Pizza Wars: Chicago-style vs. New York-style

[pikachu]

Which is your favorite style of pizza: Chicago-style or New York-style?

The main difference is that the New York pizza is thin-crust, has the sauce on the bottom, and the cheese on top. Chicago pizza is deep dish and has the cheese on the bottom and the sauce on top.

What are your favorite pizza toppings/topping combinations?

Favorite pizza place or favorite frozen/make-at-home pizza?
***
My choice would be: Chicago-style

My area only has New York style pizza. I had Chicago-style way back in the late 70's or early 80's when Pizza Hut had it for a limited time and loved it! I guess I'm going to have to go through the bother of finding a good recipe for Chicago-style pizza and making it myself if I want to have it.

I frequently order a pizza with bacon, pineapple, and extra cheese. Another favorite is pork topping, green pepper, onion, and sometimes mushrooms. A pizza place in my area has a specialty pizza called the Shipwreck that has sausage, green pepper, onion, pineapple, and feta cheese and it's really wonderful! They don't deliver to my area so sometimes I'll order a pizza from Pizza Hut with everything but the feta cheese (since they don't have it) and add my own blue cheese or feta at home. I used to love Meat Lover's pizzas but lately I like more vegetables on my pizza for extra flavor.

Red Elephant and Pizza Hut are my two favorite pizza places.

My family used to get a pizza kit by Chef Boyardee that was really good. I haven't liked any of the premade frozen pizza crusts I've gotten but then it has been a long time since I bought any so maybe there are better ones out now.

[Eastcoastmom]

I've never tasted Chicago style pizza nor have I ever been there, so I couldn't say. I'm pretty much a pizza purist and really prefer just tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese on a regular Neapolitan style pizza. Occasionally I might get mushrooms but I do not like any meat topping on my pizza at all. For a change we order Sicilian style from time to time. Living in the suburbs of NYC we get great pizza here. My dad has a vacation home in Naples, Florida and oh boy, the pizza stinks there. I guess I am spoiled by the great NY pizza we have here. And Pizza Hut? Forget about it. Do not like it at all. In fact, in our old neighborhood there was a Pizza Hut right across the street. When the kids were in grade school they would get a free coupon for a personal pan pizza for every 10 books they read so we went there a lot for them. Well, the few times hubby and I ate Pizza Hut pizza we both broke out in hives. I guess it is something in their sauce. So, I will pass on Pizza Hut pizza, thank you, as well as all the chains like Dominos, etc.

ETA: Pikachu, I love all the interesting topics you start.

[pikachu]

Thanks, Eastcoastmom! I've always got something on my mind and I like to get other people's viewpoints and have them share their stories. I learn some really interesting things from people in other parts of the country or even other parts of the world.

BTW, I lived in Naples, FL for awhile! My family moved there before I started 5th grade and we returned to Tallahassee by the time I started 8th grade. It got to be too expensive to live there. We used to go to Franco's, a little pizza place near Gulf View Middle School. I always got a meatball sub. The main attraction was playing songs on the jukebox ("Roseanna" by Toto was a favorite of mine back then) and playing the few arcade games they had (including Ladybug).

When I was growing up, my parents always got thin crust pizza and I never did like pizza then. Kids at school were excited when it was pizza day in the school cafeteria but I would pass on it. It wasn't until I went away on an internship in college and had deep-dish pizza (with pineapple!) that I found a pizza (and topping) I loved.

I usually get pan pizza now but it depends on the pizza place. Domino's has a good deep-dish crust but Pizza Hut's deep dish is too chewy so I prefer their pan pizza. If a place doesn't have deep dish or pan pizza, I get hand-tossed.

Not too long ago, some of us ladies from the Council of the Blind had a pizza party. We bought already prepared pizza dough from Publix and everyone brought different toppings. Another sighted lady and I made up the pizzas but we had quite a time with the dough! It was so springy, it kept snapping back into a small ball when we tried to stretch it out. Finally, I broke the dough into pieces and dunked them into a bowl of water, then put them back together again and was able to stretch the doough out. The pizza came out good, we all had fun, and we learned a few things about making homemade pizza. I'm anxious to do it again and see if we do a better job next time!

[imissme]

Up to a pound of butter in the crust, then a pound of sausage formed into a patty to cover the fat-laden crust, followed by at least a pound of cheese and dabbed with a small amount of tomato-containing sauce (the tomatoes make it a health food) the Chicago deep dish pizza is a perfect example why America is leading the world in obesity rates. Pizza started as a flatbread with a dash of fresh tomato, some fresh basil, and dots of fresh mozzerella.
I prefer NY style to the fat fest that makes up a Chicago pizza.

[Miss Scarlet]

Up to a pound of butter in the crust, then a pound of sausage formed into a patty to cover the fat-laden crust, followed by at least a pound of cheese and dabbed with a small amount of tomato-containing sauce (the tomatoes make it a health food) the Chicago deep dish pizza is a perfect example why America is leading the world in obesity rates. Pizza started as a flatbread with a dash of fresh tomato, some fresh basil, and dots of fresh mozzerella.
I prefer NY style to the fat fest that makes up a Chicago pizza.

Some of you may like it, but another example of unnecessary excess is the latest fad to stuff the crust. Why on earth does anyone think it's necessary to do such a thing?
If you like crust, you eat it. If you don't,you don't eat it. If you want to dip it, you dip it in marinara sauce. It's that simple.
Adding crust filler is just unnecessary & loads up the calories & fat. Plus it takes away from the taste of the pizza.

[Ellen]

Although I grew up in the Midwest, I'm not a fan of the fat-fest that is the Chicago deep-dish.

My favorite pizzerias in my area are the following:
1. Basic (San Diego's downtown East Village, near the ballpark) -- run by a couple of guys from Connecticut -- which features a thin crust and simple toppings which don't weigh down the fragile-ish crust, and
2. Blue Ribbon (Encinitas) -- thin crust with toppings supplied by local organic farmers and ranchers.

[coltnlasma]

I like thin crust. We make pizza at home so everyone can customize. If money were no object, I'd love a pizza oven in the backyard. My favorites are alfredo sauce w/ grilled chicken & spinach, or tomato sauce w/ zucchini. Don't really eat pizza out anymore, but years ago I had seafood pizza and loved it.

[nennie]

I don't eat a lot of pizza because it gives me indigestion so bad. I like both thin and thick crust and when I do eat pizza I like the works. We have an Oklahoma based chain Mazzio's that isn't bad. We always order ours light on the sauce. I am not a big tomato based sauce person. In personally like the crust but I don't want it stuffed.

[TripleGemini]

We love to make our own pizzas, and white pizzas are our favorite. No sauce...just several different types of cheese and a little garlic. Yum :-)

(I'm a fan of NY style, and I don't like stuffed crusts.)

[Gutmutter]

I don't eat pizza anymore, but my favorite was the spinach pizza from a town in central MA I used to live near. It was thin crust, no tomato sauce, but tons of garlic, spinach and cheese. Last year for mother's day my daughter came to see me and made a special detour to bring me one. The funny thing is, I remember eating a slice when I was nursing her and she screamed for the longest time - it really upset her stomach. Must have been the excessive garlic.