The Most Famous Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago, Explained

November 3, 2026 — Gino's East

Ask ten Chicagoans for the most famous deep dish pizza in Chicago and you will get ten answers, a few raised voices and at least one person who insists their uncle’s place counts. The honest answer is that no single pie owns the title. The style itself is the famous part, and a handful of long-running downtown houses, Gino’s East among them since 1966, are where most people go to taste it.

So instead of pretending to settle the argument, here is what actually makes a deep dish famous, where the style came from, and how to judge for yourself at our Magnificent Mile or South Loop restaurants.

Deep dish is Chicago’s signature dish

Start with the numbers. When Time Out asked locals to name the city’s most iconic food, 47 percent picked deep dish pizza, far ahead of the Chicago-style hot dog at 11 percent and Italian beef at 7. That is a landslide in a city that takes its hot dogs very seriously.

Visitors feel the same pull. The city’s official tourism site, Choose Chicago, opens its guide to Chicago-style pizza by noting the style was invented here during the 1940s and is instantly recognizable. Gino’s East is one of the local spots that guide recommends.

In other words, when someone searches for famous Chicago pizza, they are usually looking for two things at once: the real deep dish experience, and a restaurant with enough history to feel like the genuine article.

Where Chicago deep dish began

The style is younger than most people guess. According to CBS News Chicago’s interview with city historian Tim Samuelson, the first deep dish was served in 1943 at a bar on Ohio Street that Ric Riccardo had taken over.

The Wikipedia article on deep-dish pizza sums up the build that came out of those early kitchens. The crust rises up the sides of a deep pan, the cheese and toppings go in first, and a layer of crushed tomatoes is ladled over the top before the whole thing bakes. The article also separates deep dish from its cousin, stuffed pizza, which adds a second, thinner layer of dough over the filling.

That upside-down order is not a gimmick. A deep pie bakes a long time, and putting the sauce on top keeps the cheese underneath from scorching.

The 1966 chapter

Gino’s East arrived in 1966 with a very Chicago origin story. Two taxi drivers, Sam Levine and Fred Bartoli, spent their shifts driving up and down the Magnificent Mile and decided a pizza place just off that busy stretch would be a smart bet. With their friend George Loverde, they opened Gino’s East.

The pizza that made the name came from Alice Mae Redmond. She had already spent 17 years as a pizza chef at another restaurant before the new owners hired her, and she went on to run the Gino’s East ovens for the next 29 years. You can read more about her in our story of Alice Mae Redmond.

A server lifting a slice of Gino’s East deep dish from a black pan, with long strands of melted cheese and chunky tomato sauce stretching down

What makes the most famous deep dish pizza in Chicago?

Fame in pizza is earned slowly. Here is what we think separates a legendary pie from a merely tall one, and what to look for wherever you eat.

A crust with a story

At Gino’s East, the crust is the headline. Alice Mae worked slowly on purpose: she stretched the dough gently into the pan by hand instead of slapping it around, and she eased the sauce onto each pie instead of splattering it. She also created a secret dough conditioner, and it is still what gives our crust its texture and taste. We are not going to tell you what is in it. Sixty years of keeping a secret is a hard habit to break.

The dough is still GMO-free and made from scratch every day, and every pie is still built the same way it was in 1966.

Ingredients with an address

A famous pie should taste like it comes from somewhere. Ours starts with family-grown tomatoes from California, cheese from Wisconsin made especially for pizza, and sausage made right here in Chicago. As a family company, we source from family-run suppliers wherever we can.

If you want the most Chicago order possible, ask for sausage. On the deep dish, you can even get it as a sausage patty, a topping we offer on deep dish only.

A room people remember

This is where Gino’s East is different from almost anywhere else. Guests started signing our walls and never stopped. Today the dining rooms are covered in decades of signatures, doodles and declarations of love, and first-timers are welcome to add their own. Find a blank inch and make your mark while the pie bakes. The graffiti is part of the meal.

At the Magnificent Mile flagship, that graffiti covers three floors. The building also holds The Comedy Bar, which opened on the third floor in 2011, plus a third-floor terrace.

Staying power

Plenty of restaurants have a great year. Very few have sixty of them. Gino’s East has been baking deep dish in Chicago since 1966, and the method Alice Mae set in motion is the one we still use. In 2019 we also became the first major Chicago deep dish restaurant to offer vegan cheese, proof that a classic can still learn a trick or two.

How to try famous Chicago pizza downtown

If you only have one deep dish dinner on your trip, here is how to make it count.

Order the pizza early. Every deep dish is baked to order in the pan, one pie at a time, and it takes longer than a thin crust. Put your pizza in as soon as you sit down and let an appetizer carry you through. Our famous hand-rolled mozzarella sticks are a strong opening move.

Pick a first pie. Some of the deep dish pies guests come back for:

Cheesy Legend: mozzarella, cheddar, romano and fresh mozzarella, for anyone who wants to taste the crust and cheese with nothing in the way.
Chicago Fire: hot and spicy patty-style sausage, fire-roasted red peppers and red onions.
The Italian Special: Italian beef, sweet peppers and giardiniera, which puts two Chicago icons in one pan.
O.M.G.: onions, mushrooms and green peppers, our classic vegetarian.

Try both Chicago styles. Every Gino’s East also bakes tavern-style thin crust, a thin, crisp crust cut into squares and made for sharing at the bar. Order one of each and stage your own taste test. Our guide to Chicago deep dish explains the difference.

Bring a fork. Let the pie rest a minute, then lift your slice out with a server and go at it with a knife and fork. Nobody is grading you.

The brick Gino’s East building at 162 E Superior St with a black Gino’s East awning, a canopy marked 162 and leafy trees along the sidewalk

A good month to visit

Late November brings a lot of people downtown. The Wintrust Magnificent Mile Lights Festival is on Saturday, November 21, 2026, when the parade travels south down North Michigan Avenue and the trees along the Mile light up. Our flagship sits just off Michigan Avenue on Superior Street, so it is an easy place to warm up before or after.

One day earlier, the Christkindlmarket at Daley Plaza opens its 30th season, running daily from November 20 through December 24. From the plaza, our South Loop restaurant on Dearborn Street is roughly three-quarters of a mile south by the street grid, about a 15-minute walk.

Both weekends get busy, so book a table ahead, and if you are bringing a crowd, look at our group events options.

Frequently asked questions

What is the most famous deep dish pizza in Chicago?

There is no official winner. Deep dish itself is the city’s most iconic dish, according to Time Out’s poll of locals, and several downtown pizzerias with decades of history are household names. Gino’s East has been part of that story since 1966, known for Alice Mae Redmond’s crust and our graffiti-covered walls.

Where was Chicago deep dish pizza invented?

Historian Tim Samuelson told CBS News Chicago that the first deep dish was served in 1943 at a bar on Ohio Street that Ric Riccardo had taken over. Gino’s East joined the story in 1966.

What is the difference between deep dish and stuffed pizza?

Both are baked in a deep pan. Stuffed pizza adds a second, thinner layer of dough over the cheese and toppings, under the sauce. Deep dish has a single crust pressed up the sides, with the sauce on top.

Do Gino’s East restaurants downtown take reservations?

Yes. Both the Magnificent Mile and South Loop restaurants take reservations online. You can also book a table at Gino’s East South Loop or book a table at the Magnificent Mile directly.

Plan your visit

Gino’s East Magnificent Mile is at 162 E Superior St., Chicago, steps off Michigan Avenue, with three floors of graffiti walls. Call (312) 266-3337.

Gino’s East South Loop is at 521 South Dearborn St., Chicago, in Printers Row near Grant Park. Call (312) 939-1818.

Check each location page for menus and current hours, or see all Gino’s East locations. Want the whole sixty-year story? Visit our 60th anniversary page or the Gino’s East story. And if you already know the answer to the famous-pizza argument, come prove it at Chicago deep dish since 1966.

Sources

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