A City That's Got the "Dish" on Pizza

Chicago is a lakefront, bustling city that’s rich in history and lined with sky scrapers. Oh, and it’s also home to some of the country’s tastiest, most diverse cuisine.

For my spring break, I spent a week working alongside 10 other U of M students in Southside Chicago, helping to prepare a 5^th grade class at Neil Elementary for their upcoming state standardized test, the ISAT. While most of our day was spent in the classroom, we were still able to find the time to try out the notorious Deep Dish Pizza.

I had two encounters with this native Chicago dish during my trip, the most memorable being at Gino’s East of Chicago. Gino’s East is located across the city and suburbs and best known for its over 1” deep crust filled with cheese, homemade sauce and any toppings imaginable. Our group opted for:

-the classic cheese

-the “Vegetarian”

(topped with fresh asparagus, green peppers, mushrooms, onions, red peppers, yellow squash, eggplant and zucchini)

- the“Meaty Legend”

(topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, Canadian bacon AND bacon)

Despite being such a large group we were unable to conquer all three pizzas and gladly took home our unfinished business.

Being a true New York thin-crust pizza lover at heart, I still have difficulty saying that Chicago’s pizza beats my native slice. However, if you’re in Chicago and ready to get a taste of what the city is all about, you need to grab a slice (or, maybe even a whole pie) of classic Chicago Deep Dish Pizza.