As a New Yorker whos heavily biased against Chicago this is just untrue. I mean sure deep dish sucks but tavern style is almost as good as New Haven (possibly because its just New Haven). Other than that Italian beef is good and the Chicago dog is amazing (the only place ketchup belongs is in the trash).
I’ve already said enough honest but controversial things about pasta, football, and pizza to be banned for life from entering Italy, so I might as well add this: Chicago style pizza is in fact quite good, despite my usual preference for thin crust pizza.
EDIT: Downvoted by Meloni
Me after seeing this post shitting on one of my favorite pizza styles: 😰😭💀
Me after seeing this comment getting all the well deserved upvotes: 🥹🥰🙂↕️
The ratio is way off and it’s a mess.
True Chicago style pizza actually does have a thin crust (tavern style, cut into squares). Deep dish is for tourists. Chicagoans also mostly enjoy deep dish, but they’ll be the first to tell you it’s not the “true” Chicago style
I enjoy both
That sounds like hipster shit. True Chicagoans know that language is descriptive, not prescriptive, and they know what everyone means by “Chicago style pizza”.
Yeah I grew up there. “Chicago style pizza” is thin crust, tavern cut, usually sausage inspired, not required. Now that I have moved regions, I know going forth, people will assume I am talking about deep dish as that is what they have been told by publications.
Assumptions usually is that I don’t like the pizza because it’s not deep dish, but no, it’s because it’s some type of monster between a red Baron pizza and a digiorno. Either way, way too much bread. Deep dish crust doesn’t support the toppings, it’s not that thick of a crust.
Well I lived in Chicago for 7 years and often saw Chicagoans make this correction when people talked about Chicago style pizza. I myself was corrected when I first moved there. I don’t know what to tell you if that bothers you
Miss me with that cracker crust garbage
-signed, the NYC-style gang
“Chicago Style” pizza isn’t deep dish, it’s square cut tavern style pizza. Yeah, deep dish isn’t that great.
The hot dog is indeed Chicago style and it’s good
I don’t know what’s in the lower left but it looks good
That’s Italian beef in the lower right and it’s really good.
So 1 out of 4 is Chicago style
Source: Lived here my whole life with over half of it in the city itself
Im gonna say it, tavern style pizza is just a worse New Haven. Y’all just stole their pizza to distract everyone from the fact that the original Chicago style pizza sucks.
Inside Chicago the thin tavern is “Chicago style” outside of Chicago deep dish is “Chicago style”
I know it sucks but you can’t change everyone’s mind.
The world needs to know that Chicagoans rarely order deep dish
The world rarely orders deep dish too, usually only once, minutes before having their dinner ruined!
“your cousins from Michigan are coming, get a deep dish with the pizzas”
Hilariously similar to a conversation I heard at work. But swap the cousins from Michigan with the Milwaukee office
Ooh. The satisfaction you just delivered me. 🎯
“cheese only, you know how they are”
ugh this is so annoying. I get thing crust square cut all the time but rarely cracker type tavern style and I will indulge in deep dish once I know a place can do it well.
Because it takes an hour to prepare and sucks
That’s fair, and true.
And that tavern style is amazing
If you want to mock a steady pizza, the better target is on another lake, Detroit
Detroit pizza is delicious though
It’s good, but imo it’s overrated
You spelled underrated wrong
I will throw hands over the disparagement of a hot beef dipped
My main problem with an Italian Beef is that a French dip requires a fraction of the ingredients but tastes just as good, if not better.
French dip be like “oh non! my je ne sais quoi!”
stuffed pizza is chicago style. lived here my whole life to. just because its not ordered all the time don’t mean its not chicago.
I thought the square cut pizza was Detroit style?
Detroit style is a square pan pizza, pan being a very thick bready bottom. Chicago or tavern style is a thin crust round pizza that is cut into squares. I personally love Detroit style!
No you the thin crust cut tavern style is at Louis style and has provel cheese with toasted ravioli on the side
Also sounds like Maryland style
https://www.foodrepublic.com/1992561/what-makes-maryland-style-pizza-stand-out/
It is but it’s pan pizza, not thin crust. And it’s made a bit differently.
Chicago style is basically just normal pizza. Good but nothing to write home about
That’s the problem. Everywhere has thing crust pizza cut into squares. But that deep dish italian pot-pie of amazing is worth claiming imo. I love the deep dish Chicago style pizza, but rarely can find it outside of Chicago.
is worth claiming
Truly; I don’t know why so many Chicagoans want to distance ourselves from it.
It – also – wholly originated in Chicago, no one’s going to give us prop.s for tavern style Chicago pizza – they’ll likely just forget we originated anything –, and – also (as you said) – it’s fucking good and I’m tired of pretending it’s not.
Every person I’ve known who swore up and down that it was an abomination to pizza I managed to get lost in the sauce after they finally allowed me to introduce them to it; it is amazing.
Yeah it’s pretty good but it’s like…If you’re in the mood for deep dish, you get deep dish. If you’re in the mood for pizza, deep dish isn’t an option.
I can see that. Like if I’m craving “pizza” that wouldn’t satisfy the craving.
Exactly. It’s also heavy and isn’t great cold which makes it a pretty bad party food, too
It is, and it is an actual pizza, so much better than the Chicago damp lasagna on bread they call deep dish
No comment about da bears?
Don’t follow football so all I can say is that their stunt with the stadium is fuckin stupid and they make enough money to not be subsidized by the city
What makes the hot dog Chicago style? It mostly just looks like a normal hot dog with a bunch of toppings
The toppings.
Really just the toppings. I guess it “needs” to be an all-beef hotdog on a steamed bun, too, but yeah really just the toppings. No idea why this guy’s so upset by mustard, relish, onions, hot peppers, and tomato lol
those toppings are standard. mustard, onions, celery salt, tomato, pickle, sweet relish, and sport peppers. If it says chicago style it means that. Most places will ask if you want the peppers since people can be iffy on spice heat. Some places will ask what you want it and “drag it through the garden” means to have everything on it.
No ketchup. Evar. I’m not kidding.
As God intended.
Amen and pass the Old Style
Everybody’s allowed their opinion, but you can fuck all the way off talking shit about Chicago dogs! The combination of beef fankfurter, poppyseed bun, quality mustard, relish, chopped onion, tomato, sport peppers, celery salt… It sounds weird, but people who try it usually love them! You have to not be obsessed with ketchup though. One of the things I really miss from working in Chicago for a bit…
How are you going to describe a Chicago dog and forget the pickle?
That was intentional. I love pickles, but not on anything. But that’s not the Chicago dog’s fault, that’s my journey! So I pick them off and eat the pickle separately…
And when something is a crime against god and man we call it “Altoona-style”
Humanity is lucky there isn’t a “Florida style” used nation wide.
That’s just meth.
Ok well no, it is not just meth. We can make fun of it without needing to make things up. Geez.
It’s meth, and pepperoni. It’s meth and hot wings. Meth with chicken and ranch. It’s a whole lot of things. Not just meth!
With swampy gator sausage
Mmm, fried gator tail.
Yet somehow it’s the best gumbo you’ve ever had.
I never quite figured out what Gumbo actually is, but I did have gator and fries in Texas once. It was alright. Nice herb and spice blend, a good sauce, and tasted like a bit richer chicken with a hint of flavor that resembled the smell one of my cats bring back from the forest sometimes.
Gumbo is a soup that is thickened with dark roux, and usually contains okra (also a thickener). I say “usually” because I understand some people omit okra or make filé gumbos or what have you. The word “gumbo” comes from the word for okra in various West African languages.
The choice of meats, proteins, and other ingredients is arbitrary. Throw in whatever you’ve got. More kinds of stuff is usually better. Chicken, sausage, and seafood are popular.
Gumbo typically has one of the three thickeners - being okra, gumbo filé, or roux. Although some gumbos might have more than one of those.
It’s also worth nothing that there are two cuisines in southern Louisiana of note: Cajun, and Creole. Although all of these topics are very complex, I would simplify those two to say that Cajun tends to be country and Creole tends to be city.
A Cajun gumbo is more typically a dark roux, trinity (diced onion, bell pepper, celery), usually sausage, andouille being most popular, either chicken or seafood but sometimes both, and various herbs and spices.
A Creole gumbo tends to add okra, might skip the roux, often adds some lemon and basil, and often diced tomato. My family’s recipe didn’t have roux and used kielbasa and chicken breast for the proteins. My version includes roux (retaining the okra) and uses kielbasa and chicken thighs.
Gumbo should be served over rice.
I’m trying to give a bit more info while steering clear of arguments. Everybody has their own gumbo recipes, and I will absolutely eat the fuck out of any of them at least once, and probably many times :)
So again, adding on to the comment to which I’m replying, not disagreeing! :)
I grew up in Florida. “Florida style” is just Cuban and sea food. The only quintessentially Florida thing I ever ate in Florida was fried gator. God I miss Cuban food.
I tried fried Gator the other day. Better than chicken!
I miss fried Gator. So good!
Would key lime pie be quintessentially Floridian?
Oh, that’s a good one! Honestly I forgot key limes are a Florida thing, having lived all over the U.S. I’ve never experienced any issues getting my hands on key limes or their pie, so they’re definitely available and popular nationwide. I can go grab both from my local Safeway on the complete opposite end of the country.
That reminds me that oranges used to be THE Florida thing as well, before citrus canker wiped them out in the 90s. Now all Florida Orange Juice^TM is from California.I still have yet to find orange juice with extra pulp anywhere else in the country. Its hard to find it with normal amounts even.
I feel like the food is really a strong point for Chicago? I get da Bears, totally, but the food? Not sure
Chicago has an incredible food scene across the entire cuisine spectrum and only 1 thing on the list is “Chicago Style” (the hot dog)
while I wouldnt consider it on the same tier as like nola/creole/cajun cuisine for example, but its distinctive enough to get a name.
Food IN Chicago is good. The use of “Chicago style” outside of Chicago is largely a label for “this shit sucks.”
Chicago Style “deep dish” is an affront to both to god and the deliciousness that is Detroit Style deep dish
Chicago has some of the best food in the world. One week there and you have to let your belt out a notch.
I thought we just called terrible things Ohio?
Illinois and Ohio: the Midwest’s armpit and asshole!
As an ex ohioan, it’s an honor to be compared to Illinois.
Fr though ohio is Midwest mid. Minnesota and Illinois are great. Michigan and Wisconsin are fine. Ohio is bad, but it only goes downhill from there.
Illinoisan here - will own this as long as it’s the arm pit. That makes Indiana the taint, and Iowa the red neck?
That puts Michigan into beer gut and Wisconsin the man-boobs territory.
Also, I’ll take Chicago food over Ohio any day. What do they have? ChiliMac? it’s fine, but not exactly a hallmark.
I’ve heard stories of Cleveland style chili. You have to go to the right restaruants to get something really authentic, and when you taste it, you understand that it actually is quite awful.
Calling Ohio the Midwest is an insult to the Midwest.
Luckily I like things that suck.
Johnny’s Beef, Gene and Jude’s, Lou’s.
Edit: Ricobenes breaded steak sandwich
I only ever hear people hate on deep dish who have never tried it (from a good restaurant) before 🤔
Fuckin nobody does deep dish like Chicago.
Ive never had anything remotely close to what I had in South Chicago . I still think about 20 years later.
No true Scotsman, meet no true Chicago deep dish!
But you do make a good point, good restaurants don’t serve that Chicago-style monstrosity :)
I mean like any chicago deep dish which is not frozen from a grocery store is good (and in chicago).
The food in any big city is really good
Ooh burn
What are the bottom two?
Hot dogs and pizza are awesome. Chicago deep dish, I only had it once in the windy. So yea maybe it wasnt the best, but it was really good. The reason the difference is important, chicago deep dish vs pizza from anywhere else in the states, is like the difference between a slice of warm melty pie and a sandwhich. Sure, its best if you sit down at a table for either one, but the sandwich you can eat while walking if needed.
That lineup of toppings for their basic hotdogs, they have a name for it right?
The bottom left is called a Jibarito, they are really popular on the NW side. Basically a sandwich with fried plantains (think tostones) instead of bread. Definitely my favorite of the 4 options here.
Bottom right is an Italian Beef; I think it’s usually just bread, roast beef, and giardiniera.
(I live in Chicago)
Thanks!
