For you foodie history types- oldest Pizzeria in Chicago?

Whether extant or long gone? I seriously have no idea.

Uno's (1943) followed by Due (1955) according to this.

Uno
29 E Ohio St, Chicago
(312) 321-1000

Pizzeria Due
619 N Wabash Ave, Chicago
(312) 943-2400

http://www.unos.com‎

Pizza migrated to America with the Italians in the latter half of the 19th century. Pizza was introduced to Chicago by a peddler who walked up and down Taylor Street with a metal washtub of pizzas on his head, crying his wares at two cents a chew. This was the traditional way pizza used to be sold in Naples, in copper cylindrical drums with false bottoms that were packed with charcoal from the oven to keep the pizzas hot. The name of the pizzeria was embossed on the drum.

Panther in the Den wrote:Uno's (1943) followed by Due (1955) according to this.

While Uno is the oldest of those listed, the article does not claim that it's the oldest or first pizzeria in Chicago (although it's usually credited as the first pizzeria to serve Chicago-style deep-dish pizza).

I'm not aware of a still-operating Chicago pizzeria that claims to be the city's oldest (or even one that pre-dates Uno) - not like New York City and New Haven, where there are still-operating pizzerias that make such a claim.

Looks like they are talking about deep dish because I can remember going to a bar with my parents in the 50's that had a dining room and served thin crust square cut pizza.

Per the Vito and Nick's website, they opened in 1932 but didn't serve pizza until 1946. The quest for the answer to your interesting question continues....

http://vitoandnicks.com/history.php

I'm guessing maybe Home Run Inn

http://www.homeruninnpizza.com/our-stor ... /1940-1959

saluki9 wrote:I'm guessing maybe Home Run Inn
http://www.homeruninnpizza.com/our-stor ... /1940-1959

That website says Home Run Inn started selling Pizza in 1947, a year after Vito & Nick's claims to have started (though it says they started experimenting with it in 1946), but it does imply that Homerun Inn is responsible for Chicago square-cut pizza. Interesting.

I'm pretty sure pizza was being served in a thin crust form on Taylor St. by various street vendors way back in the day as phatphilskokie suggested. But when it comes to the oldest "actual" pizzeria in Chicago, that honor should always go to Pizzeria Uno because they were the first actual "restaurant" as a pizzeria to serve pizza in any form in Chicago. And that form they created- deep dish pizza- went on to become the signature food of this city, and will always be celebrated as such here in Chicago as the original American pizza. Why is deep dish pizza truly an American creation? Because unlike pizza out East which can be directly traced back to Naples, deep dish pizza has no connection to Naples, NYC, or New Haven in any way, shape, or form. It was (and still is) truly an American version of pizza invented here in Chicago. Its' origins can be traced back to only one place- Chicago.

I know stuffed pizza from Giordano's and Nancy's can be traced back to some form of an Easter Pie type pizza from Italy, but Chicago style deep dish pizza has nothing to do with that. Ike Sewell wanted something more substantial- pizza as a meal, and not just a snack. He succeeded with Pizzeria Uno in 1943. In terms of who actually invented the recipe back in 1943 is anybody's guess- Ike Sewell, Ric Riccardo, Rudy Malnati, Sr.? Nobody really knows, but whoever did- God bless him because that person forever changed the definition of pizza in America, and for the better in my humble opinion. Some of our post popular deep dish pizza places today came right out of that kitchen at 29 East Ohio Street (i.e. Lou Malnati's, Pizano's, Gino's East).

Thus, in terms of an actual restaurant first serving pizza in any form in Chicago (and not just a street vendor), Pizzeria Uno will always wear that crown.

Pompeii's been around 100 years and they claim to have been making sicilian pies for all that time.

New York's pizza history goes back to the early part of the last century so I'd find it hard to believe that Chicago was that far behind.

Even if it is lost in history I bet the first pizza was the so called Sicilain type pie that was sold at room temperature cut out of big square pans like what was at De Leo's bakery or Italian Superior bakery. That seems to be pizza in a very elemental form...its good though and I would kill for a piece right now.

From our very own contributor Chicagopc: actual evidence of a very commercial pizzeria going back to 1924, contemporary with many of the NY/NH stalwarts

http://chicagopc.info/Chicago%20postcar ... zzeria.JPG

I'm sure Rene will add substance, but one might reasonably assume some form of this peasant street food well predated Granato's in Chicago. Assuming that the vast number of southern Italians entering Chicago circa 1900 didn't eat (and sell) pizza when their brothers in NY did is as silly as thinking the vast number of Mexican immigrants in Chicago today can't support a good taqueria

The tale that Chicago pie didn't exist pre WWII is counterintuitive and I'd think marketing lore from the deep dish guys.

Jeff

PS: apparently, Granato's was the first place from the Papa Milano family.

Yup. I've uncovered two references to Granato's as the first pizzeria in Chicago, but with a discrepancy regarding the date.

According to this website, if you use Proquest to search the archives of the Chicago Tribune for the first mention of "pizza and pizzeria", you get the following quote from 1939:

"The only place in Chicago where you can buy Italian pizza is at a little restaurant on Taylor street (sic) near Halsted. There you can watch Tom Granato, for sixteen years the proprietor of Chicago's only pizzeria , concoct the delicacy and carefully deposit it in his big brick oven, slipping it off long handled shovels of well sandpapered wood onto the hot bricks."

I tried running the same search on Proquest but ran into a technical error.

The Tribune archive also includes this article from 1992, entitled "Dreams Of Old Family Recipe Inspire A Traditional Pizzeria" by Sue Masarrachia. It says:

"When Arlington Heights resident Dan Alberti opened Granato`s Pizza in Buffalo Grove nearly two years ago, it was the continuation of a family heritage.

The son of immigrants from Naples, Italy, his family had a bakery on Taylor Street, which led to the original Granato`s Pizza, founded in 1917. According to Alberti, his mother and grandfather, Marie Alberti and Camillo Granato, are often credited with the introduction of pizza to Chicago."

So those are two different citations crediting Granato's as the first pizzeria in Chicago, one around 1923-1924 (which is consistent with the sign on the postcard quoted above), and the other in 1917. There may also be a discrepancy regarding the first name of its proprietor, unless Camillo Granato was also known as Tom.

The article suggests, reasonably enough, that pizza existed on Taylor at bakeries before 1917. That seems entirely plausible.

Aside from the Pompeii reference, I've seen references to pizza being sold from pushcarts in Chicago before 1900.

Just as a note: I came across a 1931 copy of John Drury's Dining in Chicago.
Of the two-dozen Italian restaurants in the index, not a one mentions pizza (then again, most of the dishes he mentions are spaghetti, a rare exception was veal scallopine or marsala, or a steak). Neither Pompeii nor Granato are listed in the book.

JoelF wrote:Just as a note: I came across a 1931 copy of John Drury's Dining in Chicago.
Of the two-dozen Italian restaurants in the index, not a one mentions pizza (then again, most of the dishes he mentions are spaghetti, a rare exception was veal scallopine or marsala, or a steak). Neither Pompeii nor Granato are listed in the book.

While Drury's book is an interesting record, it's far from an exhaustive research document. He was as much impressed by the celebrities you'd find in places as he was with the restaurants themselves. As a reporter in the "Front Page" era I suspect there was a lot of quid pro quo happening, especially for a favorable mention in the Daily News, so he likely stuck to places that he could get favors from. As far as a comprehensive record of what went on in the neighborhoods goes, this wasn't it.

spinynorman99 wrote:Pompeii's been around 100 years and they claim to have been making sicilian pies for all that time.

New York's pizza history goes back to the early part of the last century so I'd find it hard to believe that Chicago was that far behind.

Reviving an old thread here. Pompei's may have been the first Chicago "pizzeria". Though it's primary mission in life was/is as a bakery. I believe it is a reasonable assumption that other Italian bakeries in the neighborhood were making pies- probably in the Sicilian/Grandma square or rectangle pan style at the same time, probably even before the 1909 start date for Pompei.

There's a new facebook group devoted to the history of Chicago pizzerias.

Chicago-based pizza historian Peter Regas has been researching the early days of pizzas and pizzerias in America. Hopefully he will come up with something more definitive soon, concerning Chicago. He's already turned the pizza world on it's head about New York City. And local TV guy Steve Dolinsky's new book "Pizza City USA" is exploring the current scene. So..... time to go eat a slice or two!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/chicagolandpizzeriashistory/

https://uspizzamuseum.com/2019/02/05/lost-forefathers-of-pizza-in-america-discovered/

https://pizzacityusa.com/

Interesting article I came across a while ago
https://onmilwaukee.com/dining/articles ... pizza.html

My parents first date was at Marie's on Lawrence. Opened in 1940 and still there.