Chicago holds world renown for its delicious deep dish and stuffed pizzas and Giordano’s is one of a number of local restaurant chains that can claim to have helped make it so. Born near Torino, in Italy, brothers and chefs Efren and Joseph Boglio grew up with their mother’s wonderful recipes, including her excellent pizza. Efren came to Chicago in the late sixties and worked around various restaurants, eventually opening his own called Roma. Sampling the best of the pizzas in the Chicago area, he felt there was room for improvement. When Efren’s brother Joseph followed him to Chicago in the mid-seventies, the two created what they felt was the best pizza around and, together, opened the first Giordano’s restaurant in 1974. They have grown and added many locations in the subsequent three decades.
On a recent visit to their Niles location, I ordered a standard deep dish, double-crust, cheese and sausage pizza. Although a fan of both deep dish and thin crust pizza, I do have limits to the toppings I enjoy, generally restricting myself to either sausage or pepperoni. A quick survey of the other nearby patrons assured me that the vegetables and other toppings not on my own list of favorites, were fresh and enjoyable. Now, I know that most deep dish pizzas can be a bit thin on the cheese to crust ratio, but I was a bit disappointed in just how little cheese was included in this particular pie. The sausage, while tasty, could have been a bit more plentiful, as well. All in all, though, the tomato sauce was delicious. The crust was cooked to perfection at just the right consistency between doughy and flaky. It is worth mentioning that the leftovers were every bit as delicious the next evening, reheated on a baking sheet. This was definitely a recommendable pizza.
From those early beginnings, Giordano’s has expanded to over forty locations, in and around Chicago and in Florida, with several more planned to open soon. For more information on locations and menu items, visit giordanos.com.