I want to be upfront about something before I get into this: I have not been to every great pizza place in Chicago. The list of spots I keep meaning to get to is long, it keeps growing, and I have two young kids which means spontaneous restaurant decisions no longer exist in my life as a concept. Getting a table somewhere new requires planning I mostly reserve for things that are actually important.
So take this for what it is: the places I keep going back to, plus a few I’ve made it to that are worth the trip, ranked by how much I think about them when I’m hungry.
Chicago Style (Deep Dish)
1. Pequod’s
If you’re doing deep dish in Chicago, Pequod’s is the answer. The thing that separates it from everyone else is the caramelized crust — the cheese goes all the way to the edge of the pan, hits the cast iron, and chars into this crispy, slightly burnt ring that is better than it has any right to be. It should not work as well as it does. It absolutely works.
The Lincoln Park location on Clybourn is where I go. It’s not a quick dinner — this is a wait-for-the-pizza situation, and the pizza takes a while. You need to be in the mood for a full production. When I’m in that mood, there is nowhere else.
2. Lou Malnati’s
Lou’s is the one you take out-of-town visitors to, and it holds up every time. More refined than Pequod’s, more reliable, easier to like without any prior context. The butter crust is its own thing. If Pequod’s is the pizza I crave, Lou’s is the pizza I trust to perform consistently — which matters when you’re responsible for someone else’s first Chicago deep dish experience and you don’t want to answer questions about the char.
Tavern Style (the underrated category)
Chicago tavern pizza — thin, cracker-crisp crust, cut into squares, eaten in a booth — is genuinely its own thing and does not get enough credit in the deep dish conversation. If you live here and you haven’t gone deep on tavern style, you’re leaving something on the table.
1. Zarella’s
The best tavern pizza I’ve had in the city. The crust is exactly what it should be — thin, crispy, structural enough to hold toppings without going soggy. The balance is right. Everything about it is right.
The catch: getting a table is a genuine challenge. This is not a place you decide on at 6:30 on a Friday. Plan ahead or accept that you’re waiting. Worth the planning.
2. Pat’s Pizza — Lincoln Park
Pat’s is the move when you want excellent tavern pizza without the production. It’s a neighborhood spot, it’s low-key, the pizza is consistently good, and you can actually get in. I’ve been going here for years. It doesn’t need a pitch — just go.
3. Side Street Saloon — Lakeview
The bar atmosphere is half the point at Side Street. It’s the kind of place that feels like a Chicago institution because it basically is. Dark bar, cold beer, square-cut slices — the pizza is solid and the whole experience lands correctly. I’d send someone here who wanted both good tavern pizza and a genuinely Chicago bar in the same stop.
4. Ranalli’s — Lincoln Park
Ranalli’s makes the list specifically in the context of weather. The outdoor patio on Lincoln Avenue is one of the better places to eat pizza in the city when it’s warm outside — big, well-shaded, enough space that it doesn’t feel crowded. The pizza is good. The patio makes it great. If it’s nice out, this is the call.
Wood-Fired / Neapolitan
Spacca Napoli
If you want to understand what wood-fired pizza is actually supposed to taste like, Spacca Napoli in Ravenswood is where you go. It’s a different category than deep dish or tavern — lighter, char-blistered, made the way they make it in Naples. I don’t go as often as I should because it requires an actual trip up to Ravenswood, which sounds ridiculous in a city where everything is 20 minutes away, but here we are. When I make the trip it’s always worth it.
New Haven Style
Piece — Wicker Park
Piece does New Haven-style pizza — thin, oblong, slightly charred — and does it well. But honestly, a significant part of the reason to go to Piece is the place itself. It’s a brewpub in Wicker Park, they make their own beer, and the whole thing feels like a Saturday afternoon well spent. The pizza is legitimately good. The experience of sitting there with a pint in that neighborhood is the part I keep coming back for. Some places are more than their food and Piece is one of them.
New York Style
Zaza’s
Here’s the thing I don’t say out loud often because it sounds wrong in a city with this much deep dish history: my actual favorite pizza in Chicago right now is a New York-style slice from Zaza’s.
I know. I’ve thought about this. I stand by it.
It’s a proper New York slice — big, foldable, the right char on the bottom, the cheese pulls correctly, the sauce is where it needs to be. In a city that treats deep dish as a point of civic identity, Zaza’s is doing something different and doing it at a level that, for me, personally, wins. Not every night. Not when I want the full Pequod’s experience. But when I just want the best pizza I’m going to eat this week, Zaza’s is where I end up.
I’m aware this list still has gaps. I’m working on it slowly, with the logistical constraints of being a person who can’t just pop out for pizza on a Tuesday without a 45-minute advance briefing. If I’ve missed something essential, drop it in the comments. I’ll add it to the list and eventually get there.
Eventually.
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The 15-minute Sunday habit that keeps our week from being a complete ambush.