experience). I am not as big of a fan of the downtown (Canal) location but even they have on-nights.

I discovered at the Villa Park location that they will do just about anything if asked. One time, after the Prodigal Son bar burned down and we needed an alternate location for our "bacon nights," we asked Aurelio's if they'd provide a side of bacon with the pizza. They calculated how much bacon they'd put on their largest pizza (which is about a pound!), put it in the oven on an empty pizza tray, and then sent it out, delicious and crispy, charging us only for what that topping on a pizza would cost, $2.00. After that, we asked for all sorts of things. I have a few friends that like Aurelio's pizza a little limper than I do, and so we started to inquire (in both Villa Park and Homewood) if they couldn't pre-cook some of the toppings so that the pizza matrix came out relatively rare. They were always happy to oblige.

I'd never hesitate to ask a good family-run restaurant for special requests; most have both pride and flexibility in equal measure and enjoy pleasing customers. You could try this at a few pizza places and report back on your adventures! I think a blind sausage pizza tasting would also be a great event.

Yeah, I had the owner of Panelli's in Berwyn trained to make me a proper sausage pizza, but he promptly went out of business a few months later. I just figured that someone should know of at least ONE place in the area that makes pizza the way I want it. After all, there are probably dozens of them in NWI who do it every day.

I'm amazed: NWI has become a destination for pizza!

I'd concur with one of the original posters: If you can't find a decent sausage pizza in Chicago you are, indeed, an idiot.

Personally, I like Eduardo's stuffed pesto w/ sausage. It's so fat friendly that I can only bear to eat one or two a year.

Barring that, if you really like your sausage cooked like meatloaf and cubed I suggest you try a unique product known as Spam.

No one bakes Spam but you, apparently. Enjoy some real soon.

bean wrote:I'm amazed: NWI has become a destination for pizza!

I'd concur with one of the original posters: If you can't find a decent sausage pizza in Chicago you are, indeed, an idiot.

Personally, I like Eduardo's stuffed pesto w/ sausage. It's so fat friendly that I can only bear to eat one or two a year.

Barring that, if you really like your sausage cooked like meatloaf and cubed I suggest you try a unique product known as Spam.

More than a few people have posted here about the former John's pizzeria in Calumet City, which made pizza exactly the way Cogito describes. Well, almost exactly. After cooking and breaking up the partially-cooked sausage each morning , they added crushed fennel seeds, basil and pepper flakes, garlic powder, and a small amount of a "secret liquid ingredient", stirred up the mixture, and filled small plastic containers with the mixture. That was the sausage they used to make pizzas that day -- and they ALWAYS seemed to run out of sausage by the end of the evening. The added seasonings made the sausage VERY flavorful, in fact FAR more flavorful than had raw sausage been used. Most of the seasonings in raw sausage end up in oftentimes-soggy crust, on napkins, or on whatever is holding the pizza.

I am amazed and saddened at the "snarky" responses I've seen in this thread. Idiot? Spam? Rabbit turds? Bet if someone had said something about burned pizzas at Burt's or masses of unformed goo in the center of pizzas at Spacca Napoli or Stop 50, that person would have been taken to the LTH woodshed. Why is it OK to do such things when people talk about places outside the LTH "fad zone"?

Good and bad pizza joints exist everywhere, including (shudder!) Chicago and (horror of horrors!) NYC. Clearly the "rabbit turd" guy got pizza from a lousy joint. Does that make all pizzas made in this fashion bad? Apparently for that guy it did...

The places Cogito mentioned, as well as John's, used quality ingredients and took a great deal of pride in the product they sold. I know of two places in NW Indiana that make pizza in a style similar to John's but are even better (better crust, better cheese). After what I've read here, I think I'll keep them to myself. If someone is genuinely interested in them, please send me a private message.

I hope you will decide to remain and post your opinions, as that is all any of us really has in matters of taste. I'm not excusing rudeness, but this anedote illustrates the way it is here on the forum. At the Smith and Wollensky luncheon all the classic taboo topics came up: religion, politics, and sex/gender. All present got a good laugh when someone pointed out that LTH'ers can talk civilly about any subject but pizza and BBQ.

Cogito -
I was given gift certificates to Edwardo's. Used them at the one in Oak Park on North Avenue. I'm not big on stuffed pie, so I tried their thin crust. They used a crumbled sausage instead of chunks. Not sure if they use chunks on their stuffed, and crumbled on their thin, or if they were just f'ing with me, or whatever, but maybe try an Edwardos?

Yeah, I'm interested.
I have family in the area, so I'm in the
area between Gary and Michigan City
quite a bit. I love the cheese and sauce
at Santini's Pepper Pot, but the crust
is too limp. Bronco's (now Cappo's),
also turns out a reliably tasty pie.
Haven't had J&J's Pizza Shack in
a long time, but recall it being
good. Any overlooked gems I'm missing?

Cogito,

Thanks for the post, and especially explaining this Southside/NWI pizza style. I had the sausage at John's once, and it was delicious. I too appreciated the unique sausage preparation, though didn't think so much about what made it unique. Of course, I also like the greasy pools of sausage at Marie's.

I think (hope) most of the snarky comments are tongue-in-cheek (taking their cue from the provocative thread title), though there also seems to be a remarkable lack of interest in the technique Cogito describes. I'd love it if you'd share your secrets, .

I'd also like to know if you've got others in NWI, Cogito, that still do it this way.

I'm now eagerly awaiting Rene G's rundown of sausage meatloaf at 30 NWI pizza parlors.

[quote="SCUBAchef"]Yeah, I'm interested.
I have family in the area, so I'm in the
area between Gary and Michigan City
quite a bit.

Haven't had J&J's Pizza Shack in
a long time, but recall it being
good.[/quote]
The J&J's on Central Ave. in Lake Station, which is arguably the best one, would be very convenient as it is close to both the Central Ave. and RT 51 exits of I-80. Also it is conveniently located between Johnson's Fish & Shrimp place (walleye, lake perch, shrimp, etc.), and Rueben's (good hot dogs, beefs). A nice triple play.

Hmm. Reminds me of another NWI place
I grew up eating; called "Domino's" (heh) -
just off Central and Willowcreek in Portage.
It was an little independent place
before the big Domino's chain
made inroads in the area -
forcing them to change their
name to "[b]Dominic's[/b]". Their
sausage was also very seasoned
and fennel-heavy (in a good way).
I don't know if they're still around,
but hope they are.

I've had pizza before where the sausage came in little cubes... Is this an indication it is precooked?

Cogito:
Not entirely sure if it's what you're looking for, but Luigi's on N. Clark also serves a thin Pizza with crumbled and I think pre-cooked sausage. Also available as slices.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2032&highlight=sossidge

This thread came to mind immediately while reading this post.

The words "Burt's" and "fad" should never be placed in the same paragraph.

iiifrank wrote:The words "Burt's" and "fad" should never be placed in the same paragraph.

At least that was true before Saveur ...