July 7th, 2011: Gino's East Deep Dish Pizza

Being a native Chicago suburbian, I have a sweet spot for the Chicago cuisine. From Chicago dogs made using Vienna skinless franks to Gyros to Maxwell Street Polishes to Deep Dish Pizza to the most perfect Chicago thin crust ever made, I love it all. I've dined at some wicked weird places in the city and eaten some weird things around the country, but I always come back to Chicago cuisine as one of my comfort foods. It's one of the reasons I love my Gyro burger recipe so much, it's a way to experience a Chicago meal with a twist.

Living in central Illinois, though, I can get plenty of gyros and Chicago dogs (done well at Windy City Wieners and The Rock) but the one thing I have not experienced since my move: deep dish pizza. While living with my parents before moving down here, I lived a scant mile from a Gino's East and would experience some of the best deep dish you'll ever know. I've eaten at the original Gino's and Giordano's. Down here, I don't even have an Uno's to go to. And that shit ain't good. The closest thing I can get is the grocery store freezer sourced Gino's East Frozen pizza. It does in a pinch.

The best way to describe the experience with the frozen Gino's East pizzas is this: it tastes like reheated Gino's the day after you bought it with a slightly stale crust and a touch to much salt. It does for the time being, but, ideally, I'll be eating me some Gino's again soon. Chicago, here I come!

In the meantime, I'll be eating dogs and gyros until I get back up there. Where can I get a Maxwell down here? And where the fuck can I get some Chicago thin-crust? I'll be damned if I've never had one better than Armand's in Elmwood Park. Oh, man. Time to put my yeast to use and make my own Chicago style pizzas, I guess.