2.42 Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
Posted on December 16, 2008
Filed Under American, Best of the Best, Italian | 2 Comments
It was a cold day in Chicago, and before we headed out for the day’s sightseeing, we stopped by the legendary Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in Lincolnwood. Lou Malnati’s specializes in Chicago style deep dish pizza and is a local chain with 28 locations in and around Chicago. The Lincolnwood location where we visited is where it all started back in 1971.
There is actually quite a few items on the menu, salads, sandwiches, pasta, and of course, deep dish and thin crust pizza. We are here for the pizza. Pizza pizza.
Chilis, oregano, and cheese on the table.
Finally! It takes about half an hour to bake, so be sure to get there early and give yourself sometime to starve. With a quick stab and swing of the knife, the pizza falls onto your plate, piping hot and screaming for me to take a bite.
We ordered a small “Lou” - Spinach, mushrooms, sliced Roma tomatoes, along with a blend of mozzarella, romano and cheddar cheese. This was a bit bland on the first bite, it’s certainly not greasy and salty like I’m used to. The difference isn’t immediately noticeable, but when I got back to LA and had my usual local pizza, I realized how fresh, wholesome Lou Malnati’s pizza was, and I really missed the homemade taste that it had.
We also ordered a larger sausage and mushrooms pizza. The sausage is phenomenal, and the crust is thin, buttery, crunchy. I have to confess that I liked this one even better than the Lou, mostly because of the sausage.
The layers of the pizza is something that’s worth a special mention. The cheese is laid on top of the dough, and then other ingredients are layered on, with the tomato sauce going on second last, finished off with some more cheese and spices. It tasted like there were distinct layers of toppings. In other words, each topping had its own layer. Suffice it to say, there was sausage in nearly every bite of pizza and that made me very, very happy.
It feels very homey in the restaurant. Service was attentive and our waitress was very experienced. There are some very loyal employees at Lou Malnati’s, with quite a few that have been with the restaurant for well over two decades. I’m sure I’ll be a loyal customer for a long time to come. I can’t wait to come back and have more of their incredible deep dish pizza. Until then, Santa knows Lou Malnati’s ships pizzas all over the US. (hint hint)
Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria
6649 North Lincoln Avenue
Lincolnwood, IL 60712
847.673.0800