What to eat in Chicago - Foodie Recs
When thinking about what kind of food to enjoy in Chicago, my mind immediately goes to deep dish pizza and Chicago dogs! Of course with our limiting 36 hours in Chicago, we only had time to hit up two well known places: Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria and Portillo’s.
Lou Malnati’s
I love eating pizza, but as a bread girl I’m usually not a huge fan of deep dish pizzas because it’s actually more of a pie, focused on the thickness in cheese and sauce versus the thickness in crust. Most of the deep dish pizzas I’ve ever eaten have been overwhelmingly tomato sauce, almost like I’m having tomato soup with a little bit of cheese and bread to dip it with. However, if I am in the city of deep-dish pizzas, I’m gonna have a deep-dish pizza.
Before my trip, all of my friends from Chicago unanimously recommended Lou Malnati’s to me. Many of them claimed that their deep dish was the best in Chicago and a must-try for anyone visiting. Their pizza brand is so well-known and craved enough that they even ship their frozen pizzas throughout the nation! You can check out their listing on Amazon, where you can order 2 pizzas shipped for the price of $60. Pretty steep compared to Digiorno’s.
We walked to the Gold Coast Lou Malnati’s location around 12pm on a Sunday. The restaurant was very spacious and we were granted a lovely outdoor table immediately, much to my surprise. I guess I’m too used to well-known restaurants in SF where it’s impossible to be seated without at least a two hour wait. It also helps that Lou Malnati’s has many locations all around the area so customers have plenty of options to choose from.
We ordered Lou’s Bruschetta, a Caesar salad, and of course “The Lou” deep dish pizza. We were warned that the deep dish pizza takes longer to cook because it is a deep dish, but our other appetizers came out relatively quickly. Portions were pretty large and even with the five of us, we couldn’t finish everything.
Finally the main course showed up and it looked amazing. Our waiter set the pizza on another table adjacent to ours and individually carved out slices to serve each of us. On first glance the pizza looks like a normal portion, but digging into that slice felt really heavy. It’s remarkably thick with cheese and sauce, but it’s perfectly balanced in a way that I’ve never had deep dish pizza.
The crust was definitely still relevant and it didn’t have the overwhelming tomato sauce taste. I can easily say it’s the best deep dish pizza I’ve had because it blended so well and didn’t try to crowd out the crust. And of course, when the waiter came back to serve us again, we were all too full for that second slice. I’ve rarely been stuffed after one slice of pizza but the thickness of that deep dish definitely made me feel like I was conquering more than one.
After coming back to California I’ve been tempted to go online and order more of their pizza. If that one slice can fill me up for a meal, ordering the two pack can be my meal for the next two weeks!
Portillo’s
I feel deja vu writing about hot dogs again. Without a doubt I always start to crave hot dogs during this time because I continuously stare at my pictures while describing the deliciousness of the meal.
Our first stop even before checking in at our hotel was to take a stroll to Portillo’s. It was already around 3pm so we were there for a late lunch but the restaurant was packed nonetheless. The place reminded me of a food court with various stands for you to order different items. There’s a counter to order hot dogs and sandwiches, another for drinks, a third for salads, and don't forget dessert. It’s kind of chaotic with the amount of people in there and their orders being taken and numbers being called and tables being saved.
Portillo’s is famous for their Chicago dog and Italian beef sandwich, both of which we tried. The Italian beef is baked on French bread and you have the option of adding hot or sweet peppers to it before it’s dipped deep in gravy. I’m not a huge fan of dipped breads because it makes the bread soggy and I can’t stand the texture, but I did eat the parts that weren’t soggy with the beef and I can see why people love it so much. It’s quite tender and pretty flavorful.
The Chicago dog is what I looked forward to more. I ordered the regular hot dog with everything inside including onions, tomatoes, and a pickle, all on a poppy seed bun. First bite of the dog was wonderful. Soft bread, crunchy pickle, delicious meat. The absolute best part is that the price of the dog is $2.75! It’s like going back to Iceland although cheaper in price of hot dog and plane ticket!