Week 24: Chicago Pizza Cafe

This week we had to find REAL Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza in Dallas.  Too often you find pizza restaurants claiming “Chicago Pizza” (See Week 20: Chicago Gourmet Pizza) but finding authentic deep dish pizza in the DFW Metroplex is no easy task.  Sure, there are a lot of impostors out there, but few measure up to the actual Windy City original.  Just because your pizza is cooked in a deep pan doesn’t mean that your pizza is Chicago.  Just because you have a picture of Wrigley Field and “The Blues Brothers” on your wall also doesn’t make your pizza joint genuine.  With that being said, Chicago Pizza Cafe in Frisco (www.chicagopizzacafe.com) is Original, Chicago and Genuine.  Fortunately and unfortunately the place isn’t right around the corner and is far enough away to keep us out of trouble.

When we eat a deep dish pizza we typically pass on all of the extra toppings, because the cheese and crust alone will fill you up after 2 slices.  However, it’s a family tradition to add fresh spinach when it’s available.  Our order for the week was a medium spinach deep dish, and a small thin crust cheese for our girls.  At Chicago Pizza Cafe, a deep dish pizza will run you anywhere from $12 for a small up to $22 for a “specialty” large.  To be honest - its worth every penny.  

Let’s start off with the thin crust small (12” for $8.99)...  It’s good, it probably won’t change your outlook on pizza, but it reminds me of home.  The taste of the crust, cheese, and sauce is nothing short of a Chicago classic.  The pie is cut in standard square slices, leaving two pieces in the middle with no crust.  At our house the corners go first, and our girls really enjoyed the simplicity of the thin pizza (I stole 2 corners).  On day two the left overs were great out of the toaster oven; crispy and enjoyable.  

Now the spinach deep dish was nothing short of outstanding.  It was cooked to perfection and hot on the table when we arrived (with a 30-40 cook time we called ahead).  The tomato sauce smothered the three cheese blend and thick crust, lightly sprinkled with Chicago seasonings.  Our only negative comment was that the crust was a little too crispy, and we would have preferred it on the “doughier” side.  When it came down to it, the pizza was delicious with no extra crust pieces left on our plates, so I guess it wasn’t too bad.  

The Final Report: 7.5 out of 10

If you were born and raised in DFW, and you want to taste a REAL Chicago Pizza, drive north on the Dallas Tollway, and exit Lebanon west.  The dining area is spacious with an outdoor patio for those who enjoy eating in the 100 degree heat.  Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed, and you’ll never look at deep dish pizza the same way again.  Go Cubs!