Giordano’s Pizza

Posted by Edmund in Chicago, Featured Articles, Pizza, Restaurants | 0 comments

Cuisine: Pizza.
Specialty: Deep Dish Pizza/Chicago-Style Pizza.
Location: All Throughout Chicago.
Price: $19.25-$29.25 for a large stuffed pizza.

I’d finally arrived at the last of Chicago’s deep dish triumvirate, Giordano’s. I had already trekked through the casual sports bar-ish Lou Malnati’s with its amazingly cheesy pie and buttery crust, as well as the ostentatiously run-down Gino’s with its phenomenal sausage patty-topped pie. Now I had only Giordano’s left to finally settle Chicago’s oldest rivalry and discover for myself which deep-dish pizzeria reigns supreme. Needless to say, I expected a fantastic experience, as I had repeatedly been impressed with the quality of the chain pizzerias in the city—something I never imagined I’d ever be able to say of chain pizzerias.

Giordano’s, though, reassured me that the world had not lost its mind, as it confirmed all my previous stereotypes about large chains. As I entered, the brash grunge of Gino’s that I had begun to associate with Chicago pizza was simply swept away, as Giordano’s went all the way to the other extreme with perhaps the most family-friendly atmosphere of the pizzerias. In fact, it was so family-friendly that I had the displeasure of sitting next to a family with 3 annoyingly loud young kids. Even worse, though there were only about five tables occupied in this huge restaurant, I could still hear practically everyone talking. I’m not sure if it’s just poor acoustics or the fact that Giordano’s draws loud groups, but this pizzeria is not the place to go for peace and quiet. If you’re not in the mood for a headache and want something with a bit less noise and less toddlers, I’d recommend heading to one of the other pizzerias.

It doesn’t help, either, that you have to wait 40 minutes for the house special—a pizza stuffed with sausage, onions, peppers, and mushrooms—to bake. With that type of wait, though, I thought the pizza would at least be amazing. After all, why would anyone spend so much time on a pizza if not to make it absolutely perfect?

Yet, not only was I disappointed, but I would easily rank this pizza as the worst of Chicago’s three legendary pies. It’s not that the pizza is bad, though; rather, it does most things rather well but fails in a couple major aspects that drag down the whole pie.

The first thing that stands out is simply the quantity of toppings that you’re getting. Unlike most of the other pizzerias, when Giordano’s says stuffed, it means stuffed. Thus in every bite I was actually able to taste the veggies, which was a first. The cheese was just as overstuffed, so this was probably also the cheesiest pizza I had, which wasn’t a problem because the cheese was excellent. It was perfectly gooey and chewy mozzarella with just enough salt, and it had a very fresh taste even with all the oil, allowing me to really just munch on it and savor it a bit.

Where the pie failed was in the sauce and crust, in my opinion the two most important factors in a good Chicago-style pizza. I did like how fresh and zesty the sauce was, as it had tons of garlic and herbs, to the point that I could even see them on top. The problem was that it was a very strong tomato taste, and because it was slathered on in a thick pasty layer over the pie, it could overpower the rest of the pie¸ which was a shame, because the ingredients were just right. Second, there was something wrong about the dough. In the center, the pie had a really soft, thin, doughy layer that was more or less just fluff, with very little taste of its own. Its only function was to serve as a platform, but it was not even great for that because it felt undercooked. As for the crust, it was on the narrow side, so it was rather crunchy, like a breadstick. Unfortunately, it again was bland. Moreover, since it was thin, it was very flaky, and it crumbled apart into a very unsatisfying mush. It didn’t help that the center wasn’t even cooked all the way through.

To top it all off, the special is a sausage pizza, as are all Chicago specialties. Yet, in a pizzeria known for overstuffing its pies, Giordano’s managed to all but forget the sausage, providing so little that I not only couldn’t taste it in most bites, but when I did it seemed rather tacked on, since it was so weak. This factor was really the killer for me: In a town where pizzerias pride themselves on their homemade sausage, Giordano’s just misses the mark completely. While I like the concept of the pie, there’s really no reason for me to come here and wait for 40 minutes when I can just go to Gino’s and get a pizza with a whole PATTY OF SAUSAGE placed perfectly on top of the whole pie.

And the price for this pie? $19.15 for a small, which serves 1-2 people. I understand that cooking something for 40 minutes should raise the price quite a bit, but when the competition does it so much better at about the same price, it’s really not worth it.

Giordano’s, then, makes one of those pizzas that looks lovely on first sight, since it’s so huge, overstuffed, and perfectly cheesy. However, as you unravel this pie, you notice more and more with each bite just how imperfect it is and how it really fails to live up to the quality of the other major chains in town. Save yourself some time and head to Lou’s or Gino’s.

Scores

Ambience: 1.5/5.0
Service: 1.5/5.0
Taste: 2.3/5.0
Value: 2.0/5.0. A typical price, but there’s still better pizza in Chicago at the same rate.
Overall: 2.0/5.0