The ultimate Chicago poll

Only one place can consistently offer the same high quality deep dish pizza in numerous locations: LOU MALNATI'S!! Uno's (and Due's) offer the real thing at only the two downtown locations; the franchise places are crap.

Malnati's to me is closest to the "old days" when Gino's, Uno's and Due's were about it for deep-dish pizza and Malnati's was coming on board with an owner who worked at Uno's for years. Today, Malnati's is closest to the original deep-dish than either the older Uno's and Gino's.

Nobody does stuffed spinach like Edwardo's.

For thin: I've mentioned this one before and anyone in the North Shore/ north suburban areas, if you're familiar with it, I'd love to know: Tonneli's (Waukegan and Shermer in Northbrook). Fabulous thin pizza. Very thin with a great flaky crust. Nothing is loaded up on it; everything is in the right proportions. Tonneli's uses flavor rather than quantity and it works. This stuff goes down as easy as any pizza I've ever had with a most memorable taste.

I'd like to ask the Aeurillio fans: is it as good in the other locations as it is in Homewood.

Well unfortunately I don't have any experience with some of the neighborhood places that have been mentioned. But from my limited experience, I would say that Gino's East is the best among the well-known places. The long wait is well worth it. The spinach is of course outstanding.

That said, I always went to Eduardo's when I lived in Chicago since it was their location was convenient to me -- the 57th street location near UofC. Great personal pizza special. But I have to say, in the trip before last, I took my girlfriend. Chicago was new to her and so of course I was trying to show her how impressive the city was in every way. Unfrotunately the Eduardo's pizza didn't live up to its mythic status for me, nor what I had built it up to be for her. I don't know if Eduardo's has changed recently? I should have taken her to the only slightly less convenient Giordano's on 53rd, which is definitely far superior, save for the 10 lbs of extra cheese they put on it!!!!

Pope John Paul II

edsg25 said:

This week, I'd have to say that John Paul would have to be the ultimate Chicago Pole.

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Edsg, I'm not sure how Chicago can claim him, although it would great if they could since in my opinion he was a great Pope. The charisma required to fill papal shoes -- he had. Maybe as a manager of a bureacracy, there were problems, and one can question how he dealt with Cardinal Law and authors, but strictly judged as a spiritual leader, I think its hard to deny his greatness.