The cuisine of the American Midwest draws its culinary roots most significantly from the cuisines of Central, Northern and Eastern Europe, and Indigenous cuisine of the Americas, and is influenced by regionally and locally grown foodstuffs and cultural diversity.
Pizza is an Italian dish typically consisting of a flat base of leavened wheat-based dough topped with tomato, cheese, and other ingredients, baked at a high temperature, traditionally in a wood-fired oven.
Chicago-style pizza is pizza prepared according to several styles developed in Chicago. It can refer to both the well-known deep-dish or stuffed pizzas and the lesser-known thin-crust "tavern-style" pizzas. The pan in which deep-dish pizza is baked gives the pizza its characteristically high edge, which provides ample space for large amounts of cheese and a chunky tomato sauce. Chicago-style deep-dish pizza may be prepared either this way or stuffed. Chicago-style thin-crust pizza dough is rolled for a thinner, crispier crust than other thin-crust styles, and the pizza is cut in squares instead of slices.
St. Louis–style pizza is a type of pizza in St. Louis, Missouri, and surrounding areas. The pizza has a thin cracker-like crust made without yeast, topped with sweet tomato sauce and Provel cheese, and is cut into squares or rectangles rather than wedges.
Uno Pizzeria & Grill, or more informally as Uno’s, is a United States-origin franchised pizzeria restaurant chain under the parent company Uno Restaurant Holdings Corporation. Uno Pizzeria and Grill is best known for its Chicago-style deep dish pizza. Ike Sewell opened the first Pizzeria Uno in 1943.
New York–style pizza is a pizza made with a characteristically large hand-tossed thin crust, often sold in wide slices to go. The crust is thick and crisp only along its edge, yet soft, thin, and pliable enough beneath its toppings to be folded to eat. Traditional toppings are simply tomato sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. This was a popular meal among poor Italian Americans due to the ratio of product from the limited produce.
New Haven-style pizza is a style of thin-crust, coal-fired Neapolitan pizza common in and around New Haven, Connecticut. Locally known as apizza, it originated in 1925 at the Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana and is now served in many other pizza restaurants in the area, most notably Sally's Apizza and Modern Apizza. This geographically limited pizza style has been favorably regarded by national critics.
The culture of Chicago, Illinois is known for the invention or significant advancement of several performing arts, including improvisational comedy, house music, industrial music, blues, hip hop, gospel, jazz and soul.
Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular pan pizza with a thick, crisp, chewy crust. It is traditionally topped to the edges with mozzarella or Wisconsin brick cheese, which caramelizes against the high-sided heavyweight rectangular pan. Detroit-style pizza was originally baked in rectangular steel trays designed for use as automotive drip pans or to hold small industrial parts in factories. It was developed during the mid-20th century in Detroit, Michigan, before spreading to other parts of the United States in the 2010s. It is one of Detroit's most famous local foods.
Pan pizza is a pizza baked in a deep dish pan or sheet pan. Turin-style pizza, Italian tomato pie, Sicilian pizza, Chicago-style pizza, and Detroit-style pizza may be considered forms of pan pizza. Pan pizza also refers to the thick style popularized by Pizza Hut in the 1960s. The bottoms and sides of the crust become fried and crispy in the oil used to coat the pan.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria is an American Chicago-style pizza restaurant chain headquartered in Northbrook, Illinois. It was founded by the son of Rudy Malnati, who was involved in developing the recipe for Chicago-style pizza, and it has become one of the Chicago area's best-known local lines of pizza restaurants. Lou Malnati's operates a division of its company called Lou Malnati's Presents Tastes of Chicago, a partnership with Portillo's Restaurants and Eli's Cheesecake, which ships Chicago-style cuisine nationally.
Giordano's is an American pizzeria chain that specializes in Chicago-style stuffed pizza. Brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio founded Giordano's in 1974 in Chicago, Illinois. The pizzeria has since expanded to over 65 locations in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Nevada, and Wisconsin. The chain has also expanded to offer catering and ship frozen pizzas in the United States.
Pizza arrived in the United States in the early 20th century along with waves of Italian immigrants who settled primarily in the larger cities of the Northeast, such as New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore. After American soldiers stationed in Italy returned from World War II, pizza and pizzerias rapidly grew in popularity.
Quad City–style pizza is a variety of pizza originating in the Quad Cities region of the states of Illinois and Iowa in the United States.
Chicago Pizza and Oven Grinder Company is a restaurant located in Chicago, Illinois. The restaurant was founded in 1972, and specializes in a signature dish called the "pizza pot pie." It enjoys local popularity and has appeared in many publications and television shows.
Pizza by the slice is pizza sold in individual portions as a fast food by a restaurant or street vendor. Some restaurants and pizza stands only sell pizza by the slice, while others sell both slices and whole pizzas. The jumbo slice is a large-sized slice of New York–style pizza made in areas of Washington, D.C. Pizza al taglio is a style of rectangular slice of pizza that originated in Rome and is typically sold by weight.
Altoona-style pizza is a distinct type of pizza created in the city of Altoona, Pennsylvania, by the Altoona Hotel. The definitive characteristics of Altoona-style pizza are a Sicilian-style pizza dough, tomato sauce, sliced green bell pepper, salami, topped with American cheese and pizzas cut into squares instead of wedges.
Pizza Thief is a pizzeria in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The restaurant has a "sibling" adjacent bar called Bandit Bar. Chef and co-owner Darby Aldaco opened Pizza Thief with partner Tony Pasquale in 2021.
Post Alley Pizza is a pizzeria in Seattle, in the U.S. state of Washington. The business was established by chef Doug Murray in 1997. He sold the business in 1999; since then, Post Alley Pizza has been owned by Joshua Huckaby, Marc Russell, spouses Andrew and Ruel Gregory, and Yasuaki Saito. The restaurant has garnered a positive reception for its New York–style pizza and sandwiches.
