For a long time, the Windy City was best known for massive hunks of dough and cheese known as deep dish and the even larger behemoths called stuffed pizza, which is served at places like Uno’s, Gino’s East, Giordano’s and Connie’s.
But the truth is, those types of pizzas are a once-a-year type indulgence for most Chicagoans, if they're eating them at all. For many people across the Midwest, thin crust, square-cut tavern or bar pies are the real go-to. And currently, there are over a dozen local spots making this Chicago specialty.
These pizzas were originally a way for bar owners to get patrons to stick around a little longer; the thin pizza was just filling enough, while the salty cheese made guests thirsty for more drinks. The small, square cuts were likely a way to get more mileage out of a pizza being offered to the entire bar, and it didn’t hurt that you can plop an entire piece into your mouth in one bite, either.
There is an art to these pies, though, as highlighted by chef and food writer J. Kenji López-Alt, who recently spent five months studying them and reporting his findings in a story for the New York Times.
The thin, crispy nature of tavern pies makes them great for loading up toppings.
Pizza 3.14 Instagram
Daniel points out that 3.14 makes everything fresh, in-house, every day. The tomatoes are roasted for the pizza sauce, then salt, garlic, pepper, red onion and oregano are added before it cooks for over 24 hours. He notes that this helps reduce the acidity and gives the sauce a nice charred, roasted-tomato taste.
Pizza 3.14 also happens to be one of the only pizzerias around that cuts its tavern pies into triangles by default (though they’ll happily cut squares upon request). This comes back to knowing its audience. “Our most consistent, biggest customer base is college kids that have been out drinking all night,” Daniel says. “They want to be able to dip their pizza in their spicy ranch, so it’s just easier.”
The business has been successful — Daniel says that the pizzeria cleared an impressive $1.5 million in its first year. “It has been going extremely well. Especially since the hiring of Deion Sanders,” he adds.
Now a second location of 3.14 is coming as soon as mid-May to the former Wahoo's Fish Taco outpost at 225 East 20th Avenue, in Denver's Curtis Park neighborhood. While the new space isn’t next to a college, it shares some other traits with the Boulder locale. “It’s surrounded by high-rise apartments within a few blocks, there’s nothing open late down there, and the building is just so cool,” Daniel says.
Long-term, he would like to open eight to ten locations using his experience in helping Dallas pizzeria ZaLat grow from two to six outposts during his time there. (The company currently has 28 locations.)
You can't talk tavern-style pizza in Denver without bringing up Grabowski’s, which was opened by veteran restaurateur Jared Leonard inside the Source, at 3330 Brighton Boulevard, in 2019. This spot, which relocated to Lakewood, serves the kind of tavern pies its owner grew up eating in Chicago.
Mannie & Bo’s, located at 16399 South Golden Road in Golden, has a strong core following of its own. The pizzeria makes both thin crust and deep-dish pies. Its taco pizza is a popular option, reminiscent of Chicagoland versions at places such as Ed & Joe’s. Here it's made with a spiced mix of meat and onions, covered in a four-cheese blend and baked before being topped with lettuce, tomatoes and cheddar cheese, with salsa and sour cream on the side. It’s a delicious pie, and one that doesn’t reheat well, so come hungry enough to finish a whole one.
Chi-Guyz is a pizza truck out of Evergreen that makes both Neapolitan and Chicago tavern pizzas. While most tavern pies start by using a dough sheeter, a device that takes a dough ball and flattens it into thin discs before being launched in a pizza oven, Chi-Guyz hand-shapes its dough and cooks it in a high-heat, wood-fired oven for a slightly thicker interpretation of the style.
Wyman’s No. 5, located at 2033 East 13th Avenue, also offers a tavern-thin option. The $8 small pepperoni pizza on Wednesdays is one of the better deals around, too.
Another great deal is the Monday-through-Friday 11 a.m.-to-2 p.m. lunch special from the Walnut Room, located at 3131 Walnut Street. A one-topping ten-inch pie, with a house salad, soup or side item, plus a soda, PBR or Prost Dunkel will run you just $10.75. If you’re a golfer, you get the bonus of on-premises golf simulators.
If you’re after beers brewed on the premises with your tavern pie, look no further than Downhill Brewing in Parker. Located at 18921 Plaza Drive, this brewery serves everything from porters and hazy IPAs to stouts and sour beers, making it easy to find the perfect beer to pair with your crispy pie. Downhill puts its sauce and toppings all the way to the edge of the pizza, something you’ll find with many pizzerias specializing in tavern-style pies.
Newest to the scene is Da Sauce, which debuted at 2907 Huron Street in early April. It carries its name over to its specialty pizzas, using monikers like Da Loop and Da Southsider to differentiate between pies. Perhaps most aptly named is Da Outtatowna, which includes bacon, chorizo, jalapeño and the ever-divisive pineapple.
Popular Highland spot Happy Camper also offers its pies tavern-style, but only by request. The spot, at 3211 Pecos Street, is quite the hip scene, with an indoor-outdoor space on a busy corner across from Avanti; it also has two locations in Chicago.
Blue Pan, which has two locations and a third opening in Golden this year, is best known for popularizing Detroit-style pizza in Denver, but it also makes a Chicago "Cracker Thin" pizza as well, a term that is usually used interchangeably with "tavern" and "bar" pies.
A number of Chicago-area chains operate in and around Denver as well. A personal favorite is Jimano’s, located at 2950 South Broadway in Englewood. It offers the classic blend of slightly sweet sauce and salty cheese, and while there is an option to order your pie "well done" (a requirement in order to get a properly cooked pie at many places), there’s no need to check that box at Jimano’s, because its thin-crust pizzas come out crispy every time.
Two other Chicago chains with a prescience in Colorado are Giordano’s and Rosati’s. Giordano’s is widely known as a tourist favorite for deep-dish pizza, but the restaurant also makes a thin crust, tavern-style option. With locations in Arvada and downtown Denver, it's a nostalgic and familiar name for many.
Rosati’s is a name familiar to many Chicagoans as well. With more than 200 locations across the country and over seventy in Illinois alone, it's a large chain. A family quarrel led to a split in ownership, and Colorado happens to have one restaurant from each half of the divide.
The Broomfield Rosati’s is very recently under much-needed new ownership. Early signs point to a marked improvement in wait times and general customer service, while at Rosati's in Louisville, you can find a franchise from the other side of the family split. Are they drastically different or about the same? Try them both and find out.
Whether you’re a crust-piece person or a center-of-the-pie kind of eater, there’s plenty to love about Chicago tavern pizzas. The small, thin and crispy squares aren’t overwhelmed or weighed down by a slew of add-ons, so it's an ideal style for those who love to load up on toppings like fennel-spiked sausage and giardiniera.
Or, do as my late grandfather did: His favorite was the Super Six from Aurelio's in Chicago, a combination of mushrooms, green peppers, pepperoni, thinly sliced ham, Italian sausage and, of course, mozzarella.
