First on my list is a place that is one of Chicagoland's favorite's.  It has been featured in a truckload of local and national food magazines and television programs and features it's own legend and rivalry.  The place I'm referring to of course, is Pequod's.  So, for anyone not familiar with the pizza from Pequod's, it is one of the greatest Pan pizzas (not technically deep dish)  known to mankind.  The secret to the wonder that is the Pequod's Pan pizza is the layer of caramelized cheese that runs between the crust and the pan.  It may just change your life.

Now, Pequod's is not without it's own sullied story.  There is a unique lore that involves a pretty serious split between the original owner, legendary pizza entrepeneur Bert Katz and the current owner.  I won't go too far into the drama of it all, but word on the street is that they aren't such good pals.  Here is a clip of the lovable curmudgeon himself with Anthony Bourdain, who happens to be talking smack on Deep Dish.

So, another one of my go-to's is a Logan Square bar that happens to serve up some amazing slices.  The Boiler Room at California and Milwaukee is a nice dark bar space with a great beer selection, rotating local art, decor based around the Chicago Transit Authority, and some really tasty pies.  With regular slices such as the Purist (Basil, mozzarella, and balsamic reduction) and the Boiler Room (Pabst meatballs, house made giardiniera) and whole pies that range from a carribean jerk to a cuban pulled pork, they do a lot to challenge and please the palette of the average bar crowd.  Often playing music that ranges from 90's style punk rock to underground hip hop and showing great cult movies on two mirrored screens over the bar, it has a very young and hip atmosphere, but maintains it's accessibility.

Now, this bar happens to be right between work and home for me, and when you work until 11pm or later every night, a slice and a beer may as well be the song of the siren luring me into the welcoming doors of the Boiler Room.  I definitely recommend this place for anyone in the area, or if eating and drinking in a casual environment without sacrificing quality seems to be on the agenda.

My third entry covers the world of the classic Neapolitan style pizza.  Now, Neapolitan is kind of a big thing in Chicago in the past 3 years; often referred to as brick oven or wood fired, it is the original style of pizza created in Naples (Italy, not Florida) 400 years ago.  There are many contenders here in Chicago as to who has the best classic Italian pie, but for me, there is one clear winner.  Located in Lincoln Square/Ravenswood Manor, the Pizza Art Cafe is one of my favorite and most highly recommended pizzerias in Chicago.

Now, this cozy little eatery ranks so highly for me, not just for the food, but the atmosphere.  The menu is extensive, covering both Northern and Southern Italian staples, and also paying a little homage to the owner's Bosnian heritage offering traditional smoked sausages and meat pies.  The restaurant itself is a BYOB and a great spot for a date, offering casually intimate space and low lighting.  I will say, sometimes the service offers a little to be desired, but all in all, this place is amazing.  A definite neighborhood favorite on the north side, I cannot fight my cravings for the delightful food they offer up.

Now, these are only a small sampling of what our fair city offers as far as the pizza available here.  These are only a few of my favorites, but definitely toward the top.  One of the greatest things about doing the Deep Dish tours is that I get to hear about so many new places in the city and surrounding area.  I hear about new places all the time.  Pizza is also the great leveler.  Regardless of class, creed, religion, denomination, or political affiliation most people world wide can agree that pizza pretty much rules.  Therefore, grab a piece of peace, a slice of life and have a great month!  I will be back in June to tell of more pizza adventures and new slices sampled.

Now, not everyone is quite so sentimental when it comes to the way pizza influences their lives on a day to day.  Honestly, sometimes pizza can result in serious pain as is shown by the often irreverent Horse the Band. (Warning: a little heavy and not so good for any little ones around)

So, from the heavy, we move on to the bizarre.  This video made some rounds a couple years back as potentially being the creepiest thing ever to be done at the hands of the any cast member of Full House.  Remember Full House?  Yeah, that was delightful!  We all learned great lessons, and then the cast kind of went crazy!  Bob Saget actually turned out to be a shock comedian with few reservations (The Aristocrats!), Dave Coulier's previous relationship with Alanis Morrisette became way too public in her music, Jodie Sweetin had a bout with meth, and John Stamos messed up his marriage to mega-babe Rebecca Romin Stamos.  Now, of all of these wild turns, I still think the Olsen straight to video films may trump them.  I say this backed by one simple song, slowed down to half speed to create a whole new beast...  Gimme Pizza...

That song seriously weirds me out to no end.

Now, to follow that monstrosity I decided to have a little fun.  A song that brings me back to my fondest days of the 90's.  I was a skinny kid with silly hair that liked to laugh and listen to punk rock songs and eat pizza.  This next song embodies what a 15 year old Gabe was like.

So, to kind of wrap up what has inadvertently become my top 5 songs about Pizza, I decided to make it a classic in it's own right.  A generational anthem that may not be directly about pizza, but certainly encourages the spirit of staying radical and enjoying that gooey, melty treat.  Cowabunga, dudes (and dudettes)!

So, this week we opted to go with two different pizzas.  In weeks past we had been a little ambitious with over ordering and bringing leftovers back home (always a bonus for roommates and girlfriends).  We thought maybe this week we should be a little more modest, especially after eating a good amount of the bread prior to the actual meal.  The first pizza we ordered was in a style based on the Neapolitan style; a thin and crispy yet chewy hand-stretched dough, lightly charred to perfection.  We decided as we had not had a pizza with red sauce in weeks to try and keep this week a little more traditional, so we went with the ever classic Margherita.  I have to say, I've had a lot of classic pizzas, but this pie was killer!  The tomatoes were subtle yet fantastic.  Lots of flavor and incredibly fresh.  The mozzarella was honestly some of the best I've ever had (in your face Bar Toma!).  This stuff put me in some sort of euphoric paradise that allowed my tastebuds to prance about free of the bonds of the rest of my body and roll in the playground of fresh ingredients that honestly make a classic pizza taste like something new.

The second pizza ordered was at the other end of the Italian spectrum: the mighty Sicilian Pan!  This pizza is usually noted by a thicker dough, often cooked in a pan, taking significantly longer than does the Neapolitan.  It timed very well to order one of each, the Margherita was just being polished off when the Sicilian came to join us.  We often like to lean on the idea of house specialty pizzas, but this week we opted to construct our own marinara monstrosity.  Jeremy wanted Italian Sausage while Jason was feeling Artichokes, so the easy answer was to throw both on there.  Hooray for compromise, and not the kind that ends up causing you tears, apology letters, and maybe therapy...  So, anyway, about this pizza...  The dough was thick, but impossibly light and chewy with a crispy crust around the pan.  The sauce was a little sweet with a touch of basil and oregano to give it a little zest without drowning out the tomato.  Definitely made fresh in house.  Now, as for the artichoke/sausage combo, it was freaking awesome!  The sausage was super savory and seasoned, with good sized chunks that honestly paired better with the artichoke than I could have imagined.  It was seriously superb and filled every last little bit of our respective stomachs.  A pleasant but not overfilled feeling with three extra slices.  Pizza Euphoria.

In summary, this little piece of a three part chain had a commitment to fresh ingredients and handmade treats that paid off for me in a big way.  It fills a great place in a part of this city with a lot of different food options.  A great spot for a casual date; intimate yet without pretense.  Also, for me, it was a great way to warm myself up for a night filled with Doom Metal from seasoned sludge vets from Eugene, Oregon: YOB, who played a great show last night at Chicago's own Empty Bottle.  A great way to spend a Wednesday night, satisfying my senses of taste, touch, smell, sight and sound!

Anyway, that being said, today I will be reviewing the surprisingly tasty franchise pizza place, Toppers.  The location Pizza Club visited this past week was at 120 South Halsted, in lovely Greektown.  It was not a large building, just kind of an average store front with a small seating area.  Actually, it reminded me a little of the pizza version of a Jimmy Johns.  It seemed best equipped for a lunch crowd or people waiting to pick up.  In fact, when we ordered, the cashier seemed surprised that we would be dining in.  Now, this place for being a little on the slight side, had a remarkably large menu.  They offer breadsticks, grinders, wings, quesadillas and of course, pizza.  You can, of course build your own, but if you're not feeling quite so picky, they offer nearly 20 house specialty pizzas, which lean more toward the not-so-traditional side.  No prosciutto arugula here. It honestly reminds me a lot of Ian's Pizza in Wrigleyville given the options for funky, but great pizzas.  Now, as to what we ordered...

The first of our three pizzas was a classic in the making, the starch heavy Mac 'N Cheese.  The crust is chewy, but not too heavy then topped with a cheese sauce before adding tender macaroni noodles and another couple generous layers of cheese.  All in all, this was just a starchy, delightful treat.  I would say that it could have definitely used something on top to kind of compliment the flavor a little more.  We all agreed that the cheese was amazing, but maybe some hot sauce, preferrably sriracha, would have definitely kicked this pizza into a place usually reserved for cherubs and really sweet elderly folk.  We agreed that it was a heavy but fantastic slice of comfort food.

Next on our evening of counter-style conquest was the Smoky BBQ Chicken.  This pie features a well seasoned smoky barbeque sauce, barbecue chicken, hunks of bacon and mozzarella/jack cheeses.  They definitely were shooting for a roasty, smoky flavor and I would say it hit.  I must say though that this pizza was a mess;  very saucy, very drippy cheese.  Miss Manners would be appalled, but it doesn't bother those of us who lick sauce off of their fingers (waste not, want not).  Overall, we agreed that it was a tasty pizza, but far from the best.

Our third, and favorite pizza of the evening was the Philly Cheesesteak.  As the name implies, they loaded up this bad boy with all the treats you would find stuffed into a classic Philly: grilled thin cut steak, onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, then topped it with a cream sauce, mozzarella and provelone.  This was definitely the most flavor packed of the three.  The cheese seemed to have more flavor than did the Mac, and the steak was killer.  Even Jeremy who doesn't even want to look at mushrooms (he dutifully picked them off) enjoyed every last bite of this pizza.  All three of us agreed that this was the best of the lot and had us feeling stuffed and happy for our ride home to the north side.  If I lived closer to this burgeoning new chain, I would definitely make repeat orders for this pie.  

So, after one of the last nice days of our delayed winter, this was a good joint to put me into pizza coma to hibernate this past week away.  I would be lying if I said I didn't have a few doubts about this place before walking in.  I expected some pretty Marlon Bland-o pizza from a place like this, but was very pleased upon walking out.  As a random bonus, we also got an order of  free breadsticks through Foursquare for checking in.  Kind of a nice add on.  We had three mediums between three of us and left with overfull stomachs and a whole pizza left over (resulting in some very impressive one-handed riding from Jeremy) and payed less than 20 each with drinks.  The only real draw back to a place like this is that the veggies were far from the freshest in the biz.  The pizzas are also a little conveyor belt, even if unique and tasty.  Overall, a great counter-style pizza place and a nice convenient delivery or carry-out pizza for anyone in the Greektown/West Loop area.  Maybe more franchises will pop up soon to cover a bit more of Chicago?