...Eat Pizza! (Deep Dish Edition)

No trip to Chicago is complete without a deep dish pizza indulgence, and we're asked all the time which is the best. This list published by TimeOut Chicago comes closest to summing up my feelings on the kings of stuffed crust:

1 Art of Pizza
How does a tiny storefront slice shop get so popular it has to expand to almost three times its original size? The sauce on its pizza helps. Chunky and spiked with dried herbs, this stuff is sweet, savory and tangy all at once. But the best deep dish in the city cannot slide by on sauce alone: Art’s lightly browned, slightly flaky crust crisps up beautifully, creating a sturdy base for all that rich mozzarella. And in the middle of each slice, where the cheese melts into the crust, it’s like an extra, unexpected layer of warm pizza magic. 3033 N Ashland Ave, 773-327-5600. Average pizza: $18.
2 Pequod’s
No, this is not stuffed pizza—there’s only one layer of crust, and the toppings go right on top. But it is deep dish—and utterly Chicago—all the same. In fact, the biggest difference between this and those other pies is its light touch of cheese (about half the amount you’d find on a pie from, say, Gino’s East). But if it’s cheese you want, just wait until you get to the crust’s edges: Covered in a salty, blackened crust of cheese, it ensures that the last bite of each slice is even better than the first. 2207 N Clybourn Ave, 773-327-1512. Average pizza: $18.
3 Giordano’sThere’s something to be said for this monolithic chain, which has mastered Chicago pizza plus made it available in almost every neighborhood (not to mention Florida). But convenience aside, this pie wouldn’t be noteworthy were it not for the crust. More closely related to pastry than it is to bread, it has curvy layers of flakiness and a rich butter flavor. Indeed, it gives new meaning to the term pizza pie. Locations throughout the city and suburbs. Average pizza: $18.
4 Lou Malnati’s
In a sea of deep dish there must be a regulator, a pizza that defines the genre and keeps things in check. And that pizza is Lou Malnati’s. With a crust that’s golden and crispy and a perfect ratio of cheese-to-crust-to-sauce (the sauce almost—almost—covers the whole pie, as opposed to lesser pizzas, on which it merely appears in splotches), it is the prototypical deep dish, nothing less and nothing more. Sometimes, that’s exactly what you need. Locations throughout the city and suburbs. Average pizza: $18.

A little bit closer to our home in Bridgeport, Connie's at 2746 S Archer and Ricobene's at 252 W. 26th Street are the best options.  Connie's is a better dine-in experience, while Ricobene's is probably better for getting a slice on the go.