Chopbiscuit on the road dining review: Giordanos Pizza - Chicago, IL

It goes straight to your thighs....!

Welcome to another delightful ad hoc Chopbiscuit inspection of some of the USA's most frequented saloons, dining halls, dive bars, food trucks and high end bistro's. At least one of your humble contributors is on the road virtually every week and luckily have the opportunity to dine at some of the finest institutions and loathsome watering holes known to man. Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, some deity would permit us to be pirates and savage our nutriment.

I like eating. It fascinates me. I sit and look at the food for hours. I often eat while laying down in my hotel room with a bib in my lap and my outlook calendar open. Eating is my tweeting, except it's much cooler. Food is often made into the celebrity of carnage, which makes us appear to be pompous and scarce in regards to the act of eating itself. You eat because you fuel. I eat because I'm hungry. I eat because it's my job. I go out to these establishments to consume their lineups.

I then judge it.

Giordanos
Chicago, IL

I returned to Chicago again this week and made it a "cause" to visit a Chicago staple and dive into it's famous stuffed pizza. I was very anxious to visit the pizza elite's favorite spot,  Burt's place, but unfortunately they are closed on Tuesdays. What's your beef with Tuesdays Burt? So, I took a chance on another famous pizzeria - Giardanos.  Giardanos is a Midwest icon and has outlets all over Chi-town and in sunny Florida. I happened to be staying out in the burbs, so I decided to get my stuffed crust pizza on at the Naperville, IL location.

Giardanos reputation is built on their stuffed crust technique. A hearty, firm, flaky crust that holds up the numerous toppings and weight of it's tremendously heavy red sauce and cheese. These pizza's are built for Midwesterner's appetites.

What I Ingested:

Well, go big or go home right? I went with the stuffed crust with some fresh tomatoes and jalapenos. On the menu it states that it's a good 35 minute wait for your pie - so I bellied up to the bar and ended my work day with a nice pint of liquid gold. The restaurant feel and design was very "80's Pizza Heritage" style. Checkered table clothes, some American Italian crooner playing on the speakers and pictures of old world Chicago and northern Italy, framed at every corner. This was had a very "Uncle Vito" aura. My server was a young gal, very friendly and promoted the stuffed crust knowing I was from New York. Very respectable of her - *golf clap*


When the pizza came out I was quickly reminded I was in the Midwest. Big, hearty, loosen your belt style of eatin'. The flaky crust was a great platform for the uber fresh mozzarella cheese and sweet red sauce. To my dismay, the pie was a little runny. Ultimately it held up and was a great snapshot of a thick, hearty Chicago style deep dish pizza. I felt my Ditka mustache growing fervently as I bit into the crust.

See more Chopbiscuit Dining reviews here....