Yeah, my own Chicago pizza taxonomy goes like this: thin crust, deep dish. Deep dish is subdivided into stuffed or regular deep dish. In general, my friends use “deep dish” to only refer to unstuffed deep dish pizza, and “stuffed” for the stuffed kind. I consider pan pizza yet another style of pizza (with the cheese and toppings on top, as opposed to under the tomato sauce. Also, pan is more focaccia-like.)
If you’re a stickler, the non-deep dish can probably be subdivided into various categories, like cracker crust (most bar pizzas), and the slightly heavier crusts of places like Home Run Inn, and the medium crust at Connie’s.
I think Rosati’s is a pretty decent version of the standard Chicago thin crust.
ArrMatey!, I live near Forest Park, and we’ve been going to Bertolli’s River Pizza on Lake Street. If you’ve ever been there, Rosati’s is pretty close to it. (Also, do you have any suggestions for other places in the Forest Park/Oak Park/River Forest area?)
ETA: I think out near Lombard there’s an Aurelio’s somewhere…their pizza is a little different (a sweeter sauce, I think?) but I used to really like it when I worked down in the South burbs.
All right. Rosati’s pizza has been ordered! (Oddly, the Lombard branch of their operation isn’t listed on their website. I had to get their number from another location.) A tad bit pricey, but I’ll report in later with the straight dope on it.
First of all, they got my order wrong, but that’s a minor detail. Pizza is edible, lots of cheese, good toppings. The crust, however… The crust is like eating raw dough. I had expected better. The crust actually takes away from the eating experience, and thus, I can only grade them a C+. Coulda been a B- if they’d gotten the order right at least.
So there you go. The search for palatable local pizza continues.
I’ve actually somehow never had Rosati’s, but if the dough seemed undercooked to you, try ordering the pizza “well done” next time (which is what I usually do at my favorite pizza haunts, as I like the dough a little more done and the cheese a little more browned.)
Rosati’s used to be good, but I think they’ve fallen away.
For a great and interesting pizza experience, try Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder. They make the pizza upside down. All the toppings go in a bowl. They cover the bowl with crust, bake it, and flip it over to serve it. Yum!!! Love that pizza!
I have to agree that Homerun Inn has the best pizza. Lou Malnati’s, not so much, I was thrown by that big one piece sausage across the entire top of the pan pizza. Aurelio’s was a favorite because they had that “sweet” sauce & didn’t use that horrible anisette stuff.
When I worked downtown, the bank used to order pizza’s from a shop on Upper Wacker Drive near Michigan Ave. I cannot remember if it was Barone’s or Bacci’s,but it was excellent!
Giordano’s was so-so.
Homerun Inn has frozen pizza’s at Jewel. We bought several last time we were home & brought them here to Cinci to distribute to the neighbors. It was close, but never the same as fresh.
I think you’ve got your pizzas switched. Giordano’s uses the “slab o’ sausage” covering the entire surface; Lou Malnatti’s uses pieces of sausage, unless I’m losing my mind. The only place I’ve discovered a slab o’ sausage in Malnatti’s is in their “lo-carb” pizza, which we get for my gluten intolerant daughter - the sausage is patted into the shape of a crust and the cheese and sauce put on top of it.
I have been going to Giordano’s for years and they have never used the “slab-o-sausage” in my experience. I was pretty sure that Lou Malnoti’s had used it. This is one reason I never went there. Maybe they changed. I think Gino’s, uses it. I haven’t been there in a while either. I hate the slab-o-sausage on pizza.
Malnati’s does the sausage disk, too, along with Gino’s. It’s possible that it varies by location, but my experience has been the sausage disk at Malnati’s. If you google “malnati’s sausage disk” or “malnati’s sausage slab,” you’ll see it’s a common description of that pizza. (Googling also reveals that you can ask for crumbled sausage at both chains.)