April 16, 2015
This past week, I went to Chicago for work. Sure, I was looking forward to being in a new city for a few days, but what I was really excited about was the opportunity to try a new restaurant with some of Chicago’s best and most famous food.
When you hear “Chicago” and “Food” the first thing you typically think about is: Deep Dish Pizza. I knew that I couldn’t leave The Windy City without at least trying a slice or two (Or an entire pie).
My first night in town, I met up with an old friend who had just moved to Chicago the week before my arrival, so like me, she was up for trying something new. We met up around 7 and decided that we were going to make our deep dish pizza dreams come true.
Thanks to Yelp! we found, we found a “famous” Chicago pizza restaurant within walking distance. We threw on our jackets and headed out the door, relying on our appetites to lead the way.
The place we dined at was called Gino’s East, and apparently is it one of the most famous pizza establishments in all of Chicago.
We walked in and were shocked to see every inch of the walls, tables, and booths were covered in graffiti from diners, signing their names and the date of their visit. “We have to leave our mark here tonight” I said as we were getting sat at a table in the bar area.
We looked over the menu and decided that we should get two small pizzas for us to split and share. The first one we picked out was the Spinach (because, healthy) and the second we chose was topped with their famous crumbled sausage. The waiter informed us that it would take close to an hour for the pizzas to be prepared and my stomach didn’t like the sound of that. We both ordered a starter salad to try to much on something and to soak up some of the wine we had already consumed.
When the pizzas (finally) arrived, they looked more amazing than I could have imagined. The crust was perfectly golden and the cheese was oozing out from under the spatula.
We ended up eating our pizzas with a knife and fork because 1) we are fancy as shit and 2) the slices were so big and heavy. I really enjoyed both pies, especially the crumbled sausage. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the pizza was and was so pleased with myself that I got to try something new!
Was it better than New York Pizza? Haaaaaaa Not even close! I prefer my pizza crust like I prefer my waist line – to be as thin as possible. But it’s the kind of pizza I could eat every once in a while.
If you ever find yourself in the Chicago area, I strongly advise you to visit one of the many locations of Gino’s East and enjoy some deep dish pizza.
Damnit, I just remembered we forgot to sign our names on the booth.
