Craving pizza: Some of our favorites pies around Chicago

When we created our new list of Chicago’s 25 best pizzas, my fellow Food & Dining reporter Nick Kindelsperger and I knew we’d eat a lot more than that. So how do we honor those that are great, but just didn’t make the Top 25 list this time?

Well, we decided to bring you a separate list throughout an October dedicated to one of our top cravings, pizza. Each weekday for the rest of the month, we will post another winning pizza that’s worth a trip outside of your neighborhood or across town.

With this list, we’re also relaunching our Cravings series, a monthly look at Chicago’s dining scene organized by category — sandwiches, fried foods, dumplings and so much more. After more than four years, we suspended the series at the onset of the pandemic stay-at-home order, as restaurants were closed across the state. Now with so many restaurants reopened, we are heading back out, in most cases for takeout. The project will take on different forms, focusing on the foods that bring us all comfort in these times, and instead of the monthly focus, a less rigid structure. And starting with pizza.

Here’s a selection to start. Check back every weekday for more.

Margherita at Sapori Napoletani Pizzeria e Ristorante

Located in a strip mall in northwestern Norwood Park, Sapori Napoletani offers top-notch Neapolitan pizzas cooked in a blazing hot wood-fired oven. You can spot a great Neapolitan by the expertly crafted char spots littered around the crust. The pizza itself is larger than most, looking like it could easily feed a family of four when the waiter sets it on the table. But there’s a lightness to each bite that makes each slice disappear far faster than you’d imagine. If you go with the Margherita ($12.95), you’ll also get a bright sauce, creamy mozzarella and aromatic basil placed on top. Just know that it is also very soft in the middle — a hallmark of the style — which means you might need to attack with a knife and fork. 6050 N. Northwest Highway, 773-628-7894, saporinapoletani.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sicilian-style pizza at Table, Donkey & Stick

This tiny Logan Square restaurant was one of the first to switch up its menu when the pandemic hit. Within days of the shutdown, it started serving Sicilian-style pizzas, which are so thick and crunchy around the exterior, you’d be forgiven for thinking they’d be oil-drenched gut bombs. But inside, you’ll notice the crust has an impressive open hole structure, with lots of air pockets formed by letting the dough ferment for a long time. This makes each bite taste lighter than you’d expect, while also allowing for appreciation of the high-quality toppings. The specific topping choices change frequently, but I was able to sample one with ’nduja, a spicy and spreadable sausage. Currently, you’ll find pizzas topped with pancetta and potato, sausage and pepper, and even apple with brie. $32 for a whole pizza, $18 for a half. 2728 W. Armitage Ave., 773-486-8525, tabledonkeystick.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sausage deep dish at My Pi Pizza

If you’ve always found deep dish to be both too thick and too greasy you deserve to give My Pi Pizza a shot. At this Bucktown shop, the deep dish crust stands tall around the perimeter, but is genuinely thin and crunchy in the middle. This allows you to appreciate the tangy covering of cheese, which is definitely generous, but not nearly as abundant as some places. The best part is the chunky, slightly charred sauce. It adds a bright counterpoint to the crust and cheese, making this one of the most balanced deep dishes in the city. $20.70. 2010 N. Damen Ave., 773-394-6900, mypiepizza.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Dante Margherita artisan pizza at La Barra

La Barra, which has locations in suburban Oak Brook and Riverside, serves three kinds of pizza. The deep dish happens to be the same as the one served at its sister restaurant, Labriola, which means it’s also one of the 25 best pizzas in the area. But don’t sleep on the artisan pizza. This thin-crust pie features a remarkable ciabatta-style dough, which means its remarkably crisp on the exterior with a soft and open hole structure within. It’s a tremendous base for the Dante Margherita, which adds a slightly funky sheep’s milk from Wisconsin, along with tart tomatoes and fresh marjoram. $17. 3011 Butterfield Road, Oak Brook, 630-861-6177, labarraristorante.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sausage pizza at Roots Handmade

Who knew that so many Chicagoans would fall for Quad City-style pizza? Though we’re about 170 miles east of the region located on the border of Illinois and Iowa, Roots Handmade Pizza has managed to popularize this speciality here. The pizza starts with a crackly crust laced with malt, which adds a toasty note to each bite. Instead of cutting the pizza into squares, it’s cut with a pair of scissors into rectangles. Topping choices range from the familiar (sausage, pepperoni) to the hilarious — the taco pizza looks like an order of Taco Bell fell on top. Yet, for some reason everything works, even the McDowell’s, which recreates the flavors of a Big Mac. $16.50 for the 12-inch. Multiple locations, https://www.rootspizza.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sausage pizza at Stunod’s Pizzeria

The thin crust at Stunod’s looks pretty similar to most tavern-style pizzas on the South Side, especially since it’s cut into small square slices instead of large triangles. But glance at the sides, and you’ll notice that the crust is less cracker-like and far puffier, with an impressive hole structure. That means each bite has real crunch and chew. It’s topped with high-quality mozzarella and a tart tomato sauce. But the real star is the Italian sausage, which is exceptionally juicy and packed with spices like fennel. $16 for 14-inch. 6535 W. 63rd St., 773-586-7373, stunodspizza.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Pepperoni pizza at Pizza Lobo

Over the past few years, Logan Square has been transforming into one of Chicago’s pizza hot spots. Just steps from Paulie Gee’s Logan Square is now Pizza Lobo, the recently opened project from the folks behind the Sportsman’s Club. The restaurant specializes in enormous New York-style pizzas, featuring one of the thinnest crusts in town. Currently, no individual slices are available (there’s no doubt they would have made my list of the best slices in the city if it did), but that’s not a huge problem, because you’ll probably want to polish off a whole pie with your family anyway. While Chicago is mostly known for its Italian sausage, don’t pass up the pepperoni here. Each thick circle packs a wallop of salt and spice. Along with a large outdoor patio, the shop also has a convenient walk-up window to pick up your pizza. $23. 3000 W. Fullerton Ave., 312-265-1745, pizzalobo.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sausage and fresh spinach pan pizza at Lefty’s Pizza Kitchen

A deep dish fan might recognize there’s a difference with the pizza at Lefty’s, and you’d be right. Owner John Munao offers his pan in the style of the late, legendary Burt Katz, with that signature caramelized crust. Munao was one of the co-owners of Burt’s Place, before he left to open his own place in 2018 north of Chicago in Wilmette. He and manager/head pizza maker Christian Rundblad now make their own style. My recent loaded spinach and sausage, with sausage from Joseph’s Finer Meats (my own family favorite neighborhood butcher shop) had an edge not nearly as aggressively dark as other caramelized crusts around town right now, but quite frankly closer to how Katz carefully baked it himself. Lefty’s also offers a thin crust pizza, cut in tavern style squares too. 1156 Central Ave., Wilmette, 847-920-5401, leftyspizzakitchen.com

— Louisa Chu

Angelo’s special stuffed pizza at Angelo’s Stuffed Pizza

Whether you like stuffed crust pizza as a style or not, it’s hard not to feel awed by its immense size. At Angelo’s Stuffed Pizza in the Archer Heights neighborhood, the crust stands imposingly tall, from the golden browned edge to the sauce-covered middle. This takes some impressive engineering to create, but fortunately all the components actually taste good, too. The dark sauce adds sweetness and complexity, which plays well with the flaky crust. But this pizza is really about the copious amount of gooey, tangy cheese in the middle. If you’re not in the mood for such an onslaught, stay very far away. But if you are, then few dishes are a better delivery system for melted cheese. $23.75 for medium. 4850 S. Pulaski Road, 773-927-9355, facebook.com/angelosstuffedpizzapie

— Nick Kindelsperger

Pepperoni grandma pizza at Professor Pizza

Tony Scardino, aka Professor Pizza, has worked at a number of pizzerias around town, including Paulie Gee’s and Dough Bros Pizzeria & Sub Shop. But since quarantine, he’s been focusing on grandma-style pizza. Like deep dish and Detroit-style, this style features sauce spooned on top of the cheese, though as you can tell by the photo, the crust is much, much thinner. I wish it was slightly less dense, but there’s no doubt that he’s off to a great start. Plus, this is one of the most striking pizzas available right now in Chicago. Currently, he doesn’t have a restaurant. Instead, you place an order through Tock, and then finish baking in your home oven. $23. professor.pizza

— Nick Kindelsperger

Sausage pizza crispy style at Palermo’s 95th

Palermo’s 95th offers three different kinds of pizza, including both “regular” and “thin,” but what you really want to order is the “crispy style.” This results in a crust that is both incredibly thin and, you guessed it, very, very crispy. But what you’ll probably notice first is the dark red sauce, which is slightly sweet and nearly as thick as tomato paste. It’s topped with an ample covering of tangy cheese. Because this is Chicago, you’ll want to add Italian sausage, which is generously applied. $17.50 for medium. 4849 95th St., Oak Lawn, 708-425-6262, palermos95th.com

— Nick Kindelsperger

Seasonal pizzas at Grateful Bites

This is just to say I have eaten the peaches that were on the pizza, to borrow from the famous poem by William Carlos Williams, but I really have, and with spicy spreadable 'nduja too. That particular seasonal pie is gone, but you could and should get the signature elote pizza ($16) by owner Matt Halack at Grateful Bites in Winnetka. Halack started out making his woodfired, Neapolitan-inspired style from a mobile oven, but opened up shop with wife and co-owner Sarah in 2017. His creative and classic toppings complement a lovely, leopard-spotted crust. Check their Instagram then order ahead for takeout only with curbside pickup by car or on foot. You can dine at a tiny table out front, or walk around back to the hidden patio to eat outside as weather permits.

899 Green Bay Road, Winnetka; 847-386-9141; gratefulbites.com

— Louisa Chu