The Iowan Pizza Chronicles: June 2017

Pizano's Venue

The Venues

The Pizza tour visit four of twenty possible pizzerias around Chicago. Because of the variance no two tours are often alike.

Pizano's Pizza & Pasta

61 E Madison St

Chicago, IL 60603

312-236-1777

Flo & Santos

1310 S Wabash Ave

Chicago, IL 60605

312-566-9817

Pequod's Pizza

2207 N Clybourn Ave

Chicago, IL 60614

773-327-1512

Pizano's Thin Sausage Thickness

Coalfire

1321 W Grand Ave

Chicago, IL 60642

312-226-2625

Pizano's – The 11AM pizza tour stated at this res truant. This restaurant is located right next Chicago's to Millennium Park. It is indirectly, one of the original pizzeria's in Chicago which had involvement with the original inventor of the Chicago Style 'Deep Dish' style of pizza. Ike Sewell came up with the idea from a Texas football player who moved to the city around the 1940's. He paired up with an Italian business partner (Uno's original pizza chef Rudy Malnat) to develop the deep dish pizza. Rudy's son, Ruby Malnati Jr. opened up his own pizzeria after he was under-appreciated after years of working over at Pizzeria Uno. The restaurant had lots of seating, and allowed you to mail deliveries of frozen pizza anywhere in the country.

Pizano's Deep Dish Thickness

Flo & Santos – Thin crust tavern style joint in the heart of the South Loop. Features "south side" thin crust pizza with Italian & Polish backgrounds. A south side restaurant, its typical to find a table of Chicago police officers eating inside. Before 'Chicago Style Deep Dish' was invited, the taverns would serve out thin, salty pizza to customers so they would sell more beer. The place has plenty of seating in the front and back (for groups), along with outdoor seating.

Pequod's Pizza – This is the official pizza of the Chicago Black hawks. I saw about 4 banners advertising this while we were there. They have seating on two levels, and offer a thick Sicilian style of pizza with Detroit style crust (Caramelized cheese on the edges). A local legend since 1971 famous for their burnt cheese caramelized crust with the sweet sauce.

Pizano's Slices-
Thin Cheese Sausage
Deep Dish-Cheese

Coalfire – This is new trendy restaurant which specializes in using a coal fired oven to cook their pizzas. Because they use coal, it avoid moisture which leads to a crisp crust on the pizza. In 2015, it was voted as the #1 pizza in town by Chicago Magazine. Chicago's original coal oven pizzeria, this American style of pizza is distinctively different from the Neapolitan style that inspired it.

The Pizza

At each restaurant we tried (usually two different styles of pizza). There were two participants for this pizza attempt.

Pizano's

Cheese - Chicago Deep Dish

Sausage – Thin

Flo & Santos Venue

Flo & Santos

Italian – Thin

Polish Kielbasa - Thin

Pequod's Pizza

Pepperoni – Chicago Deep Dish

Coalfire

Lasagna Pizza

The Verdict

Flo & Santos Menu

Wow. By the time we pulled up to the third place, I was stuffed! Each restaurant had its unique feel and pizza, so I give props to the tour company on the variety of pies they introduced us to. Also, thanks to them, my 4 year old son also got to eat pizza on the side (kids under 6 eat free). The chicago style shocked me as it was great, but not as good as Giodanno or Pizza Uno.

The tour guide and 90% of the people on the bus agreed that Pizano's was the winner of the day. With the tasty whole-milk cheese, and basic pressed tomatoes mixed with olive oil/basil, you could taste the freshness. The guides current favorite was Lou Malnati's. Luckily, on the Metra on the way back, a couple of Cubs fans handed their pizza out to everyone. And guess where it was from? Lou Malnati's! I tried some and found it to be good, like Pizano's (except it wasn't as good cold). As far as great tasting pizza, I personally loved the Flo & Santos Kielbasa pizza. The rich flavor from that Polish sausage was terrific. The Pepperoni form Peqoud's was a let down, because the crust was burnt and it didn't taste great. Not Tomaso's great to say the least!

Flo & Santos Inside

Final Comments/Considerations: This tour is a solid one. Although it is pricey at $60 per adult, its well worth it. You get a bus ride and some historical information on the Second City as well as GREAT pizza. You can book your tours here: https://www.chicagopizzatours.com/

As far as Iowa goes, the pizza in the Cedar Rapids corridor isn't that far off from a lot of Chicago's top pizza joints!