Travel to Chicago: And Other New Year’s Resolutions of the Hungry Tourist
With the beginning of 2014, I’ve set my resolutions as follows: go wherever my hunger takes me and eat the things I love. In honor of those who want to eat healthier this year, I’ve collected a healthy history of Chicagoland’s favorite dish: Deep Dish Pizza. This dish has a complicated story, with multiple creators and re-creators. In honor of this new year, this post presents all travelers with a Chicago Travel Guide that guides you through the constant re-creation that Deep Dish Pizza has seen over its lifetime.
Travel to Chicago and taste every original pizza, savor all of the different stories, and create your own view on what makes the best meal in Chicagoland. This year, it’s time to get up close and person with our favorite “guilty” food pleasures.
Required Travel Necessities:
- Your Wallet
- Your Senses
- Plenty of Napkins
A Taste of History
Some of the best restaurants and eateries in Chicago highlight Italian Cuisine with a focus on the Deep Dish Pizzas.
1943 brought the beginning of a new variation of traditional Italian and American pizzas. This pie with a coarse, crunchy crust, and an inverse order of toppings (sauce on top of cheese and Italian sausage at its heart) became the sought after prize of all who witnessed its beginning.
Over the years, a family tree of Chicago pizzerias has branched off of the original Pizzeria Uno, with notable employees and management breaking away and forming their own “original” pizzerias, and taking Deep Dish Pizzas as their own specialty dish.
1943: Pizzeria Uno
Owners: Ric Riccardo and Ike Sewell
If you combined some of Italy’s old, authentic recipes with impressive quantities of the finest meats, spices, vegetables and cheeses, you would get the beginning of the Deep Dish Pizza. It wasn’t long before the restaurant had more customers than it could handle and a menu that began a legacy. Ike’s original Deep Dish Pizza has been imitated many times, but never quite duplicated.
Notable Employees: Alice May Redmond (Chef), Helen Delisi (Waitress), Adolpho “Rudy” Malnati Sr. (Bartender/Manager), Rudy Malnati’s son Lou Malnati.
1966: Gino’s East
Owner: Alice May Redmond
1977: Delisi’s Pizza (closed)
Owner: Helen Delisi
1991: Pizano’s Pizza
Owner: Rudy Malnati Jr.
Rudy Malnati Sr. was a part of the original restaurant, Pizzeria Uno, in 1943. He featured his very own version of the Deep Dish Pizza, using authentic recipes and quality ingredients.
What makes his recipes special? Irresistible caramelized edges that give way to a buttery, pastry-like crust that recalls deep-dish without the backbreaking bulk.
1955: Pizzeria Due
Owner: Ike Sewell
Manager: Lou Malnati
Employee: Louisa Degenero
1981: Louisa’s Pizza
Owner: Louisa Degenero
1971: Lou Malnati’s
Owners: Lou Malnati (died, 1978) and his sons Marc and Rick Malnati
Considered the oldest family name in Chicago pizza, Lou Malnati got his start in the 1940′s working in Chicago’s first deep dish pizzeria (Pizzeria Uno). And in 1971, Lou Malnati took his pizza expertise to Lincolnwood, a northern suburb of Chicago, where he and his wife Jean opened the first Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria.
What sets his deep dish pizza apart? Flaky, buttery crust.
Chicago Travel Guide: Eat and then Decide
Today, when you visit Chicagoland, there is a large collection of what everyone believes as the “Best Deep Dish Pizza” in Chicago. The best way to choose is to venture out into the depth of the Windy City and try some of these places on for size and flavor. You can even take a Pizza Tour to satisfy your cravings in Chicago and get a real taste of the history behind this notorious meal.