Chicago Day One: Pizza and Billy Goats
The food most widely connected with Chicago is probably deep dish pizza, and everyone I spoke to from Chicago recommended Lou Malnati’s for the best deep dish pizza in Chicago. There was a branch of Lou Malnati’s just a few blocks from our hotel, so it was a no-brainer for our first Chicago meal.
We were ushered to their “very nice” upstairs, which turned out to be just an ordinary room as you’d see in any pizza parlor across the country. The menu boasted about a signature stuffed spinach bread appetizer, so we ordered that and a family-portion of house salad (which was incredibly well-priced for the enormous bowl that came out) as well as a large deep dish cheese pizza.
The spinach bread was a pretty boring affair, though it came with a side of very good tomato sauce. The salad was nice and fresh, but I was ready for the pizza.
Our server brought out the huge steaming pan and cut the first slices for us. I have to admit, I was unprepared for just how much pizza there was sitting there, though I eagerly tucked in to my overflowing slice.
You may be able to see from the photo that the sauce was rather watery and the cheese was too gooey, but the crust… my goodness that crust. Buttery and crisp, this was the essence of Chicago deep dish pizza. According to the menu they would be happy to make the pizza with less sauce or less cheese, and if I ate there again I would be sure to do so. As it is I ate two slices before I got too full. Skip the spinach bread and go for the pizza.Afterwards my sister and I wanted to experience some of Chicago’s night life, but our guide book was not very helpful. Nightclubs are not really our scene, and I was not really in the mod for a blues club. The only thing that sounded up our alley was the Billy Goat Tavern, which was described as low key and popular among local journalists.
It was not until we arrived there that I realized that the Billy Goat Tavern was the inspiration for the Saturday Night Live skit about “cheezborgers.” As we entered I was prepared for the worst, a tourist trap along the lines of the Hard Rock Cafe.
I was immediately put at ease. The Billy Goat Tavern is a real dive bar that just happens t also sell greasy burgers. They also have their own brews, a lager and a dark beer. The lager was fine, but the dark was great. We were surrounded by real Chicagoans, not tourists, and the whole place was surprisingly clean and quiet. This was a real neighborhood bar. As a vegetarian I can’t speak to the quality of the above-mentioned “cheezborgers,” but as a bar the Billy Goat Tavern is great.
Lou Malnati’s Pizza — 439 North Wells Street
Billy Goat Tavern — 430 N. Michigan Ave at Lower Level
Posted by Howard
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