The 15 Best Deep Dish Pizzas In America

Antonio's got its start back in 1967, and it's still family-owned, with 12 locations and 2 more in the works in the Cleveland suburbs. Deep dish is one of a handful of pizza styles on offer, but it's definitely the way to go. These pizzas start with fresh-made crust, which is layered with provolone, toppings, more cheese, another layer of crust, house-made sauce, and grated Romano cheese before being baked to a golden brown. The topping options are pretty extraordinary as well; you can choose from everything from Hungarian peppers to thick hand-cut pepperoni, meatballs, and sliced steak.

There are four Bella Bacino's locations in the Chicagoland area, but the one to visit is the original, opened more than 30 years ago by founder Dan Bacin on Lincoln Avenue. Its "stuffed pizzas" are available in four sizes, and can take up to 40 minutes to come out of the kitchen after ordering. Ingredients are top-notch (all cheese comes from Wisconsin), and add-ins include applewood-smoked bacon, salami, giardiniera, Italian sausage, and fresh jalapenos. The Spinach Supreme, which is filled with a cheese blend, herbs and spices, fresh spinach, and fresh mushrooms, has even been hailed as "heart healthy" by the Chicago Heart Association.

Tony Gemignani is a master pizza chameleon, an expert at more pizza styles than you've ever tasted. No surprise then that his red-boothed, brick-walled homage to Chicago-style pizza in San Francisco's North Beach landed on our list of the 101 best pizzas in America. And by Chicago-style, we mean a choice between deep dish, cast iron pan, stuffed, and cracker thin pizzas (there's more to Chicago than casseroles, after all). One of the most-discussed orders at Capo's is the Quattro Forni, a square loaf smothered with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and herbs and your choice of prosciutto, sopressata, or wild mushrooms, that's baked in four different ovens to achieve a crispy, chewy, black-edged crust. But the Dillinger is the pie that Capo's singled out as the signature order. A trio of Cheddar, mozzarella, and provolone is topped with vodka sauce, chicken, bacon, broccolini, artichoke hearts, red peppers, garlic, and lemon and spiced with crushed red pepper.

Gino's may be the ultimate in Chicago deep dish pizza, with a history dating back half a century (2017 marks 51 years). The story starts with two taxi drivers and their friend who became frustrated with rush hour traffic and decided to open up their own pizza place just off the famed Michigan Avenue strip in downtown Chicago. The restaurant has been considered a city mainstay since its conception, as has the graffiti on its walls (it's Gino's tradition to carve your name if you're a regular). Their pie begins with a buttery crust that crumbles as soon as you take a bite; it's stuffed with a layer of fillings (ranging from sweet Italian sausage to pineapple), then topped with a more-than-healthy serving of mozzarella and finished with crushed vine-ripened tomatoes. Their success has led them to open 16 locations, even expanding into neighboring Wisconsin (for all those cheese-lovers), Arizona, and, of all places, Texas , with another coming soon to Phoenix.

The first Lou Malnati's Pizzeria opened in 1971 to much acclaim, and it's now a Chicago — and national — institution. Lou died of cancer just seven years later, but his family kept his dream alive, expanding his chain to 48 Chicagoland locations at last count.

The Lou Malnati's deep dish experience comes in four sizes: six-inch individual (serves one), nine-inch small (serves two), 12-inch medium (serves three), and 14-inch large (serves four). So you most likely will just be ordering one or two if you plan to finish them, even with a few friends (unless you're not planning to eat anything else that day).

They do actually make a thin-crust pie, but you're not visiting for that, so make sure one of those picks is the Malnati Chicago Classic, made with Lou's lean sausage (a whole disc of it), some extra mozzarella, and vine-ripened tomato sauce on buttercrust. "It's authentic Chicago!"

Pequod's originator (the late Burt Katz) moved on from this endeavor after few years to take a break before opening a new pizza stalwart in 1989 (Burt's Place in Morton Grove, just north of Chicago). But the years have been kind to his legacy. Pequod's deep dish, known for its "caramelized crust," earns points for its chewy, crusty, quasi-burnt cheese crust that forms the outer edge of this cheesy casserole, adding a welcome degree of texture that probably wouldn't be necessary if it weren't nearly an inch thick. But it is necessary. And beautiful. And it does add that texture. Pequod's achieves the effect by spreading a thin layer of cheese along the outer part of the crust, where it darkens against the side of the pan.

Rudy Malnati Sr. first gained notice as the original chef and manager of Pizzeria Uno, which opened in 1943. Under Malnati's son Lou, Uno went on to storied success. But his other son, Rudy, has been just as much a part of any conversation about Chicago's great pizzas since he opened Pizano's in 1991. There are now six Pizano's locations, all known for serving equally good thin and deep dish pizzas. You have a choice between their buttery and flaky "world famous, gourmet, deep dish pizza" (don't forget to allow a half hour for it to cook), or the thin-crust 12-inch or 14-inch pies.

If you're looking for deep dish pizza by the slice, this Chicago joint is the place to go. The Art of Pizza doesn't do anything too crazy; they just treat the pizza with the respect it deserves, using high-quality Wisconsin mozzarella, California vine-ripened tomatoes, plenty of fresh vegetables, and pans that are perfectly seasoned, resulting in an ideally crisp, buttery crust. The sauce — bursting with fresh tomato flavor and just the right amount of oregano, basil, and red pepper flakes — is also up there with the best you'll find anywhere. The name says it all – these guys treat pizza-making like an art form.