Real Chicago Pizza is Thin Crust

The great debate continues to rage over thick or thin. Maybe it’s more of a sou’side, nortside thing like Sox or Cubs, but I adamantly say “real” Chicago is crispy thin crust pizza cut into squares.

Deep dish is fine when that is what you feel like having but generally speaking it’s “tourist pizza.” At best the debate is between old-school versus modern Chicago. Those of us beyond a certain age grew up eating thin crust.

If my memory serves me correctly I actually had my first deep dish pizza at “The Medici” in Hyde Park (a/k/a ‘the Med’ if you are a U of C student). They introduced deep dish to the southside and continue a tradition of making an exceptional version of the alternative variation.

As a native Southsider, I never had a deep dish pizza from Uno’s or Due’s until I was old enough to visit the northside with friends.

Those who arrived in Chicago after say 1980 to visit or go to school were probably whisked off to a deep dish pizza establishment near Rush Street or “Restaurant Row” so understandably their nostalgia will lead them in that direction.

In Pullman where I spent my young years, we had Father & Son’s, Giovanni’s and Nicks each of which had their devotes and each of which could stand as the very standard of Chicago thin crust perfection.

It’s important to note that Chicago’s thin crust is crispy, making it a perfect platform for the iconic sausage, mushroom and green pepper deluxe pizza topping.

Pizza pieces should never be folded like they do in New York. That’s just not right.

Later we moved to South Shore where Troy’s Roman Holiday (a/k/a Sammy’s) was our “home” pizza conveniently located at the end of the block where we lived. Ray’s Pizza at 76th and Coles was good too for a change of pace. The primary distinguishing feature was that Ray’s did not spread their sauce to the very edge thus creating a crusty border that acted as a kind of handle which some people preferred and other’s did not.

Other good options back in the day were The Dolphin in Cal City and Pizza Capri in South Chicago. Today on the far Northside I find Calo’s, Renalli’s and Leona’s to have credible thin crust pizza’s.

They all made their own sauce, sausage, and dough which was expected for southside pizzerias. Several of these familiar names continue throughout the south suburbs.

Warning: Do not trust any pizzeria that uses a premade crust with little holes poked in it and literally tastes like cardboard.

Ideally, you should see your pizza maker throw, twirl, and stretch the crust or at least roll it out to order. If the crust is trimmed, the excess should not be reused as it makes the second crust too tough. Finally, the crust should be set on a pizza board with a dusting of cornmeal that facilitates the release of the pie from the board and keeps it from sticking in the oven. If your thin crust pizza has no remnants of cornmeal on the bottom be very suspicious.

Onions, when used, should be ring-shaped, not chopped and should never be pre-cooked or sauteed.  Ideally, they should be added about ten minutes before the pizza is completely cooked and topped with a light dusting of additional cheese to incorporate them into the pie. This technique keeps the onion sweet and from getting overcooked. But generally, this is too labor intensive so most pizzerias would not bother with this attention to detail. My solution (though I like them) is to avoid onion on my pizza.

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Here is a channel seven segment of “The Hungry Hound” Steve Dolinsky’s offering a thin crust pizza review. He also has written a book, “Pizza City, USA.”