Dude. Of Course – Chicago Pizza!
Okay, this pizza is only Chicago pizza because it was made in Chicago – but I took the shot, so I can use it on my blog. ~grin~ The real story is this:
I was raised in California. While we are vain about our food in that state, we do not have the religion of pizza. Sure, there are regional favorites, like cashews on pizza in Mount Shasta, the Round Table chain, (how I miss you!), and various yuppy foo-foo places where you can get roasted pear and gorgonzola. Then I moved to the Windy City.
My boyfriend at the time introduced me to Lou Malnati’s – and holy cow, but it was fantastic. My boyfriend casually told me that it was the best pizza in town. (For you foodies reading this, Malnati’s will ship their pizza anywhere in the States. My regrets to you not in the States, but I’d imagine shipping this stuff over the borders would cause problems because Customs Agents would eat it before it got to you. I mean, it would be expensive and cause problems going through Customs.)
Not knowing any better, I parroted his statement to his best friend later in the week.
“What? Lou Malnati’s isn’t the best, that’s Pizzeria Uno’s!”
My boyfriend whipped around and in the next fifteen minutes, I witnessed two grown men, aforementioned best friends since college, arguing like schoolboys over which pizza was “the best.”
Then our other friend walked in and drawled, “Naw, it’s Giordano’s.”
Later, at work, I related this story to my coworker, thinking they’d be flabbergasted alike at the specter of three grown men squabbling over pizza.
With a calculating look in their eye, they asked me, “Which one did they say was the best?”
What do I look like, I just fell off the turnip truck??
And then, I got married to a man from Philadelphia, who likes New York style pizza – thin crust, with slices big enough to be folded in half. (Yuck.) So we order from our local neighborhood place, J. B. Alberto’s, because he doesn’t actually like Malnati’s, even though I do.
Then I took Rachel Wilder to Malnati’s, hoping to get her on my side, but noooo. She likes Alberto’s too.
Pizza. It’s religion here.
Check in tomorrow for Devon Avenue – no, not DEV-uhn, deh-VAHN. This is Chicago, baby.
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Write on, and Happy Blogging!
Haha, I\’m writing about Chicago-style pizza tomorrow: it\’s National Deep Dish Pizza Day!
I would have to agree that Chicagoans will come to blows over which pizza is the best, but is there really one right answer?
I still remember my first deep-dish pizza, which was from Giordano\’s (my cool Chicago aunt\’s favorite). It was actually a vegetarian pizza with just cheese, spinach and sauce, and it was SO GOOD. She sent me some Lou Malnati\’s pizzas in the mail, and while they are still pretty tasty, they are just not the same as that Giordano\’s spinach pizza I have built up in my mind like Proust\’s perfect madeleine!
Ha! I love Proust\’s madeleine as an example. I only recently discovered Proust\’s work and it\’s had a deep effect on me, so it made me smile to read your comment.
I had Giordano\’s spinach and I agree it\’s something else. But I actually prefer sausage deep dish, and my personal favorite for that is Lou Malnati\’s. There\’s something about their sausage that I adore. Granted, my waistline doesn\’t, which is why I limit my exposure to it these days, lol. But yeah – pizza is something about which Chicagoans get passionate!