Editor’s note: Opinion ranking based on public menus, guides, reviews, awards, and social posts.
Chicago pizza is not one style; it is a civic argument conducted with square cuts, caramelized edges, floppy centers, and enough sausage to make every neighborhood certain it has the answer. This ranking favors a distinctive crust, a repeatable order, and the places that still inspire useful disagreement instead of empty hype.
23. Bonci
Bonci treats pizza more like a deli counter than a fixed pie menu. Roman slabs arrive in rotating combinations, get cut to the size you want, and are priced by weight. The focaccia-like base is the constant.
The move is three or four modest strips, not one enormous commitment. Let the staff reheat them, then judge the crisp bottom before the toppings steal the conversation.
22. Forno Rosso
Forno Rosso takes the Neapolitan rules seriously: soft center, inflated rim, fast wood-fired bake, and a pie that makes more sense with a fork than folded into a carryout box. Carbonara and Barese push beyond the safe Margherita order.
Eat it immediately. A long ride turns that tender center from a feature into a complaint, which explains much of the split in delivery reviews.
21. Piece Brewery & Pizzeria
Piece brings New Haven-style pizza into a Wicker Park brewery without sanding off its identity. The crust stays crisp enough for clams, bacon, mashed potatoes, or the long list of build-your-own choices.
Order the plain red pie if the crust is the test. Adding mozzarella changes the equation. Expect a wait at peak times, and treat the house beer as part of the experience rather than an optional side quest.
20. Bob's Pizza
Bob’s calls its hybrid Pilsen-style, and the name fits. Old Style beer replaces water in the dough, landing between a New York slice and a puffier Neapolitan edge without copying either one.
The specialty pies run deliberately playful, from pickle and mortadella to pesto and stracciatella. Start with one restrained pie before ordering the stunt flavor. The base deserves a fair hearing before the toppings take over.
19. Pizza Lobo
Pizza Lobo makes New York slices patio food rather than a ceremony. Thin, foldable wedges come plain or loaded, pitchers and frozen drinks suit the Logan Square yard, and Borgata combines pepperoni with Calabrian-chile honey.
The phone-first order system annoys some diners when the patio is busy. Use the walk-up window if you only want a slice, and eat it immediately. Whole pies can overcook; Borgata is cleaner first test.
18. Novel Pizza Cafe
Novel makes a stronger case for fusion than most places using the word. Longganisa and giardiniera turn its tavern pie sweet, garlicky, hot, and recognizably Chicago while nodding to the Filipino and Mexican communities around Pilsen.
The small room and rotating specials reward flexibility. Order the signature combination before chasing the weekly novelty. A pan pizza is available, but the thin version carries the restaurant’s argument more clearly.
17. Williams Inn Pizza & Sports Bar
Williams Inn brings a South Side deep-dish lineage into the South Loop. The sausage pie is thick and buttery, yet the baked edge stays crisp enough to avoid the damp, doughy middle that sinks weaker versions.
Most attention belongs on the deep dish, not the available thin crust. Call if a reservation matters and order early, because this is a full bake, not food that appears between innings.
16. Lou Malnati's
Lou Malnati’s is the chain that survives the local eye roll because its butter crust and bright tomato sauce still explain why deep dish became famous. The sausage patty remains the cleanest benchmark order.
Tell the server the pizza order as soon as you sit down. The bake can pass 30 minutes, and appetizers have a way of ruining the appetite required for a dense first slice.
15. Labriola Chicago
Labriola’s bread background shows in its double-proofed, focaccia-like deep dish. Fresh mozzarella lines the dough, while caramelized cheese around the rim provides the crunch that a soft interior needs.
The burrata-and-basil pie is rich enough without extra meat. For another food argument built around bark instead of crust, the Texas barbecue ranking is just as divisive. Share the pizza; this one gets heavy quickly.
14. Zazas Pizzeria
Zazas proves a New York-style slice can live in Chicago without becoming a punch line. Herb-infused oil strengthens the crust, so Calabrian chile, giardiniera, and shaved Parmesan do not collapse it into a paper plate.
A plain cheese slice is the honest first test. Move to the truffle mushroom pie after that. The shop works best when you want serious pizza without committing a whole evening to the order.
13. George's Deep Dish
George’s builds deep dish on sourdough inspired by lagana, a Greek flatbread. Cornmeal underneath, caramelized cheese at the edge, and toppings placed above the sauce make it an intentional outlier rather than another pan copy.
That specificity matters when so many famous names start to resemble the chains diners say have slipped. Pre-order before hunger becomes the schedule. These pies are not designed for impatient walk-ins.
12. Pat's Pizza & Ristorante
Pat’s has spent decades making the kind of paper-thin, square-cut pizza that many Chicagoans mean when they say “pizza.” The crust is crisp, the sausage is crumbled, and nothing needs a fork.
Ignore tourist-trap restaurant signs and do not overbuild it. Sausage, or sausage with one vegetable, keeps the center intact. Delivery and takeout orders can stop before the dining room closes, so place the call before the final-hour rush.
11. Jimmy's Pizza Cafe
Jimmy’s is the counterargument to anyone claiming Chicago cannot handle a New York slice. The Ravenswood shop offers crisp-bottomed wedges, proper fold, and enough specialty combinations to keep the case interesting.
It also preserves the casual counter ritual missing from many American dining traditions. Look at the case before ordering a full pie. A fresh specialty slice is often the smartest move.
10. Coalfire
Coalfire uses a fiercely hot coal oven to create a blistered thin crust with a chewy edge and enough structure for spicy pepperoni, whipped ricotta, or garlicky white toppings. It lands outside Chicago’s usual two-style argument.
The room fills quickly, especially at the smaller West Town location. Eat in if possible; use takeout as the pressure valve. That mottled crust loses some of its magic under a closed lid.
9. Spacca Napoli
Spacca Napoli gives Neapolitan pizza the discipline it needs. The center stays thin and supple, the oak-fired rim rises into charred bubbles, and restrained toppings let fermentation do more work than cheese volume.
Marinara or Margherita reveals the craft better than a loaded pie. Order one per person and eat immediately. The soft middle is correct when hot; after 20 minutes in a box, it becomes much harder to defend.
8. Paulie Gee's Logan Square
Paulie Gee’s brings a Brooklyn accent, but the Logan Square menu understands Chicago’s appetite for variety. The Hellboy balances spicy soppressata with hot honey, while thick Logan Squares cover the Detroit-style lane and include credible vegan options.
It is the kind of branch distinction bigger restaurant chains often lose. Use Wicker Park for New York slices; use Logan Square for the broader sit-down menu.
7. Professor Pizza
Professor Pizza refuses to choose one syllabus. New York, Detroit, Sicilian, and grandma-style pies can all appear, which sounds unfocused until the dough and bake prove otherwise.
The secret kitchen tip is restraint: start with the grandma-style Deluxe Pepperoni, cupped pepperoni, ricotta, and hot honey. Check the location before ordering. The Old Town restaurant and West Town slice operation do not always solve the same pizza craving.
6. Robert's Pizza & Dough Co.
Robert’s makes artisan thin crust that looks refined but still behaves like pizza. The fermented dough carries a crisp underside, airy edge, and enough flavor to support restrained toppings instead of disappearing beneath them.
The Ogden Slip setting earns its keep, like historic hotels worth every dollar. Reserve outdoors and request limited dock seating when weather cooperates. It turns a strong pie into one of the city’s better dinner views.
5. Middle Brow Bungalow
Middle Brow treats fermentation as the whole operation: bread, beer, wine, and a tangy sourdough pizza with produce sourced close to home. The regular pie is chewy and charred rather than cracker-thin.
Tuesday changes the assignment, because that is when tavern-style appears. Travelers who like practical food intel may also enjoy the cruise food secrets crews rarely advertise. Pair the chosen style with the house lager and stay awhile.
4. Pizz'Amici
Pizz’Amici turns ultra-thin tavern pizza into a reservation problem. The 14-inch pies arrive razor-crisp, lightly sauced, and sturdy enough for sausage, garlic, peppers, and hot honey without losing their snap.
The room is tiny, so arrive just before the 4 p.m. opening if you are gambling on a walk-in. Three contrasting toppings work better than timid cheese alone, but piling on everything defeats the crust.
3. Milly's Pizza in the Pan
Milly’s makes pan pizza with a dramatic caramelized mozzarella crown, bright tomato sauce, and fresh cheese added in deliberate patches. It is beautiful enough for Instagram, which also makes skeptics suspicious before the first bite.
The recurring argument concerns wet sauce and limited availability. Pre-order, eat it hot, and choose Que Suerte only if pineapple, jalapeño, and brown-sugar bacon sound like a feature rather than a dare.
2. Pequod's Pizza
Pequod’s is famous for the dark cheese halo fused to its pan crust. That caramelized edge supplies bitterness and crunch against a bright tomato sauce, creating a pie that is neither classic deep dish nor ordinary pan pizza.
Like the most surprising cruise food facts, the reputation comes with caveats: the crust is substantial and waits can stretch. Allow time, order fewer toppings, and protect the edge.
1. Vito & Nick's
Vito & Nick’s wins because the pizza most Chicagoans defend is not a tourist casserole. It is cracker-thin tavern pie, cut into squares, covered with fennel sausage, and built for pitchers and conversation.
The inconveniences are part of the operating instructions: cash only, no delivery, and slower weekend waits. Call in carryout before a scenic drive or settle in, but start with sausage before testing shrimp, beef, egg, or giardiniera.
Chicago does not need one official pizza. It needs places committed enough to make their chosen crust worth defending.
The real divide is not thin versus thick. It is whether the shop understands timing, balance, and the reason its style exists. Which ranking would start the biggest argument at your table?
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