Written by Elly Herrick, Staff Writer
This fall, a famous Chicago pizza place, Giordano’s, hosted a grand opening after many months of construction in Indian Trail Plaza. If you can get past a bit of grease, the great service and fresh ingredients make it worthwhile to give this historic pizza chain a taste.
Giordano’s first opened in 1974 on the south side of Chicago where it gained their title of world famous deep dish pizza and Chicago’s No. 1 pizza from food critics.
Giordano’s iconic red revolving doors welcomed us to a slightly busy restaurant with a very sleek and modern design. A friendly hostess immediately greeted us and guided us to a booth next to an equally iconic “EAT PIZZA” sign.
The well designed menu offers a wide array of options including salads, pizzas, sandwiches, wings, and pastas, which all seemed very tempting. We noticed how many options they have for vegetarians, vegans, and gluten-free eaters. They have even hopped on the new rising trend of plant-based meat.
Our server, Tony, treated us like we’ve known each other for years. He told us where all of the ingredients came from and noted that all their cheese is from Wisconsin.
We decided to order the “Giordano’s sampler” which includes bruschetta, boneless chicken bites, cheesy garlic bread, mozzarella triangles and a whole plate for sauces. We also got Wisconsin Cheese curds which were not on the menu but were on the website. Then, of course, we ordered a small world famous deep dish pizza (which takes almost 45 minutes to make) with a soup of the day.
Tony checked in on us and gave us updates on our food. After 15 minutes, an overwhelming array of starters were placed in front of us. He described what each thing was as he refilled our drinks.
Here we found the biggest problem with the food: grease. The Wisconsin cheese curds were heavenly but the grease was too much. We soon discovered this was a common theme with the rest of the starters. The boneless chicken bites were subpar, and the mozzarella bites were seasoned well but had too much breading compared to the cheese inside. The soup of the day was a minestrone which had cabbage that made a beautiful blend of flavor.
After 45 minutes, Tony arrived with the long-awaited deep dish pizza. Eating it was the only appropriate time to use a fork. The pizza seemed to collapse on itself and was hard to bite. The crust seemed non-existent and underbaked, and while the cheese was heavenly, it was also very greasy. The next day, I felt unsatisfied with the highly praised deep dish and decided to order a thin crust to give Giordano’s a second chance.
The carry out system was easy to use with multiple pay options and catering/delivery options. The pizza was just the right temperature as I took the first bite. Even though it was greasy, this pizza was the best pizza I’ve ever had. The long-hated pineapple brought its true justice, and the crust had a beautiful ratio of fluff to crunch.
Giordano’s is high priced, but you pay for high quality ingredients. Give it a shot. The family friendly atmosphere and the thin crust pizza with cheese curds are definitely a reason to come back, not to mention the outstanding service.
Rating: Three and a half out of five slices.