Slice of the City: Pizza in Chicago

Caroline Skelly, Kabir Joshi, Lila Coyne, Orlie Weitzman, Sohana Schneider, Taariq Ahmed, and Naomi Benton • February 19, 2025

Chicago boasts a wide variety of pizza styles at restaurants across the city. From our classic deep dish at Giordano’s to our lesser-known pies like tavern-style at Vito and Nick’s, we’ve got it all.

Restaurants and Styles

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Zaza’s: New York

Order: Vodka Pie

Price: $29

Rating: 5/5

The New York-style vodka pie was an herby and deliciously flavorful and cheesy pizza. New York-style pizza grew out of the Neapolitan-style pizza brought from Italian immigrants in the 1900s. America’s first pizzeria, Lombardi’s, opened in Little Italy, Manhattan, in 1905 and sold what became New York-style pizza. A New York-style pizza typically is a wide and thin slice that has a crispy bottom and crust.

The crust of the vodka pie at Zazas Pizzeria in Lakeview is perfectly crispy and has a nice chewy and airy texture. The garlic rosemary olive oil and flaky salt drizzled onto the outer crust is the perfect complement to the other flavors of the pizza. The herbs create a tanginess in the sauce, and the fennel sausage adds a slightly spicy bite. The combination of the mozzarella and the Parmesan elevate the flavors and pair perfectly with the sauce.

Despite being a bit pricey, the 16-inch vodka pie from Zazas is a flavorful and delicious pizza that is perfect for sharing.

It is a very small restaurant with about only eight tables, but has a lively atmosphere.

Zazas Pizzeria is located at 3037 N. Clark St.

— Caroline Skelly

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Giordano’s: Deep Dish

Order: Cheese

Price: $20.75

Rating: 4.5/5

If you’re in Chicago and craving a true deep dish experience, Giordano's is a must visit. With more than 40 Chicagoland locations, the iconic chain has been serving its famous deep dish pizza for 50 years.

The regular deep dish pizza with extra sauce was everything a good Chicago-style pizza should be. With a flaky crust and thick, gooey layer of mozzarella paired with a tangy-and-sweet tomato sauce, it was a delight to eat.

Deep dish pizza originated from Pizzeria Uno in the 1940s. The recipe differed as the pizzeria used cast iron pans compared to normal baking sheets. It gave more space for cheese and sauce to be added, making it a go-to pizza for many. Giordano’s has expanded on this process, perfecting its crust recipe, and even making special variations such as the stuffed crust.

Complemented by its brick walls and checkered table clothes, Giordano’s is a perfect place for a night out with the family or a sports game with friends. It offers everything from the world famous deep dish pizza to thin crust.

Giordanos is located in Hyde Park, South Loop and throughout the city.

— Kabir Joshi

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Spacca Napoli: Neapolitan

Order: Margherita

Price: $19

Rating: 5/5

The Margherita pizza at Spacca Napoli is almost flawless. For over 20 years Spacca Napoli has been dedicated to making pizza in the authentic Neapolitan style.

Neapolitan pizza originated in Naples, Italy. It was brought to the United States by Italian immigrants in the early 1900s. Neapolitan Pizza is characterized by a thin, chewy dough, and a generous amount of tomato sauce. Traditionally, fewer toppings are used on Neapolitan pizza because of its weak crust.

At Spacca Napoli, the star of their classic Margherita is the bright, tangy tomato sauce. It cuts through rich mozzarella to provide a sharp contrast and a lovely opposition of flavors. The crust on the edges is thick, toothy and surprisingly flavorful. The outer edge is enjoyable even on its own.

Of course, the pizza is not terribly sturdy. The bottom layer of crust was inconveniently weak, a hazard of the Neapolitan style. However, Spacca Napoli’s pizza resists common pitfalls, neither soggy nor soupy toward the middle but consistently delicious throughout.

Pro tip: make sure to order the tiramisu for dessert.

Spacca Napoli is located at 1769 W. Sunnyside Ave.

— Lila Coyne

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Paulie Gee’s: Detroit

Order: Cheesavore: Easy Cheesy

Price: $19

Rating: 4.5/5

Detroit-style pizza was created in 1946 by Gus Guerra, the owner of a popular bar on the eastside of Detroit. Since then it has been adapted by restaurants around the country, including Paulie Gee’s, a small pizza chain with four locations, including one in Logan Square. The main feature that characterizes a Detroit-style pizza is its square-shaped crust (nicknamed ‘Logan Squares’ at Paulie Gee’s) and its base made of focaccia instead of traditional pizza dough.

I had never tried Detroit-style before, and it exceeded my expectations. The focaccia wasn’t overly oily. Its soft, pillowy inside with subtle notes of rosemary balanced the crunchy outer crust. The edges had charred pieces that added a smoky flavor, which, when combined with the velvety, caramelized cheese was surprisingly tasty. While the cheese and crust felt proportional, the tomato sauce did seem something of an afterthought; customers may be surprised that it is simply dolloped on top, leaving only cheese and bread after just a few bites.

Individual slices aren’t sold, but at $19 for a six-piece pizza, it’s quite reasonable. The pizzas are served in a medium-sized pan, perfect to share with friends and family.

Paulie Gee’s is located at 2451 N. Milwaukee Ave.

— Orlie Weitzman

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Vito and Nick’s: Tavern

Order: Pepperoni and basil pizza

Price: $27.25

Rating: 5/5

When people think of Chicago-style Pizza, they think of deep-dish pizza. However, tavern style is the city’s true treasure. Tavern style, with a cracker-thin crust cut into small squares, dates back to 1923 when Vito Barraco opened his first tavern in Chicago. A few years later, his son Nick joined him, and they named their restaurant Vito and Nick’s. With over 100 years of business, Vito and Nick’s has perfected their pizza.

The restaurant captures an old-timey feel with booths, a jukebox, black-and-white photos and multi-colored lights. The staff are friendly and personable, and it is easy to tell that they care about the restaurant.

The pizza is so thin and tasty that it was addictive. Depending on how hungry you are, you can have one small square or 10. The tomato sauce, basil and cheese are all so fresh, but the real star of the pizza is the crust: crunchy and crispy but not too hard. The pizza is not too oily or salty, making it light and even refreshing. Now a fan of tavern-style pizza, I am looking forward to celebrating Vito and Nick’s 105th anniversary on June 25.

Vito and Nick’s is located at 8433 S. Pulaski Rd.

— Sohana Schneider

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Roots: Quad Cities

Order: Margherita

Price: $22

Rating: 5/5

Walking into Roots, I was taken aback by the colorful atmosphere as flashing string lights danced from the ceiling onto the tables below, and warm glowing lights lit each table. As the Feb. 2 Grammys played on numerous televisions hanging across the room, the family-friendly vibe felt welcoming. Roots has two locations — the South Loop and West Town — and is well known for how it commemorates the Quad Cities-style pizza.

This style of pizza is characterized by a hand-tossed malt dough, pieces cut into strips and rich tomato sauce. It was named after the Quad Cities region about 140 miles west of Chicago on the Iowa border, when a man named Tony Maniscalco Sr. and his family introduced the variation inspired by Italian family recipes.

What I tasted matched this description close to perfectly. The roasted tomato sauce drowned the patches of fresh mozzarella on top, and the cherry tomatoes created an explosion of flavor with every bite. The crunch of the crust served as a contrast to the toppings.

Roots South Loop is located at 744 S. Dearborn St.

— Taariq Ahmed

(Ilana Umanskiy)

Bob’s: Pilsen

Order: Cheese

Price: $24

Rating: 4.5/5

Bob's Pizza, owned by chef Matt Wilde, is renowned for its “Pilsen-style” pizzas: triangularly sliced thin pizzas with a fluffy crust.

The Pilsen-style originates from this business, when Bob’s Pizza first opened in March 2019 in Chicago’s Lower West Side neighborhood of Pilsen. Since then, the business has opened locations in the Hyde Park and Old Town neighborhoods and in Evanston.

The pizza is addicting, with rich tomato sauce and a thin layer of a three-cheese blend. The dough is made with Old Style Beer instead of water, giving each bite a perfect balance of chewy and crunchy. The pizza fulfills a golden ratio of cheese, sauce and bread, a hard feat for some other pizza restaurants.

Bob’s offers all the traditional pizza toppings, a range of meats and vegetables, but also sells more standout options, such as their pickles pizza, and their spinach pesto and stracciatella pizza.

While it is easy to get the pizza delivered straight to your house, the restaurant is also exceptional, with a dark atmosphere brightened by stark accents of red. If you are craving pizza, a Pilsen-style pizza from Bob’s is sure to satisfy your tastebuds.

The Bob’s Pizza in Hyde Park is located at 1518 E. Harper Ct.

— Naomi Benton

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Slice of the City: Pizza in Chicago

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