Chicago-style pizza is a popular style of deep-dish pizza that has room for more cheese, sauce, and toppings than other pizza styles. Even pizza places near Palo Alto serve this kind of pizza to please eager fans on the other side of the country. Keep reading to learn more about deep dish and how it came to be:
No Definitive Answers
Although historians know that deep-dish pizza was invented in Chicago, they have discovered that is almost impossible to figure out who actually created it. The only documentation about deep-dish pizza that exists lead back to Pizzeria Uno, which is a pizza place that still exists in The Windy City. Historians can be sure that the first deep-dish style pizza was served out of the Pizzeria Uno building, which stands at 29 E. Ohio Street in Chicago.
The Pizza Mansion
The original Pizzeria Uno operated out of a mansion built by Nathan Mears, who was rich from the lumber industry. Richard Novaretti, also known as Ric Raccardo, and Ike Sewell founded the original Pizzeria Uno, but historians are hesitant to give them full credit for creating this style of pizza . All anyone can be sure of is that it originated in Chicago and quickly gained popularity throughout the country.
A New Kind of Pizza
Historians do know that deep-dish pizza originated in Chicago in 1943. Instead of creating pies with thin crusts, pizza makers in Chicago started to build thicker, crunchier crusts with the sauce on top of the cheese. The entire pizza industry brings in billions of dollars a year and the restaurant that is responsible for deep-dish pizza brings in millions on its own.
A Pizza Associated with a City’s Identity
There is no food that represents the City of Chicago as much as deep-dish style pizza. Pizza places around the country specialize in this deep-dish pizza to give their patrons the authentic Chicago flavor without having to leave their hometowns.