Restaurant Review: Chicago Style Pizza

10420 Portage Rd, Portage • Wednesday & Thursday: 4pm to 9pm • Friday & Saturday: 4pm to 10pm • Sunday: Noon - 8pm

I REALLY LOVE TO COOK, BUT ABOUT

once a week I open the refrigerator and cupboards, and just don’t have the energy to think about what we will have for dinner that night, let alone find the energy to actually create it. When this happens, we end up ordering take-out. Nine times out of 10, it’s pizza. Since we do have pizza about once a week, I have tried a lot of different places all around town and we have a few favorite places we always go back to. One of those places is CHICAGO STYLE PIZZA in Portage. This little pizza joint has flown under my radar for the 15+ years I’ve lived in the area. However, we recently moved to an area a little further out of town and one of the first things we researched was places to eat around us. Chicago Style Pizza was one of the first to come up.

This cute little pizza place has been around since 1979. The owners, the Taylor family, moved here from the suburbs of Chicago and recognized the need for Chicago-style pizza and that extra thick style crust oftentimes with the sauce going on last. They have been cranking them out ever since. Their little building is on Portage Road between Gourdneck and Austin Lake. The restaurant doesn’t have a dine-in option, so you can call, like I did that night, or order online through their website.

On this night, we ordered a DEEP-DISH PEPPERONI PIZZA. I got it home and excitedly peeled off the foil placed over the pie to keep it warm on its travels home, just watching the steam lift off the pizza. It’s super rare that I receive a still-warm pizza whether it is delivered or picked up. Our deep dish had a nice thick crust, piled with cheese, pepperoni and sauce (in that order). It is cut in grid-like, square pieces likely because the thickness of it would be challenging to eat if cut in a traditional triangle wedge.

There is plenty of cheese, but not so much that it’s overly gooey. The pepperonis are also spread out so it’s not overloaded, but just enough so there’s some in each bite. I love their sauce, which is more on the savory side of things, and also has a nice little zing to it. I wouldn’t call it spicy, but definitely a zing. And then, for my favorite part: the crust. Being a deep dish, it’s extra thick but still fluffy and flavorful.

Just so you know, we ordered a large size and it was plenty for both my husband and me with enough left over for some the next day.

I love Chicago Style Pizza and look forward to supporting them through the years to come! They always deliver exceptional customer service, quality pizza that’s unique to our area, and provide really reasonable prices. They offer thin, deep dish and stuffed crust pizzas as well as calzones and subs.

Try out this excellent place for yourself!

E.B. Precopio

Elizabeth is a hairstylist by day and 24/7 food enthusiast. She visits restaurants in the Kalamazoo area and blogs about her experience at feedmekzoo.com