THE OFFICIAL RESULTS
Lou Malnati's wins!
Do you agree with these deep dish results? Or do you have another deep dish favorite that deserves to be a food fight contender?
Showing posts with label deep dish pizza. Show all posts
Showing posts with label deep dish pizza. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Deep dish winner!
All deep dish pizzas are not created equal. They may look alike, but hiding under the sauce and stuffed inside the crust are a variety of flavors and all sorts of different fillings. Even the sausage tastes different from one pizza to the next. Some offer a sausage patty, others offer crumbled. And the sauce, too, changes depending on what spices are added. Gino's proved lackluster and cheaply made, whereas both Uno and Lou Malnati's fought head to head, making this one of the closest food fights to date.
THE OFFICIAL RESULTS
THE OFFICIAL RESULTS
Deep dish contender no. 3
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In a sea of deep-dish pizzas that all look similar to one another, the pizza from Lou Malnati's stood out from the crowd with a sauce that looked like more than just a regular tomato sauce. The flavors oozed with spices, even though some claimed the sauce tasted too much of tomato and didn't have enough depth. The crust, too, was perfectly cooked, even though we didn't order the famed butter crust. The sausage didn't make much of an appearance, drowned out by the flavors from the strong sauce and cheese, but some liked it that way (while others didn't).
Deep dish contender no. 2
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Established in 1943, Uno Chicago Grill is the oldest deep dish Chicago pizzeria, and today the restaurant's Website claims Uno pizza is often imitated but never duplicated. The sample of this dish lived up to expectations. The hearty slice of pizza, covered in a layer of sausage patty just like Uno's, tasted fresher and had more cheese. The sauce also had more of a kick and more of a tomato flavor than contender #1. The crust proved lackluster, considering the outer crust fell off nearly everyone's sample and it tasted a bit dry. But the quality of the insides made this pizza one of the best of the night, even if some thought the sausage patty was too much.
Deep dish contender no. 1
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Luckily, no one knew which pizza was which, otherwise the shoddy delivery service may have played a bigger role when it came time to vote. It turned out that someone at Gino's accidently cancelled the wrong order - our order - and the pizza didn't arrive until about 7:15.
Compared to the other two contenders, the ingredients in Gino's deep-dish pizza wasn't of the best quality. The sauce was bland, which some liked because it didn't taste too much of tomatoes. Some liked the thick sausage patty that spread across the diameter of the pizza, since it allowed every bite to be full of sausage, but others thought there was too much sausage. Even though some of the crust was burned, the cornmeal flavor tasted decent. Overall, the quality of the pizza was 'meh' for most.
Compared to the other two contenders, the ingredients in Gino's deep-dish pizza wasn't of the best quality. The sauce was bland, which some liked because it didn't taste too much of tomatoes. Some liked the thick sausage patty that spread across the diameter of the pizza, since it allowed every bite to be full of sausage, but others thought there was too much sausage. Even though some of the crust was burned, the cornmeal flavor tasted decent. Overall, the quality of the pizza was 'meh' for most.
Deep dish recap
The latest food fight took place at a "restaurant" unlike any other. Between the northern views of the city and the couch that, no joke, could fit seven people, if not more, it was the perfect place for a rumble and good-natured arguing about food.
The rumble over deep dish took place at Maggie and Joe's Marina Towers high-floor apartment. When we weren't standing on the rooftop watching fireworks explode over Navy Pier, we were chowing down on three of Chicago's best deep dish pizzas, which - not coincidentally - were from the oldest three pizza joints in the Windy City: Gino's, Uno Chicago Grill, and Lou Malnati's. All three pizzas were scheduled to be delivered at 6:30 so they could be served piping hot and wait times could be avoided. Alas, one of the three arrived early. Another arrived a half hour late. But none of that put a damper on the night.
Since everyone had a strong opinion about where the best stuffed pizza is in town, we did this food fight differently. Every pizza was numbered, one through three, and no one but me (and one of the hosts, Joe) knew which was which until after they ate, argued, guessed, and voted.
Without further ado, I present to you the results of the latest rumble in the Marina Tower jungle.
Contender #1
Contender #2
Contender #3
Results
The rumble over deep dish took place at Maggie and Joe's Marina Towers high-floor apartment. When we weren't standing on the rooftop watching fireworks explode over Navy Pier, we were chowing down on three of Chicago's best deep dish pizzas, which - not coincidentally - were from the oldest three pizza joints in the Windy City: Gino's, Uno Chicago Grill, and Lou Malnati's. All three pizzas were scheduled to be delivered at 6:30 so they could be served piping hot and wait times could be avoided. Alas, one of the three arrived early. Another arrived a half hour late. But none of that put a damper on the night.
Since everyone had a strong opinion about where the best stuffed pizza is in town, we did this food fight differently. Every pizza was numbered, one through three, and no one but me (and one of the hosts, Joe) knew which was which until after they ate, argued, guessed, and voted.
Without further ado, I present to you the results of the latest rumble in the Marina Tower jungle.
Contender #1
Contender #2
Contender #3
Results
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Food fight preview: deep-dish pizza
Forget the gourmet pizzas of California and the Sicilian thin style associated with New York; it's Chicago-style deep dish pizza that's sure to fill you up.
Whether you call it deep-dish or stuffed, Chicagoans have been calling this thick pizza their own since the early 1940's. Today, there's plenty of pizzerias that serve deep-dish, but which one does deep-dish best?
All deep-dish starts the same way: with a thick crust that is between one and three inches tall. The pizza is then filled, or stuffed, with mozzarella, toppings (with sausage, onions, and peppers topping the list of traditional), and last, but not least, the seasoned tomato sauce.
As for the origins of the deep dish, most food aficionados agree: the famous deep-dish began as the 'casserole' of pizzas - meaning, it was cheap to make and it fed a lot of people. The original creator of the pizza hailed from Texas and went by the name Ike Sewell.
Sewell first served deep-dish pizza in 1943 at his restaurant, Pizzeria Uno, at the corner of Wabash and Ohio Avenue in Chicago. The popularity of the dish soon spread, especially after soldiers started returning from Italy after the end of World War II. Other pizzerias started making their own versions of deep-dish, trying different flavored crusts and changing up the toppings. Now, Lou Malnati's, Uno's, Giordano's, and Gino's are some of the most famous pizzerias to grace the streets of Chicago.
With all these choices for deep-dish, where do you go when you want your pizza stuffed?
Whether you call it deep-dish or stuffed, Chicagoans have been calling this thick pizza their own since the early 1940's. Today, there's plenty of pizzerias that serve deep-dish, but which one does deep-dish best?
All deep-dish starts the same way: with a thick crust that is between one and three inches tall. The pizza is then filled, or stuffed, with mozzarella, toppings (with sausage, onions, and peppers topping the list of traditional), and last, but not least, the seasoned tomato sauce.
As for the origins of the deep dish, most food aficionados agree: the famous deep-dish began as the 'casserole' of pizzas - meaning, it was cheap to make and it fed a lot of people. The original creator of the pizza hailed from Texas and went by the name Ike Sewell.
Sewell first served deep-dish pizza in 1943 at his restaurant, Pizzeria Uno, at the corner of Wabash and Ohio Avenue in Chicago. The popularity of the dish soon spread, especially after soldiers started returning from Italy after the end of World War II. Other pizzerias started making their own versions of deep-dish, trying different flavored crusts and changing up the toppings. Now, Lou Malnati's, Uno's, Giordano's, and Gino's are some of the most famous pizzerias to grace the streets of Chicago.
With all these choices for deep-dish, where do you go when you want your pizza stuffed?
Monday, October 5, 2009
What's your favorite Chicago-style deep dish pizza?
We've pitted hot dog classics Gene & Jude's and Superdawg against one another. We've thrown down with Italian Beef Johnnie's and Al's. But the third food fight might be the most contentious fight yet, because this time around, it's all about... deep dish pizza.
You can help determine which restaurants will be the contenders in the next food fight by giving your two cents in the comments section below.
Do you prefer Lou Malnati's over Giordano's? Or is Uno's the place you go to when you've got a hankering for some thick crusted, cheese filled, meat stuffed pizza? I want to know.
And while you're at it, tell me what kind of toppings top your favorite deep-dish pizza.
You can help determine which restaurants will be the contenders in the next food fight by giving your two cents in the comments section below.
Do you prefer Lou Malnati's over Giordano's? Or is Uno's the place you go to when you've got a hankering for some thick crusted, cheese filled, meat stuffed pizza? I want to know.
And while you're at it, tell me what kind of toppings top your favorite deep-dish pizza.
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