Food I am having arguably the best pizza in Chicago tomorrow.

The catch is that you have to have a reservation, and you have to place your order when you make your reservation. Your pizza shows up at the table exactly at the time of your reservation.


We've never been, but we've always talked about going. A couple times we've called to try to get in, and never gotten through. We keep saying "we HAVE to go there!" because Burt is in his mid 70s, and eventually he's going to stop making pizza. Well, today I finally decided to call until I got through, and we made our reservation. So tomorrow, we should be getting some top notch pizza.

 

Burt's isn't traditional Chicago style.

 

Mission accomplished.

Had to just about roll myself out of there.

Got to spend about 10 minutes just chatting with Burt, and even more with his lovely wife Sharon. It was just the two of them and one other worker manning the place and working the phone. Really great people. Sense of humor, down to earth, and just really like what they are doing.

We also sat in the booth marked "Anthony Bourdain sat here."

I asked if after we left if they were going to put a "Borla sat here" plaque up. They said the best they could do is mark the back of Bourdain's.

 

There were four of us. Two pizzas. One was sausage, pepperoni, spinach, garlic, and extra cheese. The other was sausage, mushroom, and spinach.

It was all awesome. Probably the best pizza I've ever had. Not quite Chicago-style, which was fine with me. Caramelized crust on the bottom, but soft and light above that. Great sauce, and fresh ingredients. The spinach was just laid on top in leaves and thrown in the oven, which was awesome.

The only caveat is you have to know the ins and outs of ordering ahead, showing up early, etc. The entire dining room probably only seats 30-ish people, and it takes Burt an hour to get the pizzas cooked. So if your reservation is for 6, your pizza will hit the table at 6. Not 5:59, not 6:01, but 6:00. We saw that in action when all three tables with reservations at the same time as ours had the pizzas all come out on the exact minute of the hour.

They also have a guest book they ask customers to sign. Just within the last day there were people from all over the Midwest, Ecuador, France, Brazil, and Columbia. Burt said he's had people call from all over the world. It's funny cause it seems to still amaze him, I don't think they realize how big of a deal they are. In fact, Food Channel just named Burt's Pizza one of the Ten Meals to Eat Before You Die or something like that. Bobby Flay hosts and Burt's makes the list.

Cool stuff. Definitely worth the trip. You just have to know to order ahead and know it is a tiny, old place. Great times talking to Burt and Sharon too.

 

Hopefully Burt is still making pizza when we make our great pizza tour. That looks incredible.

 

Oh man, I had late night leftovers. They were phenomenal. Too bad I'm now out of pizza.

Oh well, was quite the epic cheat day.

 

It's not actually "Chicago Style" pizza. So yourself.

 

nice, now I have another place to visit when we make our next trip to Chicago. I don't know when that will be, but one day.

 

I'm thrilled that I got to check meeting him and having his pizza off of my bucket list.

Sad to see him go.

Burt Katz, legendary pizza maker and owner of Burt's Place, dies at 78 - Chicago Tribune

 

I was in Chicago for about three hours Monday afternoon and had sausage deep pan pizza at Lou Malnoti's on Randolph. I'm no pizza expert, but that was awesome. Is that considered good Chicago pizza?

 

Obviously there are rabid and various opinions on what is good pizza, and/or what is good Chicago pizza. To clarify, Burt's wasn't really "Chicago style" pizza. It was more of a pan pizza, and for my money it was the best pizza I'd ever had of any style.

Assuming one truly knows and likes what Chicago style pizza is (many I've heard rail against it have never had Chicago style pizza in Chicago, which is typically very different than imitations of Chicago style served elsewhere), I'd argue that Lou Malnoti's Sausage is one of the primary and best known examples. I don't have a hardcore favorite. And to be honest, to me pizza can be done in MANY styles and be awesome (and I have to be in the right mood for Chicago style). But if someone were to ask me where to go to try good Chicago style pizza, Lou's, and particularly Lou's sausage pizza, would be in the top few places I'd rattle off to try.

Glad it met your approval.