Bears, Bulls and Deep Dish Pizza

I’ve never had a proper apprectiation for Chicago style pizza or “deep dish” pizza.  I remember exactly my first taste of said pizza was Dominos Deep Dish back in the early 90′s.  The commercial was catchy.  I believe it was tied to college basketball in some way and the song had the beat from Queen’s “We Will Rock You.”  The stadium was stomping and clapping the beat, and the hook was something like “DOMINOS DEEP-DISH!”

this CANT be good

Other than that, I can’t honestly say I’ve had a good Chicago style pizza.  What’s offered around here is what I consider crap.  Bottom’s Up is some of the most overrated pizza I’ve ever eaten and I’ve tried both their thin crust and their gi-normous, grossly thick “slices” (I like to call them “slabs”) of deep dish pizza topped with anything from crab meat to Gulden’s brown mustard.  Overrated and overpriced.   My friend ordered a single pizza one night with 3 or 4 toppings and it ended up being over $30.  If you top your large pie with any kind of seafood, that’ll run you $10.95 per topping.

And none of this stuff even remotely resembles the true deep dish pizza of Chicago that I’ve seen in pictures.  That stuff is HUGE.  So I turn to one of my verbal heroes, the voice I hear in my head when I try to write entertaining shit about pizza or really anything in life, Anthony Bourdain.  I’m going in to the windy city with a very narrow mind.  A pizza racism of sorts.  And if Bourdain, a New Yorker through and through, can find a way to enjoy Chicago’s monstrosity, then surely I can.

I took it upon myself to book a trip to Chicago next weekend as a couple friends will graciously host my pizza-eating ass in the heart of the city.  I will arrive around noon on Friday and will run through the city’s best pizza until Sunday night.  I’m setting my goal at 5 different pizza joints, but I can’t expect my friends to be as pizza-obsessed as I am.  Three will be good enough.

Oh ya.  Go Blackhawks.  Those throwbacks are sick.