Gino's East
 Chicago, Illinois        Date of Visit  04/06/11            http://www.loumalnatis.com/

On our original visit to Chicago, we hit Uno’s and Lou Malnati’s. Back for a chance to enjoy Alinea, a restaurant currently ranked 6th in the world (number doesn’t matter, but they gotta be doing something just to make the list), we are going to finally get to the third of the triumvirate commonly claiming the crown of the Royalty of Chicago Deep Dish. Granted, we have been to Al's Beef and Xoco already today...and are headed to Garrett's afterward. We are going to order comparatively little and consume less.
 

So, They Brew A Couple Beers
 

Our server was fun and rolled with our craziness. We started by ordering all of their beers. ALL of them. They actually have an impressive in house brewery which has churned out some award winners.

Their pilsner was terrible…server told us he felt there was something wrong with the new keg. After that there were bright aromatic sours, clean Witts, broody thick porters, hoppy IPA’s, and grainy reds. Steph even found one she didn’t hate.

Then came the pizza. We started with the Meaty Legend and added the Jalapeno Blue. The legend is closest to our pies from the other two shops and it’s good. Its meatiness is rangier than the others with Pepperoni, Italian Sausage, Canadian Bacon, and good ol’ smoky belly Bacon. The second comes with bacon, blue cheese, Italian sausage, and of course, blue cheese & bacon stuffed jalapeños.
 

Gino’s seems more divergent than the other two would be from each other, and I think I prefer the other two. First the crust has a taste and texture, which clearly suggests cornmeal. Taste and texture, I’m good with cornmeal…but it doesn’t accomplish what the more buttery crusts do. It turned out to be much more dry, not an advantage. The pie didn’t seem to be as full as others I have seen, another drawback. Not that there isn’t eight people's daily dietary recommendations for cheese and meat. Speaking of the meat…it was all delicious, encased in stringy hot cheese and had a sharp tomato sauce oozing down into it. It is really good pizza, I just prefer the others.
 

The jalapeno blue was another step up the ladder, however. Ordered for curiosity, it was an excellently blended curiosity with just the right amount of heat and funk added to the standard pie. I’m pretty sure you ain’t getting that at Uno’s or Lou’s. But if I’m in Chicago for casserole pizza, I’ll probably head there.