Hot List: Chef Paul's Top Chicago Tavern Pizza Spots
Chicago's Best-Kept Secret - Tavern Style
By Chef Paul Kasten
Here's what most people don't understand about Chicago pizza: while the world obsesses over deep dish, most Chicagoans are eating something completely different. Sure, they’ll take family or friends out for a deep dish when visiting Chicago, but the rest of the year they’re reaching for their own unique style of thin crust pizza.
At Deep End Pizza, I'm proud to be the first chef in Australia to serve this Chicago legacy. Our Chicago Tavern Style features three layers of dough with butter between each layer, taking at least three days to develop properly. We make limited quantities daily, so it is only available for dine-in. This style is best served piping hot with a cold beer, exactly how Chicago locals have enjoyed it since the 1940s.
Let me introduce you to the masters who taught me why tavern style is the real Chicago pizza.
Pizz'Amici
1215 W Grand Avenue, West Town (Founded 2024)
Photo Credit: @eater_chicago
"New Wave Chicago Tavern"
Pizz'Amici sets a new gold standard for tavern-style pizza. Whether you call it "thin crust" or "tavern style", we can all agree that it's the preferred style of the true Chicagoan.
This newcomer in West Town combines locally sourced ingredients and a commitment to quality, creating pizzas that are cracker-thin, flavorful, and made with the care of old-school tradition—giving this beloved style a new attitude.
The crust is impressively thin and crackery, with a structural integrity that should get shout-outs in PBS specials about Chicago architecture.
What Pizz'Amici taught me is that tradition and innovation can coexist beautifully—their dalmatian-spotted, charred bottom creates a smoky flavor that complements the slightly sweet tomato sauce perfectly.
Pizza Matta
3211 W. Armitage Ave, Logan Square (Founded during pandemic by Chef Jason Vincent)
Photo Credit: @wgnradio
"Eight-day fermented perfection with Chef-driven precision"
From Chef Jason Vincent (Giant, Chef's Special), this tiny, 12-seat pizzeria next to Giant started off just doing a thin, East Coast style pie, but quickly added an even thinner Midwestern tavern style pizza cut into squares.
The dough ferments for eight days, allowing for more depth and complexity that makes it sour, but also very pleasantly so.
Vincent's commitment to using the best ingredients he can find—Ezzo pepperoni, Slagel Farms sausage, Four Star mushrooms—shows what happens when a thoughtful Chicago chef meets pizzeria tradition. If there was ever a marriage between a thoughtful Chicago chef and a pizzeria, this is it.
Kim's Uncle Pizza
207 N.Cass Ave., Westmont (Founded 2022)
Photo Credit: @kimsunclepizza
"Cracker-tin perfection from a 1964 Faulds oven"
Kim's Uncle Pizza has revived the art of tavern-style pizza in the suburbs.
Their one-size-only 16" tavern thin crust bakes in a 1954 Faulds oven, using cold-fermented dough that creates a cracker-thin texture with zesty sauce and minimalist cheese application. "It's just pure Chicago," said pizzaiolo Bradley Shorten.
The cured crust method involves sheeting the dough into thin rounds that are left to air-dry on racks, driving out water content to make a crust much sturdier than if cooked immediately.
Kim's Uncle proves that suburban pizza can rival anything in the city when proper technique meets passionate execution
Vito & Nick's
8433 South Pulaski Road, Ashburn (Founded as tavern 1923, pizza added 1946)
Photo Credit: @vitoandnicks2pizzeria
"Sicily Origin, Chicago Legacy"
Vito & Nick's is a family owned business whose roots originated in Sicily.
In 1923 Vito and Mary Barraco opened their first tavern, eventually moving to 79th and Carpenter where pizza began in 1946.
This original Sicilian style pizza combined quality tomato sauce, carefully seasoned sausage, pure cheese, and a guarded dough recipe that's remained unchanged for over 75 years. The family has seen five to six generations pass through their doors, and their cracker-thin crust makes an audible "crunch" as you bite into it.
What Vito & Nick's taught me is that consistency over decades creates legendary status—when you perfect something, don't change it.
Pat's Pizza and Ristorante
2679 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park (Founded 1950)
Photo Credit: @theknot
"Our version is a hybrid of their classic tavern technique with modern percision "
Pat's Pizza has been a Lincoln Park institution since 1950, when Nick Pianetto Sr. established the restaurant.
This is pretty much the platonic ideal of a tavern-style pie: cut into cute little squares and spread with a thin layer of tangy sauce that helps maintain the crispiness of the crust.
Pat's represents the evolution of tavern style—maintaining the essential characteristics while refining the technique.
Their hybrid approach balances traditional tavern simplicity with contemporary ingredient quality, proving that evolution doesn't mean abandoning tradition.
Aurelio's Pizza
Multiple locations (Founded 1959 in Homewood)
Photo Credit: @aurelios
"Generous sizes and quality ingredients"
Since 1959 in Homewood, Illinois, the Aurelio's tradition of family, quality products and commitment to the community has remained the key ingredients to their success.
What sets Aurelio's apart is their use of only quality ingredients, variety of generous sizes, and specialization in customizing orders to suit each individual taste.
Chicago's oldest pizza chain has maintained their commitment to thin-crust tavern style while expanding across multiple states.
Aurelio's taught me that scalability doesn't require sacrificing quality—their dedication to generous sizing and ingredient quality shows how tavern style can work at any level.
Pizano's Pizza
Multiple locations (Founded 1991 by Rudy Malnati Jr.)
Photo Credit: @restautantclicks
"Heritage technique meets contemporary innovation"
Founded by Rudy Malnati Jr. in 1991, Pizano's carries forward the Malnati family legacy that dates back to Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
While known primarily for deep dish, their tavern style represents a thoughtful interpretation of traditional technique enhanced by decades of pizza expertise.
Rudy Jr.'s approach combines the foundational knowledge from his father's work at Pizzeria Uno with innovations that respect tavern style's essential character while elevating execution standards.
Flo & Santos
1310 S Wabash Ave, South Loop
"House made Polish ingredients meet Chicago tavern tradition"
Flo & Santos brings a unique Polish-American twist to Chicago tavern style, featuring house-made Polish ingredients like kielbasa, sauerkraut, and pierogi incorporated into traditional tavern pizza formats.
Their menu celebrates the intersection of Chicago's Polish heritage with its pizza culture—Polska kielbasa with sauerkraut and applewood smoked bacon on cracker-thin crust represents the beautiful fusion that makes Chicago's food scene so dynamic.
Flo & Santos proves that tavern style can embrace neighborhood ethnic influences while maintaining its essential character.
Want to learn more about this legendary Chicago pizza style and its technical differences? Read my complete breakdown in "The Tavern Style Technique" for the full story of this uniquely American pizza tradition.