Monday, December 13, 2010

Giordano's

Just minutes after wolfing all but one slice of my individual pie at the OG Pizzeria Uno, I met a good friend near beautiful Millennium Park to dig right back in to another pie, this time at the birthplace of Chicago's acclaimed stuffed (not deep dish) pizza, Giordano's.


While this may not be the first Giordano's to open, I didn't have the luxury of opting for each pizzerias authentic original location considering how many spots I had to hit up while in town. Besides, I've never heard a Chicagoan insist on one pizzeria's location over another- quality control seems to be consistent across the city.


Cutting right to the chase- this is a stuffed pizza. Let me refine that; this is a small (10") spinach stuffed pizza. From the ground up, it consists of dough, spinach, mozzarella, dough (again), tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese.


Did I mention the crust is two inches tall?


I put my chapstick next to the pie just to give it some scale. I was at a loss for words when the pie hit the table. Deep dish is one thing, but two layers of dough? Are you trying to fatten me up to eat me? What's going on here?


Apparently Giordano's (and I'm assuming most other pizzerias in the city) use a pound and a half of cheese per pie. WOOF.


Giordano's was founded by brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio in 1974, both immigrants from northern Italy. According to Efren, his mother Giordana used to make stuffed pizza similar to what they serve today. For some reason, I have a hard time believing not only they serve stuffed pizza in northern Italy, but that it has any resemblance to this monstrosity. Until this can be proven to me, I'll accept the Boglio's story with a grain of salt.


While the ingredients in my pie certainly tasted fresh, I was underwhelmed by Giordano's dense, bready crust and superfluous second layer of dough. This pizza looks like a caricature of a pizza style already pushing the envelope on going overboard.

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