Our first deep dish pizza experience came in the form of Lou Malnati's. There are a handful of major deep dish contenders in Chicago, and we were on a mission to try them all.
We arrived at this location around 5 p.m. or so, and there was a bit of a wait. The cool thing was, though, that we put our name on a list, and they estimated it could be up to an hour. And right after we put our name on the list, we could look over the menu and put in our order so they could get them in line. Deep dish pizzas take around 45 minutes to an hour to make, so having this sorted out on the front-end was super convenient.
My phone actually buzzed with a notification just 10 or 15 minutes into waiting that our table was ready. Score! We were led up to our table, and they confirmed our order - a small Malnati Chicago Classic with sausage, extra cheese, and tomato sauce. After the arduous wait, our pizza arrived, and the server quickly cut it into four pieces.
Very crisp crust, a delicious, flavorful sauce and like a layer of sausage. This was so good! It may have been a combination of walking 14 miles that day (literally, 14 miles) or the fact that it was my first deep dish or maybe because I was starving. But this just hit the spot. Yes, I love a New York-style slice, but this is something different. It's like a real meal. It's filling, heavy, and oh so delicious.
Grade: A
