The Best Tavern-Style Pizza in Chicago: What Locals Actually Eat
Forget the deep dish debate — thin, crispy, square-cut tavern pizza is what Chicagoans order on a weeknight. Here's the honest guide to the city's real pizza, plus where to find it cheap.
Here's the thing tourists never hear: Chicagoans eat far more tavern-style thin crust than deep dish. Deep dish is the special-occasion, out-of-town-guests pizza. Tavern style is the every-week pizza — cracker-thin, crispy edge to edge, and cut into squares ("party cut") instead of wedges.
We track tens of thousands of live Chicago deals at 312Deals. Here's the honest guide to the real local pizza.
What makes it tavern style
- Thin, crisp crust — rolled (not tossed), so it stays flat and shatters at the edge
- Cheese and toppings to the very rim — no bare bratwurst of crust to put down
- Party cut — squares, not triangles. The middle pieces are the prize; the corners are the consolation.
- A tavern, not a pizzeria — the genre was built to feed bar crowds, and it's still best with a cold beer in hand
Where to get a great one
- Vito & Nick's (South Side) — the temple; the standard every other tavern is measured against
- Pat's Pizza, Marie's Pizza & Liquors, Phil's Pizza — beloved neighborhood old-guard spots
- Pizzeria Bebu and a wave of newer rooms reviving the style for a younger crowd
- Your corner bar — genuinely. Nearly every neighborhood tavern in the city has its own version, and that's the whole point.
Tavern vs. deep dish
Both are Chicago, but they're opposite foods. Deep dish is a knife-and-fork casserole you get once. Tavern style is a hands-on, share-the-squares, order-it-again-Friday pizza. If you only have one pizza meal, get deep dish for the experience — if you have two, make the second one tavern style.
How to save on it
Pizza deals are everywhere if you know where to look — BOGO pies, happy-hour slices, and weeknight specials:
The takeaway
Order the party cut, grab a corner stool, and eat like you live here. The neighborhood spots where Chicagoans actually get their pizza are all on 312Deals, with live deals updated daily.
Prices and specials change — always confirm with the venue. Data current as of June 2026.
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