Recipe archive
Recipe archive
America's Melting Pot
Chicago Tavern-Style Pizza hero image coming soon
1940s-present - Chicago tavern owners, Italian American pizzeria cooks, and neighborhood party hosts
A cracker-thin Chicago tavern-style pizza with edge-to-edge toppings, a crisp crust, and small square slices.
Difficulty
Hard
Prep time
35 minutes
Cook time
15 minutes
Total time
24 hours including curing dough
Servings
2 pizzas, 4 to 6 servings
Region
Chicago neighborhood taverns and pizzerias
Era introduced
1940s-present
Introduced by
Chicago tavern owners, Italian American pizzeria cooks, and neighborhood party hosts
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Chicago tavern-style pizza is the local counterpoint to deep dish: thin, crisp, edge-to-edge, and cut into little squares. The style is tied to neighborhood taverns that served pizza as a salty snack with drinks and later to family parties where the square cut could feed a crowd. Its appeal is texture: dry enough to snap at the edges, sturdy enough to hold sausage and cheese.
Drafted with tavern-style history from Wordloaf (https://newsletter.wordloaf.org/for-the-squares-chicago-tavern-style/), local style context from Home Run Inn (https://www.homeruninnpizza.com/news-blog/fun-facts/what-is-tavern-style-pizza/), Chicago pizza context from Bon Appetit (https://www.bonappetit.com/story/real-chicago-pizza-tavern-style), and method context from InsideHook (https://www.insidehook.com/food/make-tavern-style-pizza-other-chicago-pie).
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