A Deep-Dish to Remember

It likely has something to do with the diet that The Wife and I have lined up this week (check out her site for details), but for whatever reason I found myself reminiscing about a food item that I have craved on occasion over the last few months.  It must have been (and was) really good to leave that lasting fond memory.

I have no intentions of starting a New York versus Chicago pizza argument since I haven’t spent enough time in the two cities to make a proper case for either.  Generally my feelings are that a slice of pizza is something that you should be able to pick up in one hand and eat.  Sure you may be able to pull that off with the deep-dish variety, but you know what I mean.

With that said, I will take the pizza (or whatever you would like to call it) that I had at Lou Malnati’s in Chicago at least nine times out of ten if given the choice.  Maybe that strong feeling was influenced by the whole day leading up to that meal, but the food definitely took it over the top.

A close up from Oak Park

We spent the most of the day out in Oak Park walking around among the many Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses and the rest of the afternoon exploring the side streets in the area near our hotel.  Being completely exhausted from walking all day we decided to go out for pizza, choosing the River North location of Lou Malnati’s since it was only a short walk from our hotel.

Taking the opportunity for a quicker meal we decided to sit at the bar, which made me happy since we would be able to watch college basketball on the TVs nearby.  Deep-dish pizza takes some time to cook, so we ordered some Calamari Fritta (which was very good), a Goose Island 312 (for me), and a soda (for her) to pass the time and take the edge off our hunger.  While The Wife stuck with veggies for her pizza (spinach, mushrooms, and tomatoes), I could not pass up the chance at a continuous layer of sausage with fresh spinach enhanced with garlic, basil, and onion.

Calamari Fritta (before diving in)

Just one of many great people there bring out our pizzas

It was so incredibly good.  I could not think of anything that would have been better at that time, especially with really good beer and college basketball added to the mix.  After eating my entire pizza and polishing off a few more beers, The Wife boxed up what was left of her pizza and we wandered the short distance back to our hotel.  The day’s events ending in a deep-dish pizza (and beer) induced coma that caught us up on some much-needed sleep.  Just another fantastic day in Chicago!