Haute Top 5: Best Pizza in Chicago

Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company has been an institution in the city for 45 years, best-known for serving up a style that originated within its walls: the pizza pot pie. While you'll find plenty of locals who are willing to debate whether CPOG's signature dish is actually pizza or a different food group altogether, there's one thing that's for certain: it's delicious. The original pot pie is made with triple-raised Sicilian bread dough and a scratch-made tomato sauce, plus sausage and mushrooms sealed off with a thick layer of cheese. Fork and knife not optional.

Devoted member of Team Thin Crust? Piece, in Wicker Park, is a must. It's thin-crust, coal-fired pizzas (or should we say apizzas) are served up New Haven style, and once garnered the restaurant the honor of being named Pizza Today Magazine's Best Independent Pizzeria in the Country.

Lou Malnati's is one of Chicago's original deep-dish style pizzerias (it was founded by the son of Rudy Malnati, who is locally known as the father of deep-dish) and also one of its most famous. But despite its commercialization, Lou Malnati's signature pastry-like Buttercrust remains among the best in the city. Know before you go: given Lou's celebrity status, table wait times can top at hour or more at downtown locations.

Chicago isn't the only region of the midwest with its own pizza vernacular. Roots, in the Ukrainian Village, serves up Quad City-style pizza, which is known for a rich crust that gets its flavor from the Malt Syrup added to the dough. Its not just the crust that makes Roots a standout though: creative menu offerings like the "Taco Pizza," served with taco-seasoned sausage, or the "Short Rib," with braised beef and giardiniera, make Roots a standout.

Another of Chicago's most-famous deep-dish pizza spots (and perhaps the best-loved amongst locals), Peqoud's is known for its cast-iron cooked crust that gives it its signature charred (or what the restaurant calls caramelized) edges, a slightly-sweeter sauce and an "extra-cheese" option that regulars know is a default.