West of Chicago Pizza Company — Restaurant in Seattle

I had been hearing lots of hype about this place so, I decided to go and see what it was all about. I have very mixed feelings, so let me explain in my review.

First, the food. I had their signature deep dish pizza. It looks so appetizing. It was very good. I could only eat 2 pieces, it's very filling With that said, I have to note that it was not the best pizza I've had in Seattle. That award goes to Pagliacci.

The things I didn't like.

One, only paid, on street parking. No parking lot.

Two, deep dish takes approximately 45 minutes to cook so, if you're hungry, you're going to have to order one of their high-priced appetizers. I had the bread sticks. Tasty, but I didn't care for the marinara dipping sauce that came with it.

Three, what kind of pizza restaurant doesn't serve Coke or Pepsi? Nope, in this place you won't find either. Only Jones Soda served here. Trying to be a little too fancy in my opinion. I tried all the flavors in the drink machine and hated them all. No thanks. The two most popular drinks on the planet nowhere to be seen. You have to make do with Jones Soda.

Four, I went there to dine in and watch the football playoff game. I figured a pizza restaurant would have TVs and be showing the game. Well, they had a few TVs that were showing the game but, the games were muted and the speakers were filled with terrible country or bluegrass music, at least, that's the genre I think it was. Bottom line is, it was awful music and it was played way too loud. It made my dining in experience very unpleasant.

Five, anyone else think tipping has gotten out of control in this country? I believe in tipping for service. I don't believe in tipping for you doing your job. And, I definitely don't believe in pre-tipping before any service has been rendered. I was immediately turned off when I entered this place because 1. You seat yourself, 2. You go up to the counter to place your order. 3. You get your own plate, napkins, and silverware, and 4. You are required to bus your own table when you're finished eating. And, when you place your order, they ask you for a tip amount. Unbelievable! For what? I should be tipping myself. As far as I could tell there were two waitresses for the place. They sprayed and wiped the tables after each customer left and they brought your pizza to your table. That's it! I don't feel like I should tip when there is no service being provided.

So, in summary, if I was in the neighborhood and I was hungry and craving a deep dish pizza, I'd order a pizza to go. But, I wouldn't go out of my way to go back to West of...

You guys ... they have a dine-in space now. And it is otherworldly.

A friend of mine, who had lived in Chicago, had ordered from West of Chicago Pizza Company previously, when they were only doing delivery. She said it was authentic, tasty and exactly as she expected. So when she shot me a text saying she and her wife were going to dine in in their new space, I was sold.

I've never had Chicago style pizza before, seen pictures, sure, but seeing is believing. Sort of like how Milford Sound in New Zealand is thought to be one of the most beautiful places on earth, I'm sure a photo doesn't even begin to do it justice.

That's how I felt last night at West of Chicago Pizza Company when my 9" BYO came out pipping hot. But let me back up.

Situated in a great space on 38th Ave SW and SW Alaska St, this little slice of amazing is located in the ground floor of an apartment/condo building, which much of West Seattle is now. We almost drove past it the first time, keep your peepers pealed for it because it isn't unnecessarily flashy.

Inside, we were met by Brianna (per the receipt). She was one of the most authentic people I've met in a restaurant in years, she seemed to genuinely enjoy being a part of something new and was working hard to give her best to it. And it most certainly showed. Except for the occasional communication of new instructions to her from who appeared to be Head Chef Shawn Millard (which momentarily derailed the flow), Brianna delivered exactly the type of friendly face I'd love to see when I return.

Anyway, skip ahead to ~40 minutes later.My 9" BYO came out pipping hot and had robust portions of pepperoni, sausage and whole chunks of roasted garlic, exactly as I'd ordered. The sauce was flavorful, and not too thick, apparently what you'd want in Chicago style pizza. The crust was, obviously, true deep dish and crunchy throughout ($18).

They presently had a small variety of serve-yourself Jones Soda, something I'd not seen before, and Brianna was happy to get you a beer from their selection of IPAs.

Their website called out that they were open, but were still finding their footing, a bit of a soft launch situation, but I couldn't really tell. The team seemed to have found their cohesive footing and except for a minor panic scenario where they had too many pizzas and not enough customers (someone ordered, left, and then came back), West of Chicago Pizza Company had all the signs of the newest thriving business in West Seattle.

I can't...

As a Chicago native who grew up with pizza as it's own group, when I heard of this place I had to try. I read other reviews on here and was a little skeptical on both sides. To start, this pizza has the right ratio of ingredients and presentation. Other "deep dish" pizza places refer to pizza's as pies and just give you thick piece of pizza without any of the real deep dish components of it. The popular, Windy City Pies, is just like this. They make great pizza but it's so far off from what deep pizza is that it's false advertisement if you know what real deep dish is and go in expecting it. The pizza from West of Chicago had quality ingredients, crust, weight, and structure. Some people talk about the pizza not being cut as an issue but this is normal if it's to go orders in Chicago based on how big pizza is so to stay intact. There were two misses with this deep dish pizza, the first being the meat. When you order a deep dish with sausage or pepperoni the meat should completely cover the cheese layer. The meat isn't a topping so much as it's a layer and if you see an authentic deep dish pizza being made at a place such as Lou Malnatis, you'll see when they make the pizza that after the meat is added you can't see the cheese underneath. I ordered the original from West of Chicago and like traditional pizza, it was more so randomly placed on there. The second issue for me was the sauce which other reviewers speak to as being too salty. I'm inclined to agree although I couldn't tell if it was too much salt or too much of a seasoning but in either case it was almost too strong not at all similar too the taste of Chicago based pizza establishments. If the sauce wasn't so strong I would definitely go back because everything else about it was great. For those in Seattle wanting to try the closest thing to deep dish pizza without being in Chicago or shipping it in (which you can do) I recommend Delfinos. They're slightly off on the crust but overall the closest to...