Do Chicagoans really like and eat deep dish pizza ? (New Haven: transplants, how much)

[jaygrant]

I wanted to find out this was true. I was watching Anthony Bourdains show The Layover and he was in Chicago at a pizza place. He asked the whole resturant if Chicagoans eat deep dish pizza and they said no very loudly. I also read an article online that stated that people in Chicago prefer thin crust over deep dish. I was shocked! Given how much deep dish is talked about and all the places that serve it I thought it was the only pizza Chicagoans ate.

Is this true? Do Chicago really like and eat deep dish pizza? If it is true why dont they like it?

[marothisu]

I remember that episode and my experience has been in the middle. I know people who both grew up here, and are transplants, who are at both sides of the spectrum. I'd say out of my friends though, there's more people who don't care about it than those who do. That's just my friends though. I don't hate deep dish, but I don't go out of my way to have it. I like neopolitan style more, but if someone put deep dish infront of me, I wouldn't be angry. However, if you put korean, vietnamese, mexican, and deep dish infront of me and told me to pick deep dish or one of the others, I'd probably pick one of the others over it.

Basically in my view, people here don't hate it, but they don't necessarily have it all the time. More of a special type of thing you have once in awhile. Just my view after having lived here for awhile - it may be completely different than other peoples' views.

[Attrill]

I think the main point of that episode was that deep dish isn't the default type of pizza in Chicago - if you just ordered a "pizza" you'd get a regular pizza. While I do think that Chicago has the best deep dish in the country (by far) probably 90-95% of the pizzas ordered in Chicago are regular pizzas. We get deep dish 3 or 4 times a year, and regular pizzas 7 or 8 times a year.

Overall I think Chicago is great for pizza because almost every type of pizza is well represented: regular East Coast crust, cracker crust, Neapolitan, deep dish, even New Haven style at a few places.

[squirrels]

All I ever order is deep dish. I prefer the crust.

[pidgeon92]

We like deep dish just fine. We also like thin crust.

[Irishtom29]

I grew up in Chicago and lived there 64 years and ate mostly Chicago thin, cut in squares. Deep dish was "downtown" pizza, what you bought when you took a girl downtown on a date; a treat, something different. But in the regular neighborhoods it was thin crust all the way. Understand?

[CSD610]

This food just like any other food, some like it some don't.
We eat all types of pizza crust, it depends on what we are in the mood for when we have pizza.

[Chi-town Native]

Stuffed is what rules. Once a week, plus a thin crust once a month on top of that.

[peterparker20]

It's just a heavier, larger, more expensive pizza --- so it's less commonly ordered, even in Chicago.

Dominos, Pizza Hut, and the grocery store are mostly thin crust.

So yeah thin crust is still more common. Deep Dish still tastes very good when you're hungry and in the mood for it. I'd say most Chicagoans like it.

[glass_of_merlot]

It's yummy! But I think all pizzas are good...