The pizza scene in Chicago is as diverse as the city itself, with two main categories - deep dish and tavern style - and numerous sub-varieties. In the heart of the city, the birthplace of deep dish pizza, Pizzeria Uno, began its historic journey in 1943, offering a buttery crust with raised edges reminiscent of a fruit pie. The construction of deep dish pizza is quite unique with the toppings layered one on top of the other and hot bubbling cheese tucked beneath the signature tomato sauce.

Deviation from the deep-dish norm soon arose with the stuffed pizza iteration, adding a thin tier of dough separating the sauce from the rest of the ingredients. The stuffed style, like its deep dish cousin, is a heavy weight contender on its own.

Conversely, the tavern style pizza is a lighter offering, adorned with a thin, crisp crust, cut into miniature, easily held squares. This variety is the life of a social gathering, often shared over a table with friends and family. While the deeper and stuffed variations are often prescribed to the tourists, most locals opt for the tavern style. This doesn’t mean you won’t find an equal serving of both pizzas across the city, with many pizzerias confirming evenly divided sales.

One thing is for sure though - sausage is the chosen pizza topping for Chicago, a tradition carried from the city’s robust meatpacking and butchering industries of the 18th century.

Deep dish pizzas are often the image associated with Chicago, popularized by leading pizzerias like the original Pizzeria Uno, Lou Malnati’s, and Giordano’s. However, Pequod’s Pizza in Lincoln Park distinguishes itself in the deep dish category via their pan pizza - a delightful concoction of blended mozzarella baked into the crust, and a light sprinkling around the pan edge creating a caramelized finish.

Like the city itself, the euphoria of biting into the stuffed pizza is a layered experience. In the words of Dave Howey from Nancy's Pizza, "you get a distinctive flavor of the ingredients, like biting into layers as opposed to a whole mixture of ingredients, like you do with deep dish."

The pioneers of the stuffed pizza, Rocco Palese and his wife Annunziata, lovingly known as "Nancy", introduced this style in 1971. Still prevalent across Illinois and beyond, Nancy's remains true to its origins, sourcing ingredients from the same family-owned farms as in the last half-century.

Martin Flores, founder of Chicago’s Pizza, realized his American Dream when he established his pizzeria in 1991, which now boasts three locations, managed by his children and nephew. Famed for its stuffed pizza, Chicago’s Pizza has its patrons swooning over a perfect blend of a buttery, flaky crust and hand-made, locally sourced ingredients.

The story of the humble tavern-style pizza dates back to the 1930s when tavern-keepers began offering petite, affordable pizzas as pub snacks. As Tony Scardino from Professor Pizza describes, it's like offering peanuts and snacks on the bar. Bartenders would hand out free, small, square slices of paper-thin crust pizza to their patrons.

Being a well-loved establishment for over seven decades, Candlelite stands tall among the city’s loved tavern-style pizzerias. A delight for those invested in thin crusts, Pat’s pizza offers a sturdy bottom layer ensured by letting their dough rest for seven days as Gina Pianetto explains. Vito & Nick’s, an 80-years old pizzeria, has been faithful to this thin crust tradition, proudly serving over a thousand pizzas a week, despite being a pick-up only and cash-only establishment.

Tony Scardino of Professor Pizza, after honing his skills under two World Pizza Champions, brings his love for thin-crust pizza back home to Chicago. Serving a variety of styles, the Deluxe Sausage & Pepper pizza, garnished with whipped ricotta and sweety drop peppers, is a favorite among regulars.