39. CHICAGO-STYLE PIZZA

Chicago, Illinois

4/8/2010

A short detour off of Michigan Avenue led us to the original Pizzeria Uno – originator of the deep-dish (aka Chicago-style) pizza. Opened in 1943, the founders have resisted the urge to renovate despite their success. On the one hand, it assures an authentic experience and a steadfastness that is commendable. On the other hand, it’s small. Very small. The greeters seemed overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of people. We were told we would have a half-hour wait, but since the pizza takes 45-minutes to make, they took our order when we came in so they could start baking it right away. On the surface – and probably most of the time – a pretty good system. However, after standing there for an hour in their microscopic lobby (luckily, Laura was able to grab a seat on a crowded bench) one of the greeters asked if we had been helped yet, since she noticed us standing there for awhile. After a lot of confusion, the greeter and another employee finally concluded that we had come in during a shift change and got lost in the shuffle. They found a reference in their computer to someone whose name was nothing like mine with the same order we made, so they guessed the greeter had inputted our name incorrectly. “That girl,” the greeter offered, “She doesn’t spell very well.” “Or listen,” her companion admitted.

Eventually, they led us to a table where our waiter came out. He wanted to know our name so they could match it up with the order. I explained to him that we didn’t have our name attached to our order because of the mix up, but I told him what we ordered. He told us he would have to check on that. This made no sense to me. Clearly, we had been seated by the greeters. What diabolic scheme did he think we were hatching in order to steal someone else’s medium pizza? I’m sure this has not been everyone’s experience, but there seemed to be a breakdown in communication between the employees of this place across the board.

Let’s talk about the pizza, though. It was not what we expected, but it was a pleasant surprise. We ordered the Numero Uno, which is their signature pie. It is a deep-dish pizza, but the depth was in the toppings, not the bread. It was truly like a pie. The ingredients were high-quality and it was one of the few pizzas I’ve ever eaten when I didn’t get that “Oh man… I just ate a bunch of pizza” feeling in my stomach afterwards.

Although the pizza was good, looking around both in the lobby and in the dining area, it was obvious that everyone there was a tourist like us, drawn in for the one-time experience. Mistakes happen in restaurants, so I don’t hold their mix-up too much against them. But even if things had gone more smoothly, one still has to go through quite a bit of discomfort before eating and then they kind of usher you out as quickly as possible to bring in the next people. I’d love to hear from a real Chicagoan who eats here regularly – if such a person really exists. I doubt it's worth it.