Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

Lou Malnati's Pizzeria

439 North Wells Street

Chicago, IL 60654

(312) 828-9800

Next up on our Chicago pizza excursions is Lou Malnati's....  They claim to have the best pizza in Chicago... Actually  I think all the places we went to make that claim....   I guess each person has their own favorite, just as do I...

Our pizza on this day was "Lou's Special" which is what seems to be a Chicago pizza staple... It's a deep dish sausage pizza pie heavy on the mozzarella and tomato sauce.

The sausage that they use on their pie is shaped into a large round patty and is one of the layers on the pizza. Overall, the pizza just good, but not great.    I really liked the sauce and the tomatoes.   They had some really good Italian seasonings that otherwise would have made the pizza kinda tasteless.  For some reason the cheese on this pizza caught my attention.  It was really good!  The disappointing party of the pizza, which in the end made the pie just "alright" in my book, was the sausage patty.  There really was no flavor to it.  I'd almost have to compare it to a mild breakfast sausage..   I'd be happier with the same pizza with just the cheese and tomatoes.   That's how good the sauce and cheese were... By themselves, it would have been a winner..

Although the pizza was a disappointment in my book, dessert caught my attention.   A chocolate chip pizza...   Normally chocolate doesn't grab my attention, but in pizza form?   This I had to see...

The menu describes the pizza as a freshly baked chocolate chip cookie prepared in a deep dish pizza pan, topped with vanilla bean ice cream and whipped cream.  Let me tell you... The cookie was warm and delicious.   It was nice and soft...  The ice cream was obviously high quality vanilla bean ice cream.  This wasn't your typical Thrifty or cheaper ice cream.  Something about the creamy goodness that made this ice cream and warm cookie probably the best part of our meal here.