Red Savoy Pizza: Uptown

           This last weekend I finally tried another pizza place in Minneapolis, called Red Savoy Pizza in Uptown. It was a nice little place on the corner with a friendly staff and a few tables in a back room. It even had the classic pizzeria red and white checkered tablecloth, which gave this place some extra legitimacy. The staff was attentive and all around it was a fun place to be in with OK prices.

           They did however have some issues, mainly they burnt our first pizza to the point where they wouldn't even bring it out and offered to make it again and not charge if we were OK with waiting, which we obviously were. Now I'll say this, after working in a restaurant for close to five years now, this stuff happens... they handled it very professionally and we didn't mind waiting for another, the fact that they comp'd the whole meal was great of them and shows the management for this place knows what they're doing.

Details: Red Savoy Pizza has 3 locations around the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. As said earlier, we went to the Minneapolis Uptown location which is at the corner of Hennepin and W 24th Street. This location did pick-up, delivery, dine-in.

           Now onto the pizza... We got a large sausage/onion/tomato pizza, the large is a 16" if I remember correctly, and was definitely enough for three people, way too much for the two of us.

                         The pizza oddly came on a sheet of wax paper and a lunchroom-looking tray
               

                                               Close-up of their sausage/tomato/onion pizza

The Good: This pizza really shows some potential in my eyes, mainly in their Sausage and the sauce they use. I have to say, their sausage taste reminded me very much of the sausage that Lou Malnati's uses but with a little more of a spicy kick. Definitely got that part right. The sauce was a delicious sweet marinara sauce that added a nice touch, it had great seasoning that honestly would have been great even if it was just the crust and sauce. Finally, the crust was perfectly crispy with just enough flour on the bottom that reminded me a lot of Piero's pizza in Highland Park, Illinois (which I will get to reviewing in the next few weeks), yet another thing they got right.

The Bad: While they did a lot correctly, there are also a few things they got wrong. Firstly, they brought the pizza out on a lunch tray with a piece of wax paper between the pizza and the tray. It is definitely original, but I think there are many things that could have done the job better... when you tried to get a piece from the center you ended up ripping the paper beneath, just not as easy as it could be with a round metal pizza tray that they could bring it out on. There were also a few things that I asked if they had that they didn't, the main one being fresh basil leaves to put on top of the pizza (if you ever want to make a great thin crust, fresh tomato slices, sausage, onion, and fresh basil over the top, add some oregano and you have a great pizza). Basil leaves are kinda tricky though because I suppose not many places here will have that regularly, as I'm not sure if people here have really tried that much and fresh basil will go bad quickly. The biggest problem however was the cheese, on the outside pieces they put a nice amount of cheese. The pieces in the center were a different story though. It was much thicker and overpowered the taste of their delicious sauce and the other ingredients.

             Overall I was quite impressed with Red Savoy, their crust, sausage, and sauce mostly made up for some of their issues and their sausage reminded me a lot of Lou Malnati's, any pizza place that can do that deserves a lot of respect. They handle their business very professionally and take care of their customers. I am giving Red Savoy Pizza a 6/10. While it may seem low, keep in mind the highest rating i've given to a Chicagoland thin crust place was 8.5, so 6/10 is not too shabby. I will probably be back to this place soon!

                                                                          6/10

This. Is. NOT. Deep-Dish!

           listen good outside world, this is not deep-dish!!!!

Gino's East of Chicago

Location: Chicagoland

            I'm gonna start this post out by saying this, with Chicagoan's, I bet you if you asked 20 people on the street at random where their favorite pizza place is, 5 would say Lou's, 5 would say Gino's East, 5 would say Giordano's, and 5 would say Pizzeria Uno (or Due)... That being said, we all know now that I am one of the 5 that would say Lou Malnati's, so keep that in mind during this review.

            Note: believe it or not, I have no affiliation with Lou Malnati's other than the fact that I was raised on it, I promise you, I don't get free deep-dish shipped to me every time I mention them (unfortunately, Lou's if you're reading this send me an email and I'll send you my school address!).

            Gino's East is almost as well known as The Bean, or the John Hancock, the SEARS tower (notice... not the Willis tower), or Italian Beef, it is a very well known Chicago pizza, and because of this a lot of tourists end up going to Gino's (while great, I still think they should try the others too, coughLOU'Scough). 

            The Pizza: Gino's East offers a nice alternative to Giordano's and Lou's, I have friends who like it more than the other places, and I have friends who don't, It depends what style of deep-dish you like. Gino's chooses to use a much saucier... sauce...... there aren't usually chunks of tomato or anything like that, while some may prefer this, I'm one for tomato chunks. Their cheeses and other ingredients are obviously great and fresh, and they do have some good sausage, which is pretty similar to Lou's in that they use a patty of sausage, not just small pieces. In my opinion the sausage could have used a bit more flavoring, but it isn't bad by any means. Their crust is also quite different than Lou's, they seem to use less butter and more corn-meal in their crusts, if you like that thing, it is outstanding, I personally go for the buttery crusts. Their crust is also a lot thicker at the ends than Lou's crust is, if you like their crust it means you get more of it (yay!), if you don't, meh. The first time (in a while) that I ended up at Gino's we ended up getting two cheese pizzas (don't ask why....) and honestly, while I'd still take deep-dish cheese pizza over, honestly, most any other thin crust (except for a few), why get cheese pizza at a deep-dish place? The second time however, we got one sausage and one veggie pizza... One thing Gino's does have over Lou's, their veggie pizza is less watery, therefore staying crispier throughout your meal, so if you like veggie pizza definitely try out Gino's East.

                   Picture from Gino's East of Lake Geneva: http://www.ginoseastlakegeneva.com/

                The Details: Gino's East has 10 Illinois locations, and oddly, 3 out of state locations, including one Wisconsin restaurant and two Indiana locations. One of the reasons Gino's sees so much attention from tourists (other than it is genuinely good pizza) is that they have a location just east of Michigan Avenue, north of the river (The Magnificent Mile) on E. Superior. This location makes it very easy to quickly leave the trail of shopping and sight seeing and stop for some great Chicago pizza, while you have to go a few extra blocks west to get Pizzeria Uno, Due, and even farther for the Lou's on North Wells. Gino's downtown has a large restaurant, but they also have a lot of people to move in and out, If you are going on a thursday-sunday I'd expect to be waiting a bit, it is worth it though. They also have a Lincoln Park location on the northern section of one of the the many chicago 6-way intersections at Lincoln, Diversey, and Racine. This location has outside seating and some great deals on pizza's on Monday (not sure if that is just this branch or the whole franchise?). Prices are on par with Lou Malnati's, though going to the downtown locations you will be paying extra so keep that in mind, still, their downtown price of about $27 for a large deep dish sausage pizza will feed three very hungry people, 11 dollars a person with tip and tax is still a bargain for great food if you ask me. Gino's does also ship pizza's nationwide, and prices on that is very similar to that of the competitors as well.

              Gino's East offers a great tasting deep-dish pizza that is authentic Chicago deep-dish, anyone trying deep-dish should definitely try it out as it truly is personal preference between the big four. With good locations and competitive prices, portions, and a great taste, I'm giving Gino's East 8/10. It isn't my favorite deep-dish in the world, but I will NEVER say no to making a trip to one of their locations if it's an option.

8/10

Gigio's Pizza

Location: Evanston

Setting the bar high for Thin-Crust pizza, Gigio's in Evanston, IL on Davis St. is probably some of the best thin-crust pizza in Chicagoland.

The Pizza:
            Now, Gigio's is a great thin-crust pizza place that has been in the same location in Evanston for years. They have pretty standard pizza for chicago, cheese, pepperoni, sausage, etc... nothing crazy, and a great sauce with the perfect amount of cheese. If you are aware of NY style thin-crust, you may be disappointed by this place as chicago-style thin-crust pizza is still thicker than NYC style, if you like slightly thicker crust then you will LOVE it.
            The crust is home-made and tossed with plenty of flour which finishes the taste all around, some people may not be as into flour-y crusts, personally, I love it on this pizza. While they use pieces of sausage vs. a patty, they are similar to Lou Malnati's in the sense that their Sausage pizza is so good that it pretty much makes ordering anything else hard to justify, the spices in the sausage is perfect, add some parmesan cheese and Oregano onto the pizza and you have yourself an all around delicious slice of pizza.
            The Pepperoni, now... let me start by saying I've never been one for pepperoni, I'll have it if there isn't anything else or if I'm the only one of a group that likes sausage and everyone else wants pepperoni, but usually, as you will be able to tell from my reviews, a good slice of sausage pizza is the best to me.... when I have gone to this place with friends who have gotten the pepperoni, it seems to be very. very greasy, not a problem if you are OK with using a napkin to clean up your pizza before you eat it, but because of this I cannot give them a perfect score.

                                                       Again, sorry for the horrible picture

The Details:
            Located just a few blocks from the heart of Evanston and Northwestern University, Gigio's is definitely a MUST HAVE if you are in the area, even if you are just going through the area, say.... taking the L and switching to the Davis St. Metra, you can stop by quick and grab a slice for the train... They have indoor seating and honestly hasn't changed in the 13 or so years I have been going there with my family, while the atmosphere isn't the best, their pizza stands up for itself... they give you huge slices of their delicious pizza at a very reasonable price.

I am giving Gigio's an 8.5/10 which will honestly probably be the highest rating I will give thin-crust pizza as my heart is set on Deep-Dish. While their pepperoni can have its faults, I prefer sausage as I said above, and on that, they deliver every time.

8.5/10

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

Location: Chicagoland

             Oh where to begin... I was raised on this pizza living in Highland Park, it has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, so this review may be a bit biased, but ask anyone in chicago and generally they'll probably agree with most of what I'm saying....

              Simply put, in my opinion, Lou Malnati's is the BEST DEEP DISH in the world. They also offer a great house salad to start the meal and if you aren't in the mood for deep dish they also have thin crust (though to me going to Lou's and getting thin crust is kinda.... odd).

               The Pizza: Get the deep dish, scratch that, get the deep dish sausage pizza. Lou malnati's is amazing, and all their pizza's are great, but the sausage is their signature dish. Even if you are used to other deep dish, the sausage will surprise you... they literally use a sausage patty instead of small pieces of sausage randomly put on the pizza, this means that in every single bite you get a taste of everything. Their sauce is a great sweet tomato-y mix, but if you do not like whole tomato chunks you may not like it, I personally love tomato chunks, so I love the fact that they dont just mash the sauce into a liquid medium, it just adds to their recipe's amazingness. the cheese they use is fresh and light, it is obviously on the bottom below the sausage, other toppings and and sauce as all real deep dish places do and there really isn't anything to complain about there... Finally, the crust, as if their fresh ingredients, sausage patty, and great sauce wasn't good enough, their crust is literally the best thing there is in the world of food (in my opinion), it is a great crispy buttery crust that mixes beautifully with the other ingredients, and once you get to the end crust, its great just by itself with the little bit of cheese that is left on the bottom portion of crust.

                You can also get other toppings there which while they are probably better pizza than most people have ever experienced, to me and my family there is no point because the sausage is literally the best thing there is... that being said, I would recommend if you are getting two or more pizza's to mix it up a bit, if you are getting a veggie pizza (which is also very good) I suggest asking them to not cut the pizza (more on this later) before pick-up, or get it in the restaurant as it can be a bit more watery with the veggies and cause the crust to get a bit mushy, but still great!

          note: sorry for the horrible pictures, but heres a large sausage deep-dish before it disappeared.

             The Details:  Lou's has 33 Chicagoland locations, mostly dispersed around the north/west suburbs with a few downtown locations including River-North, South-Loop, Lincoln Park, Bucktown, Gold Coast, and Lawndale. Note: I believe it's the Gold Coast location (at State & Rush) that is their newest location that is supposedly amazing. Most of their suburb locations are delivery/pick-up only, but check out their list of locations to find out where you can go for a sit-down meal. If you have the opportunity, I would suggest going to one of the restaurants, while their carry-out is out of this world, their dine-in is even better. Please understand that the dine-in experience can take some time as these pizza's generally take at least a half hour to cook after ordering.

                If you are carrying-out or delivering, they do have an option where you can ask them to not cut the pizza, the thinking behind this is that as your pizza is in-transit the crust can get moist and mushy, while I usually don't use this option (the sausage doesn't really get that mushy) it is nice to know that they care enough about how their pizza tastes once it has left their restaurant and want the customer to have the best experience they can.

                If the pizza itself wasn't a good enough reason to go try Lou's, the price is... you can get a Large deep-dish sausage pizza for around $22, now that may sound like a lot if you do not know how deep-dish works, but that could easily feed 3 very hungry people or 4 moderately hungry people. At 8$ or less a person this is a bargain in my eyes, add a few dollars to the tip when you pick up, they deserve it, they're always busy!

                If you are out of Chicagoland, they do ship pizza's nationwide from this link, the prices on the shipped pizza's are a bit steeper as they have to ship it quickly while keeping it cold in the mail, if you want to get one shipped to you, try to find a few friends and order 4 or so where the prices get much more reasonable per pizza.

               In Short: This is the best pizza in the world, and for a great price you get a ton of food that will make everyone very happy you opted for this pizza instead of other options. If you are ever in Chicago and you only have time for one meal, this is my recommendation, easily the MUST HAVE pizza in chicago.

I'm giving Lou Malnati's a 10 / 10


Keep doin what you are doing Lou's!!!

10/10