So in a previous post, I put it on paper (or screen) my usual complaints about Chicago pizza, about how substandard it is even with the lower-than-NYC standard of Albany, how the sauce is way too sweet, and the crust too cardboard-esque.

Today – praise the lord – I might have found a place I can bring my New York friends to without being embarrassed. Gigio’s Pizzeria is the most unassuming storefront you have ever seen, with the best pizza I have had during the 2.5 years in Chicago. The store looks so shabby, in fact, that despite living in the neighborhood for almost a year now, I had never ventured to walk in. After a few Google searches for “NY style pizza in Chicago” pointed me there I finally decided to stop by and boy, was I shooting myself in the foot for not doing so earlier.

The dough still isn’t quite right – maybe the secret really IS “in the water.” But it was thin, foldable, chewy, and honestly, the least like cardboard of all Chicago pizza joints’. The cheese and toppings (I got pepperoni) were up to par with NYC, down to the dripping grease detail. Overall, not perfect, but at least comparable. So I stand corrected – it is indeed possible to get a decent slice of the pie in Chicago, and I know where I’m getting all my pizza from now on.