George's Deep Dish LLC — Restaurant in Lake View Township

I had the tavern style, so can't comment on the deep dish.

I've been on a pizza kick as of late (see my review history) and I've been driving around trying all of the most well reviewed pizza spots. George's was on the list for both deep dish and tavern. I decided to go with tavern style since that's a little harder to come by, despite it being fashionable for Chicagoans to say that tavern style is the "real" Chicago pizza (fyi: deep dish pizza places outnumber tavern style pizza places 2:1 here)

Anyway, I ordered a tavern style here. Like a couple of other viral places, I had to place the order a few days in advance and pick a slot to come get it. Believe it or not, three days is not the longest I've ever had to wait to get a pizza. That distinction belongs to Five Squared at an absurd two weeks.

So how was it?

Not bad. Compared to other tavern style places, I found the crust to be a little softer and less crunchy. But the biggest exception I took was to the sauce. Sauce is one of those things where everybody will have a different preference. I found the sauce too sweet to the point where it overwhelmed the other flavors. You may find that a good thing; I do not. I prefer somewhat more savory sauce.

I threw it in the oven when I got home to crisp the crust up a bit. It helped, but I can't say it was my favorite tavern style. I might try the deep dish at some point, but I can't say it's a priority anytime soon, especially for a...

I waited a while to try George's because of the fabled "sweet sauce". I can't stand sweet sauce. The press and hype around this place repeatedly mentioned the "balance" of the sweetness of the sauce with the sourdough crust, so I remained open-minded. We went on a Saturday, five minutes after they opened. We didn't pre-order, and even though most people pre-order due to them selling out regularly, we felt welcomed. George's own mother was our waitress and she was a warm and lovely person. The time flew as we enjoyed all the 90s alternative music videos playing on the tv. Then George brought out our pie - a custom deep dish with spinach and garlic confit. Oh my gosh, the absolute mountain of garlic. Not sure how George confits his garlic, but it's flawless. It looks intimidating, but trust me on this one. I didn't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. The sauce was one of the high points, and the hype was right - it was perfectly balanced. The crust was out of this world. The cheese, a perfect amount. We found ourselves wanting another pizza the next day, it was that good. We were blown away. I'm so glad George's can be added to the exhaustive list of Edgewater culinary gems that we are lucky to have. George's pizzas are epic, and I have a feeling that we're not going to go anywhere else for pizza for the...

No doubt the pizza is awesome. Crust is somewhat crunchy while the middle is soft and chewy (but not gummy). The cheese portion was just right. Would have liked a little more sauce but that’s just my preference. I would like to note that after not receiving my entire order (1 brownie short) it took an initial phone call - sorry I’m busy I’ll see if we can refund it, a voicemail and another phone call. The whole time I was trying to find out about the refund, I could hear someone in the background, I believe the owner, being very rude in how he spoke. Shame he was such an a** cause now I’m totally turned off of this place.

Update: After a week I have still not received my refund for missing order item. This only confirms my original thought that this guy, possibly owner, is truly an a**. For those of you who think this is “much ado about nothing “ you may be right but then again it’s about the principle of the matter and the horrible customer service.

Update #2: Received my refund yesterday. Final thoughts - better late than never.

PS - tried the cheese pizza at Lou Malnati’s Evanston on Friday. It was a huge disappointment after...