Pequod's

Full disclosure, this is my favorite Chicago deep dish pizza. I actually haven't tried that many, but I've always had a soft spot for Pequod's. I might be a little biased, but will try to rate it fairly. Let's get to it!

Cheese
Sylvie: 4 (out of 5)
Keenan: 4

Take aways: Cheese seems hard to get wrong, but also hard to really make stand out in any way. This cheese was very functional and did the job. Seemed like the right amount of it on the pizza.

Sauce
Sylvie: 3.5
Keenan: 3

Take aways: We liked that it was chunky, not too sweet, and not too tart. But it didn't particularly blow us away and seemed pretty ordinary.

Toppings
Sylvie: 2
Keenan: 4.5

Take aways: Sylvie didn't like that there wasn't that much spinach on her half. The italian sausage for me, however, was delicious. It had a nice sear on the outside and was given in generous portions. The mushrooms were cooked well all around.

Crust
Sylvie: 4
Keenan: 5

Take aways: Pequod's is known for their crust, and they delivered. It's the best pizza crust I've ever had, to be honest. It was completely carmelized on the outside, I think probably with some sort of cheese, but it added such a unique and rich flavor to the deep dish format.

Overall Score: 30

More to come!

I'd be very curious to see how Patxi's in SF would compare. It's the first and only place I have experienced deep dish pizza but I was hooked pretty quickly.

I’ve had Paxti’s quite a few times (lived in the Bay for a few years). Paxti’s is pretty good, but I’ve found that the crust is totally different than in the midwest. Seems like maybe the dough has a different character, not quite as fluffy.

One place I really liked in the Bay was Star in Oakland. They had a good deep dish with a corn meal crust. That was unique and tasty, I thought.

Lou Malnati’s

So it was brought to my attention by @Victoria that this past Saturday was National Pizza Day! Good thing Sylvie and I had Lou Malnati’s. Lou Malnati’s is widely considered the best Chicago deep dish, although I suppose that depends on who you talk to. Let’s dig in!

Once again, we got mushrooms on the whole thing, with half spinach and half Italian sausage.

Cheese
Sylvie: 3.5 (out of 5)
Keenan: 4
Take aways: We love cheese on pizza, and this one had cheese! I think it could of used a touch more of it though.

Sauce
Sylvie: 4
Keenan: 4.5
Take aways: Sylvie and both liked how garlicky it was. This sauce was noticeably better than Pequod’s. Had a nice acidity, maybe a wine flavor in there. Stood out in a good way.

Toppings
Sylvie: 5
Keenan: 3.5
Take aways: Sylvie loved the spinach mix they used. It seemed to have some herbs and garlic mixed in. For me, the sausage was very tasty but just not plentiful enough. I wanted more of it.

Crust
Sylvie: 3.5
Keenan: 3
Take aways: The crust held together well. It made it easy to pick up a piece and didn’t fall apart. But it didn’t seem particularly noteworthy in any way. Did the job, but nothing special.

Overall score: 31
Take aways: It was very good, and while there were some things I liked about Pequod’s better, the overall experience of Lou Malnati’s was a tad more flavorful, thanks to that sauce. Sylvie thoroughly enjoyed her experience as well. So far, Lou Malnati’s is in the lead by 1 point over Pequod’s!