History of Pizza In Chicago

Pizza, the circle of life in Chicago

March 30, 2005

By Mike Thomas Staff Reporter

New Yorkers can have their floppy pies with the oozing grease and utter lifelessness. And while we’re at it, they can keep the term “pie,” too. Ain’t no pies in these parts, only pizzas. And when it comes to pizza, Chicago has a major slice of the, um, action.

And import from Italy, pizza has for decades been a quintessentially American delicacy. And few towns take the art of crafting it more seriously than Chicago, where it’s said the first deep- dish (aka “Chicago- style”) was born in 1943 courtesy of Ike Sewall at Pizzeria Uno. Hence the town’s association with those oversauced, overstuffed monstrosities. They’re good, yes, sometimes sublime. But, many local pizzaologists will tell you, a true Oprahville pizza is the complete and utter antithesis: thin- crusted, moderately sauced, golden- brown. And wondrously varied in taste and texture. If you’ve had one, you’ve definitely haven’t had them all.

 

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