![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Group-13.png\" "\\"Pizza")
<\/p>\n\n Photograph by Evy Mages. <\/p>\n
There are two main strains of Chicago pizza: saucy, cheesy deep-dish and less hyped\u2014and often better\u2014tavern pies, which have super-thin crusts cut into snacky, cocktail-napkin-size squares. Until recently, you had to work hard to find either one around here, but this summer a few newcomers came to town. Here\u2019s where to sample both styles.<\/p>\n
The Deep-Dish<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Chicago Chain<\/p>\n
Giordano\u2019s<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Meal-Deal-2.jpg\" "\\"Meal")
Photograph courtesy of Giordano\u2019s.<\/p>\n
More than a half century ago, Giordano\u2019s opened its first pizza shop on Chicago\u2019s South Side. Now there are more than 50 locations around the country\u2014and the latest is a five-month-old dining room near the White House. The spare exposed-brick space slings both styles of pizza, but the gooey deep-dish pan pies are what you want. (Tavern versions taste like expensive Celeste knockoffs.)<\/p>\n
The Pizza Artist<\/p>\n
Della Barba<\/p>\n
![\"Chicago](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/3O5A3205.jpg\" "\\"Chicago")
Photograph by Evy Mages.<\/p>\n
Lawyer turned pizza obsessive Joey Barber takes pride in serving several types of pie at his Capitol Hill shop, including New York, Detroit, and Chicago deep-dish. The latter style isn\u2019t known for having a memorable crust, but Barber\u2019s buttery, cornmeal-heavy version is terrific. Even better: You can get your ultra-cheesy pizza in both regular and miniature sizes. (Few pizzas lose their charm in the fridge more than deep-dish.)<\/p>\n
The Tavern Style<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Instant Hot Spot<\/p>\n
La Merna<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/IMG_2488-1-e1793635602235.jpg\" "\\"IMG_2488-1")
Photograph by Brad Bobrow.<\/p>\n
This snug Dupont tavern opened in August and quickly became one of DC\u2019s toughest reservations. It\u2019s worth the hassle. Giant, crunchy tavern pies are destination-worthy\u2014go for the Chicago Classic, loaded with an unexpectedly fiery mix of crumbly Italian sausage and giardiniera. Plus, the space is packed with old-school Midwestern character: burgundy-leather booths, knotty-wood-paneled walls, and a chalkboard where you sign up to buy shots for other customers.<\/p>\n
The Cheffy Pub<\/p>\n
The Commodore<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/flipsh0t-Commodore-88.jpg\" "\\"flipsh0t-Commodore-88")
Photograph of The Commodore by flipshot.<\/p>\n
\nlocation_on\n<\/p>\n
220 N. Lee St., Alexandria<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, this popular Dupont bar got an Old Town spinoff, and it has one big advantage over the original: chef Steve Kim\u2019s lineup of tavern pies. The cracker-like crusts are made from two-day-fermented dough and hold up to a bevy of toppings, whether sausage, peppers, olives, and onions or burrata, mushrooms, and Gruy\u00e8re.<\/p>\n
![\"Ann](\"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/cd3a649e21992f276caedbfbd03877cdb291e5023bb1c853cb07187c9cf3fdaf.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Executive Food Editor\/Critic<\/p>\n
Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Photograph by Evy Mages. There are two main strains of Chicago pizza: saucy, cheesy deep-dish and less hyped\u2014and often better\u2014tavern pies, which have super-thin crusts cut into snacky, cocktail-napkin-size squares. Until recently, you had to work hard to find either one around here, but this summer a few newcomers came to town. Here\u2019s where to<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76149,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[6807,6804,6805,6802,6806,6803],"class_list":["post-76148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-district-of-columbia","tag-d-c","tag-d-c-dining","tag-d-c-fine-dining","tag-d-c-food","tag-d-c-grocery-stores","tag-d-c-restaurants"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/vive.im\/@dc\/117554298474186202","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76148\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76149"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.diningandcooking.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}