Anybody been to Lou Malnatis yet? (Page: suburbs, car, best)

[asufan]

Originally Posted by sargeant79

It's actually two different types of pizza. Oregano's does the stuffed pizza while Lou's does deep dish, which to borrow a term from Chicago style pizza haters, isn't as casserole-ish as stuffed. Lou's is probably my favorite deep dish place from back east, in large part due to their crust. And for what it's worth, Oregano's stuffed pizza is okay, but not great IMHO. The crust is a big reason for that...just not a fan. I can't wait until Giordano's opens out here, which was one of my top three stuffed pizza places from Chicago.

Oregano's does deep dish, stuffed and thin crust.

[sargeant79]

Originally Posted by asufan

Oregano's does deep dish, stuffed and thin crust.

Gotcha. Didn't realize they did deep dish as well. I'll have to give it a shot and see how they do.

[new2colo]

Originally Posted by jimj

Same with pizza. To me Chicago pizza is all hype and unless one is needing to reminice about home there's no reason to stand in a line. If a pizza actually takes 40 minutes to cook then it's wayyyy to thick, more like a pizza casserole.

It is huge hype. I went there with coworkers from Chicago to see what all the hype was about. I was disappointed. The pizza is like a casserole and is honestly kind of bland. It feels like someone poured a can (or three) of chunky tomato sauce on top of a basin of a bread and cheese with some toppings scattered in. I much prefer New York pizza. It's simple, doesn't require 40 minutes just to cook, and someone still manages to have much more flavor than the Chicago casserole style. If I'm going to be eating as many calories as I'm sure this casserole pizza has, I'm going to need for it have some taste.

[psr13]

Originally Posted by jimj

Same with pizza. To me Chicago pizza is all hype and unless one is needing to reminice about home there's no reason to stand in a line. If a pizza actually takes 40 minutes to cook then it's wayyyy to thick, more like a pizza casserole.

I'm with you. We had it in Chicago when we lived there and thought it was way over hyped. However, if you say that, you're told you're a crazy person who just doesn't know anything.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by psr13

I'm with you. We had it in Chicago when we lived there and thought it was way over hyped. However, if you say that, you're told you're a crazy person who just doesn't know anything.

Every city and region has its own specialty. Cincinnati has the Cincinnati-style chili, St. Louis the toasted ravioli, etc. All the locals can't wait for newcomers to try the specialties and then get upset when they don't share the same passion for it.

In that I lived in Chicagoland for 15 years, I had the deep dish pizza twenty times throughout the city. The ONLY one that I thought was excellent was Edwardos but even that one was just too much to eat.

What I find ironic on these local favorites is that the ones hyped most on foodie boards are RARELY the best versions of the local specialty but rather the more internet savvy restaurant operators.

[jimj]

Originally Posted by psr13

I'm with you. We had it in Chicago when we lived there and thought it was way over hyped. However, if you say that, you're told you're a crazy person who just doesn't know anything.

From the backyard oven. White Pizza w/spinach

[pbenjamin]

Originally Posted by jlawrence01

Every city and region has its own specialty. Cincinnati has the Cincinnati-style chili, St. Louis the toasted ravioli, etc. All the locals can't wait for newcomers to try the specialties and then get upset when they don't share the same passion for it.

In that I lived in Chicagoland for 15 years, I had the deep dish pizza twenty times throughout the city. The ONLY one that I thought was excellent was Edwardos but even that one was just too much to eat.

What I find ironic on these local favorites is that the ones hyped most on foodie boards are RARELY the best versions of the local specialty but rather the more internet savvy restaurant operators.

Do people from Chicago realize that nobody else ever says "Chicagoland"? It always sounds silly when I hear it. Or a unifying label for area car dealers. (Not a big "Valley of the Sun" fan either but that's another discussion.)

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

Do people from Chicago realize that nobody else ever says "Chicagoland"? It always sounds silly when I hear it. Or a unifying label for area car dealers. (Not a big "Valley of the Sun" fan either but that's another discussion.)

It is frequently used in advertising to refer to Chicago and the six collar counties. If that offends you, sorry.

[gbpakrfan]

Originally Posted by pbenjamin

Do people from Chicago realize that nobody else ever says "Chicagoland"? It always sounds silly when I hear it. Or a unifying label for area car dealers. (Not a big "Valley of the Sun" fan either but that's another discussion.)

I'm also not a fan of "Chicagoland". Having lived in "Chicagoland" for a few years, every time I hear that word I expect someone to try to sell me a car.

[goillini8]

Chicagoan's certainly eat Chicago-style stuffed pizza - all those places that make it wouldn't survive on tourists alone. But, I'm betting that for the average Chicago-area resident, it's not an everyday food (like every time they get pizza, they get stuffed or deep dish). It didn't seem to be when I lived there for 10+ years. There's great New York style pizza in Chicago, as well as the Chicago "tavern style" (thin crackery crusts, cut into squares), and the slightly thicker, less crackery, but still thin style that's also cut into squares (Giordano's thin crust, for example; about similar to Oregano's thin crust). I think people eat these other styles as much as they do stuffed pizza. For, me it's necessity - stuffed or deep dish is just too much. Prepared right, it can be flavorful, but it's just sits HEAVY in my stomach. I usually love pizza and beer and it's much better to drink beer, IMO, with less heavy pizza.

But, it's always good to have options so no matter where I live, I'd want the option to have stuffed pizza, even if I only want to eat it once a year.