The last time I tried Chicago style pizza was about six years ago rushing between flights in O'Hare. I was famished. I reasoned "if I'm ever gonna like Chicago-style, it's gonna be now." Ick. It was terrible.
Fast forward to tonight. I'm at a conference in Chicago with someone from work who knows the Chicago restaurant and bar scene much better than myself and he recommends we hit Pizzeria Uno for that very thing. Keeping to myself the above experiences, I indicate that I trust him and we head out for the original location of the original Pizzeria Uno.We arrive early and get right in. The atmosphere is charming, small, and clearly well-worn. The staff is wonderful, and i'll get right to the point.
The pizza was fantastic. We had the Numero Uno - a wonderful everything-on-it pizza with these ENORMOUS sliced off HUNKS of sausage... dear god it was fantastic. It was so wonderful, I have a new "flavor-word" to describe this pizza: it tasted... sausagy. You heard it here first, if any other foodies or food critics are readin' this, that's my f'in' word - back off.
The cheese was pleasingly light; to me the bane of most attempts at Chicago-style is to create this glacier of cheese that adds an unnecessary heaviness to an already substantial dish.
The biggest surprise of all was the crust. I don't know how they did it, but they kept a cornmeal crust loaded down with meat and toppings remarkably light and even a little crispy (in fact, maybe it was the juxaposition of those two things that helped make the crust seem even more delicate). What a joy.
So good deal. I like Chicago-style pizza. From the one and only Pizzeria Uno.
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