Lou Malnati's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Lake View Township

This was the second pizza place we visited because our first pick pizza place had a 40 minute wait time with a very long line out the door of people waiting to be seated.

This place didn't have any waiting and I guess that should have made us question this choice but, it supposedly had great reviews? At least so I was told by someone in our party.

Although the place wasn't very busy, about 4 or 5 occupied small tables, including ours, mostly seating one or 2 diners each our table being the exception seating the 5 of us. The menu stated it would be a 30 minute wait for a pizza and it took that and longer.

Our server was very attentive refilling our water glasses at least a couple of times as we waited for the one small thin crust pizza one person in our party ordered along with the large Chicago pepperoni and sausage deep dish pizza everyone else ordered. We wanted to taste the hype.

Once the pizzas arrived, our server cut and served us the slices of the large Chicago deep dish pizza. That was a very nice touch. The pizza did look good. Looks can be deceiving. The ingredients were fresh tasting and the pizza had the perfect amount of sauce and the crust had the right amount of crispy on the edges of each slice however, dough without salt is just NOT good. The pizza dough had no salt so that left it tasting super bland. Did someone forget to use salt or was this what this particular restaurant's idea of a good pizza is? We'll never know since we were tourists visiting Chicago for the first time. If this is what deep dish pizza is supposed to be like then, no thanks. Yes, I would never eat another deep dish Chicago pizza in Chicago just for the lack of salt in the crust despite the toppings being very good. Salt is extremely important in dough. Bread without salt is tasteless and this was what the experience of eating this pizza was like. The better pizza was the thin crust pizza. It was also fresh tasting and because the crust was so thin, the toppings did a better job of masking the lack of salt.

Would I be rushing back to this place? If I'm ever in Chicago again, this place would be a pass. Nice...

Lou Malnati’s: Deep Dish Worth the Risk (from a First-Time Seattleite in Sox Territory) So here I am—a lifelong Mariners fan, fresh off my first-ever trip to Chicago, rocking full-on Mariners gear and rolling deep into the South Side to watch my boys take on the White Sox. Let’s just say… I knew I was taking a few risks. Riding the L train in enemy territory with a bright teal and gold hat and Edgar Martinez jersey—I might as well have had a neon sign that said, “Out-of-Town Baseball Nerd.” After an afternoon game (where I got to watch the Mariners take two out of three against the Sox), I was starving. But I’d heard the legend: Lou Malnati’s. Everyone said it was the place for deep-dish. And after taking on the South Side, I figured—what’s one more adventure? Let me tell you something: Lou’s is the real deal. That pizza isn’t food—it’s a statement. The crust was buttery, and perfectly crisp on the bottom. It’s got that almost cornbread texture that somehow holds up against a mountain of cheese, sausage, and that tangy, chunky tomato sauce piled on like they’re daring gravity to do something about it. I’ve eaten wood-fired pies in Naples, Italy—where pizza was invented. But this? This was something else. Lou Malnati’s is hearty, no-nonsense, and unapologetically Chicago. It’s a pizza that doesn’t try to impress you with trends—it just shows up and dominates.

And after braving the L train—risking side-eyes and surviving an unhinged passenger that was being chased through the train tunnels by Chicago's finest which caused a full train evacuation and a reroute through downtown Chicago decked out head to toe in Mariners gear. Would I do it all over again? Mariners gear, White Sox turf, deep-dish finale? In...

First visit here and probably the last. First time in Chicago and decided to come in with my boyfriend because the reviews and food looked great! Always wanted a Chicago deep dish and this place fit the image. Unfortunately, the experience was TERRIBLE. I understand we came in an hour before closing but the service was horrible! Our server was no where to be found and we also were aware pizzas take about 30 minutes or so to make. We waited well over 50 minutes. Our server came by once to say "our order will be right out" yet we still waited 15+ minutes. Everyone around us, even those seated after us had already ate and paid before we even got our order. We felt like Anton Ego from Ratatouille when he was waiting forever until closing to meet the chef!!! They close at 11pm, we got there at 10pm. 11:35pm and still hadn't got our order so we had no choice but to ask for it to-go which took forever to ask because again, NO ONE WAS ON THE FLOOR TO HELP. We wanted desserts to order once our food came but seeing how long we had to wait for our food and for any sort of service, we're better off getting a cookie at a store. At the end, they finally acknowledged how long our order took and then decided to tell us they had made our order wrong so they had to redo it which resulted in the long wait time. It would’ve been nice to had been notified sooner. Fortunately, they did comp our pizza and they upgraded it to a large and also gave free cookies which was appreciated but once we got home the pizza wasn’t even worth the wait and soggy and the cookies were really basic. All I can say is if you want a Chicago deep dish, avoid this place or go to a different location. This was a...