Week 11: Chicago Street Pizza

Finally after 10 weeks of our pizza adventure we made it to an actual Chicago "deep dish" style restaurant.  Growing up in the Windy City I have had my fare share of the finest!  From Lou Malnati's, Giordano's to Gino's East there aren't many original Chicago pizzas that haven't crossed these lips.  Now living almost 1000 miles from where I grew up, it's hard to find good authentic stuffed pizza in DFW.  Or so I thought...

After a thorough search, we narrowed down our list to a handful of Chicago style pizzerias.  This week we decided that sitting dow for our meal was a requirement, which made our decision even easier.  Chicago Street Pizza (www.chicagostreetpizza.net) is located in a dingy strip mall in Plano squeezed in with an insurance office, donut shop, and a nail salon.  

Having plenty of deep dish pizza experience we made the critical phone ahead to place our order.  With a 30 minute drive from home, a pizza novice might find this to be unnecessary.  However, standard cook time for pizzas of this magnitude runs 30-40 minutes and with the entire family in tow this week, every minute counted.  While the line wasn't out the door, we were greeted immediately upon our arrival with pizzas hot out of the oven.  The seating area served it's purpose, but it wasn't anything worth writing about.

Thin Crust: Cheese

From the car we ordered one small of each: thin crust, deep dish, and stuffed.  We knew that this would be enough to feed the neighborhood, but wanted to check out all the options.  For the thin crust we went with just cheese and it was unmemorable.  Our toddlers loved it, but we couldn't find any reason to order it again.  It was certainly edible and not bad tasting, it just wasn't a life changer at $8 for a 12" cheese pizza.  Next on the list was the deep dish meat lover.  The small consists of 4 slices and will cost you about $16.  Keep in mind that any normal human would be stuffed after 2 slices.  The meat lover was loaded with protein, and exactly what I was hoping for.  At about $4 a slice, it was worth every penny. The crust and sauce were classic, and the flavors took me back 20 years to my youth.  Finally the stuffed pizza.  This one was hands down the best of the three.  I don't know if it is the nostalgia for me, but there is a pizza sliced hole in my heart and it can only be filled with a spinach stuffed pizza.  Sure, I love ALL pizza.  But for me if I was left on a deserted island and could eat only one type of pizza - this would be it.  

Deep Dish: Meat Lovers

Was Chicago Street Pizza's stuffed pizza the best I've ever had?  No.  But it was damn good, and I savored every bite.  If I hadn't put down 2 tasty meat lover slices first, I might have finished this one myself.  The spinach was fresh, and the crust, sauce, and cheese were once again quintessential Chicagoland.

The Final Report: 7.5 out of 10

Stuffed: Spinach

Chicago Street pizza hit a home run with the stuffed and deep dish, while the thin crust was disappointing.  I can't wait to compare other deep dish locations around the DFW area, but we'll need to hold off a couple weeks to recuperate from this feast.


**One final note - when you order stuffed Chicago pizza, expect leftovers... and expect those leftovers to be Delicious!