Lou Malnatis is coming to Phx (Phoenix, Tucson: live, vs., health)

[Bondurant]

Originally Posted by azdr0710

has anybody heard that REAL (historic, original) Chicago pizza is thin crust?.....read that somewhere in a pizza history article or something....I know there is great debate over pizza and origins, etc. (hell, look at this little thread!).....I think Chicago was the first place I ever saw it cut in squares (at Malnati's) and that was pretty cool

If you go to a standard mom and pop pizza joint and order a pie, you'll get a thinner crust pizza (much different from chain pizzas). Places like Giordano's will also serve serve this style pizza. But if you go into a Giordano's and other places and ask for Chicago style pizza, you'll get deep dish.

[sargeant79]

I feel the need to correct a few mistakes with the terminology here...

Deep Dish - This is not the same as stuffed pizza. Deep Dish, while definitely much thicker than a traditional thin crust pizza, is not as thick as a stuffed pizza. The bottom layer of crust is usually thick in and of itself, followed by a heaping of cheese, sauce, and toppings. When you think of a Gino's East pizza, this is what it is.

Stuffed - This is what places like Giordano's and Lou Malnati's are known for (Malnati's does Deep Dish and Thin Crust really well too, actually). This is a pizza that is regularly an inch and a half thick or more and has enough cheese in it to clog your pipes for two days.

Stuffed Crust - Not at all the same as Stuffed. This is usually a normal pizza with cheese or something in the outer crust of the pizza.

Thin crust - I think we're all on the same page with this one, although there are many varieties that each make up there own "sub-genres" of thin crust pizza.

There, I feel better.

[Colt AZ]

Originally Posted by sargeant79

I feel the need to correct a few mistakes with the terminology here...

Deep Dish - This is not the same as stuffed pizza. Deep Dish, while definitely much thicker than a traditional thin crust pizza, is not as thick as a stuffed pizza. The bottom layer of crust is usually thick in and of itself, followed by a heaping of cheese, sauce, and toppings. When you think of a Gino's East pizza, this is what it is.

Stuffed - This is what places like Giordano's and Lou Malnati's are known for (Malnati's does Deep Dish and Thin Crust really well too, actually). This is a pizza that is regularly an inch and a half thick or more and has enough cheese in it to clog your pipes for two days.

Stuffed Crust - Not at all the same as Stuffed. This is usually a normal pizza with cheese or something in the outer crust of the pizza.

Thin crust - I think we're all on the same page with this one, although there are many varieties that each make up there own "sub-genres" of thin crust pizza.

There, I feel better.

Certainly wish I could be one of you connoisseurs and/or food critics out there, but hey! I ain't! I'm just one of them ordinary, everyday Arizona citizens.

To me, pizza's pizza. It's pretty much all the same -- whether it's thinner or thicker -- stuffed with enough cheese to choke a horse -- or whatever. In my layman's opinion, everything named pizza just tastes good to a hungry man! In other words, I'd be just as satisfied at Joe Schmoe's everyday pizzeria as I would be at this Lou Malnatis place. Seriously, no offense intended.

[wase4711]

ok, let a REAL Chicagoan straighten this out for you..

Lou Malnatis is NOT STUFFED pizza; REAL Stuffed pizza actually has a "bread type" layer on top, which may or may not have sauce and cheese on top of it too, but Lou Malnatis is DEEP DISH PAN PIZZA..

Thanks, I feel better now too..reminds me to have Lou's this Friday!

[quigboto]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

There's a Rosati's near my house in NW Tucson and I ordered pizza for my family from there once when we first moved to AZ. I didn't specify a kind of crust (turns out they make many kinds) but apparently their default is thin crust. It was roundly booed by my family (who prefer New York-style medium crust). Someone said the Rosati's crust tasted like saltine crackers, so since then Rosati's has been referred to in my house as "The Cracker Factory ... don't get pizza there!"

That style of crust is actually known as cracker thin crust (With the "cracker thin" not being pejorative). Some people actually prefer it that way. Personally I prefer the medium NY style crust myself, but never say no to Chicago thin crust if its offered to me, which brings me to...

Originally Posted by azdr0710

has anybody heard that REAL (historic, original) Chicago pizza is thin crust?.....read that somewhere in a pizza history article or something....I know there is great debate over pizza and origins, etc. (hell, look at this little thread!).....I think Chicago was the first place I ever saw it cut in squares (at Malnati's) and that was pretty cool

Cutting thin crust pizza into squares is also known as the "Tavern Cut" (As in, if you come into the tavern with one of those in hand and you're the most popular guy in the bar! True story!)
I have heard that it got it's start as bar food offered to working class patrons to get them in at lunch, or after their shifts (instead of getting right home to dinner) The square cut goes a lot farther than the pie cut. (Its also the reason there is pretty much an entire salad on top of a Chicago Style Hot Dog. It makes a little go a long way, and keeps the patrons in their seats drinking!

[wase4711]

Originally Posted by Colt Cassidy

Certainly wish I could be one of you connoisseurs and/or food critics out there, but hey! I ain't! I'm just one of them ordinary, everyday Arizona citizens.

To me, pizza's pizza. It's pretty much all the same -- whether it's thinner or thicker -- stuffed with enough cheese to choke a horse -- or whatever. In my layman's opinion, everything named pizza just tastes good to a hungry man! In other words, I'd be just as satisfied at Joe Schmoe's everyday pizzeria as I would be at this Lou Malnatis place. Seriously, no offense intended.

Well, to a small degree, I can agree with a little of this; I've had good Pizza hut, and I have had terrible "real chicago" pizza
But, honestly, once Lou's opens out there, you gotta go once to try it and see the difference between that pizza and EVERYTHING else out there; If they make it the same way out there, as they do here in chicago, with real sliced Roma tomatoes on top, and a FULL LAYER/sheet of sausage, not little sausage "nuggets" dropped across it, and with that incredible BUTTER crust, you wont ever say again that "pizza is pizza"..

[asufan]

Originally Posted by wase4711

Well, to a small degree, I can agree with a little of this; I've had good Pizza hut, and I have had terrible "real chicago" pizza
But, honestly, once Lou's opens out there, you gotta go once to try it and see the difference between that pizza and EVERYTHING else out there; If they make it the same way out there, as they do here in chicago, with real sliced Roma tomatoes on top, and a FULL LAYER/sheet of sausage, not little sausage "nuggets" dropped across it, and with that incredible BUTTER crust, you wont ever say again that "pizza is pizza"..

Sorry but that sounds disgusting, butter and a thick layer of sausage?

I'll take Grimaldi's or Tony Sacco's thin crust with fresh ingredients any day/

[wase4711]

well, to each his own, and, you dont really eat more than 1 or 2 pieces of Lou's at a time, so its actually really good..

A medium Lou's feeds 3 hungry adults, and a large will feed 4 with leftovers, so keep that in mind

[asufan]

Originally Posted by wase4711

well, to each his own, and, you dont really eat more than 1 or 2 pieces of Lou's at a time, so its actually really good..

A medium Lou's feeds 3 hungry adults, and a large will feed 4 with leftovers, so keep that in mind

Yeah, I was thinking, 1 slice of that would equal probably 3/4 of a thin crust pizza LOL. My buddy from Chicago swears by Oregano's stuffed pizza (he says better than anything in Chicago), but I can't eat it. You have to really be a fan of strong overpowering flavors I think to like that kind of thing.

[wase4711]

yep, exactly, thats why you only eat 1 or 2 pieces of it at a sitting..
What I like about Lou's is everything is fresh, no frozen or "packaged" stuff in it, and you can taste the difference when all the ingredients are fresh!
I like thinner crust pizza at times too; we rotate from about 5 or 6 places here in Chicagoland, but personally I like the thicker better than the thin, but we have thin pizza as well regularly.

"Variety is the spice of life"