The quick answer
Chicago's food is built around a few famous dishes: deep-dish pizza, the Italian beef sandwich, the Chicago-style hot dog and the Maxwell Street Polish, plus the jibarito, a steak sandwich made with fried plantains instead of bread.
For deep dish, go to Pequod's in Lincoln Park for its caramelized pan crust, or Lou Malnati's for the classic version. For Italian beef, Al's on Taylor Street has served it since 1938. For a hot dog, Superdawg, a 1948 drive-in, tops critics' lists.
Deep-dish and stuffed pizzas take 40–50 minutes to bake, so order as soon as you sit down, or try the thin, square-cut tavern-style pizza instead.
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Get FeedMii for iPhone9 dishes to try in Chicago
The dishes Chicago is known for, with rough prices and where to get each one.
Deep-Dish Pizza
Dough pressed up the sides of an oiled 2-inch pan, layered with sliced mozzarella and toppings, with chunky tomato sauce on top. Pizzeria Uno says it created the style in 1943, a claim some historians dispute.
How to eat it: Order the pizza as soon as you sit down or reserve ahead, because it bakes for 40 minutes or more. Two slices fill most people.
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Stuffed Pizza
An even taller pie: a thick bottom crust filled with shredded mozzarella and toppings, sealed with a thin second crust and topped with sauce. Giordano's and Nancy's both started making it in 1974, based on an Italian Easter pie.
How to eat it: Allow up to 50 minutes for it to bake. Giordano's puts nearly a pound of mozzarella in each 10-inch pie, so a small feeds two.
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Tavern-Style Pizza
A crisp, very thin crust cut into small squares instead of wedges, first served in taverns as bar food. Lou Malnati's says its thin crust was first cut into squares and served on cocktail napkins.
How to eat it: Order it when you can't wait for a deep-dish bake. The middle squares are softest; the edge pieces are the crunchy ones.
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Italian Beef
Seasoned roast beef sliced paper-thin, simmered in its own gravy and piled into crusty French bread. Al's on Taylor Street has served it since 1938.
How to eat it: Order it dry, wet or dipped (the whole sandwich dunked in gravy), with sweet peppers or hot giardiniera; a combo adds an Italian sausage. Eat it leaning over the counter so the gravy drips on the floor, not on you.
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Chicago-Style Hot Dog
A beef frank on a poppy seed bun with yellow mustard, neon-green relish, chopped onion, tomato, a pickle spear, sport peppers and celery salt.
How to eat it: Don't ask for ketchup: Chicago stands frown on it, and some refuse. Superdawg's version swaps the tomato for a pickled green tomato.
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Maxwell Street Polish
A smoked Polish sausage grilled and topped with a heap of grilled onions, yellow mustard and sport peppers. Jim's Original created it in 1943 at its stand on Maxwell Street.
How to eat it: Order at the window and eat standing up. At Jim's, fries come free with every sandwich.
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Pork Chop Sandwich
A grilled pork chop with the bone still in, served on a bun with the same onions, mustard and peppers as the Polish. Jim's Original added it in 1947.
How to eat it: Eat around the bone, and keep napkins close.
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Jibarito
Thin steak, onions, cheese, lettuce, tomato and mayo between two flattened, twice-fried green plantains. It was created in 1996 at a Puerto Rican restaurant called Borinquen in Humboldt Park.
How to eat it: Steak is the classic filling. Press down gently before the first bite: the plantains are crisp and the filling slides.
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Garrett Mix Popcorn
Caramel corn and cheddar cheese popcorn tossed together, the best seller at Garrett, a Chicago popcorn shop since 1949.
How to eat it: Buy it at a Garrett shop in the Loop and ask for the mix. A small bag is plenty for two.
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10 places worth the trip
Ranked with the deep-dish pizza first, then the sandwich and hot dog stands. All were open on Google as of October 31, 2026.
Pequod's Pizza
Lincoln Park, Clybourn AveOur pick for the best deep-dish-style pizza in Chicago: a pan pizza with a dark, caramelized cheese crust, ranked in the top three by both The Infatuation and Time Out.
- Order
- Pan pizza with sausage; tavern-style thin crust if you're in a hurry
- Price
- About $12 for a 7-inch personal pan, $17 for a 10-inch; weekday lunch special $8.95 (Pequod's menu, Oct 2026)
- Tip
- Reserve ahead. Open until 2 am Monday to Saturday, and the $8.95 lunch special runs 11 am–3 pm on weekdays.
Lou Malnati's Pizzeria (River North)
River North, Wells StThe classic deep dish most locals grew up on, made by a family business since 1971: cheese laid on a buttery crust, toppings, then tomato sauce.
- Order
- Deep dish with sausage, or the thin crust
- Price
- About $22–30 for a small deep dish (estimate)
- Tip
- Open until 11 pm, and midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. Order the pizza with your drinks to cut the wait.
Al's #1 Italian Beef (Taylor St)
Little Italy, W Taylor StThe stand that says it created Italian beef in 1938 (a claim some food writers doubt), on Taylor Street since the early 1960s.
- Order
- Italian beef, dipped, with hot giardiniera; a combo if you're hungry
- Price
- About $10–14 for an Italian beef (estimate)
- Tip
- Closed Sundays. Eat at the counter using the 'Italian stance': elbows down, feet apart, lean in.
Superdawg Drive-In
Norwood Park, N Milwaukee AveA 1948 drive-in where you order through a speaker from your car, under two giant hot-dog figures on the roof; No. 1 in Time Out's 2025 hot dog ranking.
- Order
- The Superdawg, which comes with a pickled green tomato, and fries
- Price
- About $8–11 for a Superdawg with fries (estimate)
- Tip
- Open until 1 am (2 am on Fridays and Saturdays). It is on the Northwest Side, so pair it with a trip to O'Hare.
Jim's Original
University Village, S Union AveThe stand that created the Maxwell Street Polish in 1943 and the pork chop sandwich in 1947, still cooking both at a walk-up window.
- Order
- Maxwell Street Polish, pork chop sandwich (free fries with either)
- Price
- About $6–9 for a Polish with free fries (estimate)
- Tip
- Open 6 am to 1 am daily. There is no seating, so eat standing or take it away.
Girl & The Goat
West Loop, W Randolph StThe splurge: chef Stephanie Izard's 2010 restaurant that helped turn Randolph Street into the West Loop's Restaurant Row, with a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
- Order
- Goat empanadas, green beans, roasted pig face, pork shank to share
- Price
- The splurge: small plates about $20–28, pork shank $48, plus a 4% surcharge (Girl & the Goat menu, Oct 2026)
- Tip
- Dinner from 4:30 pm daily, plus Sunday brunch. Book ahead; order three or four plates for two people.
Portillo's (River North)
River North, W Ontario StChicago's favorite hot dog and Italian beef chain, started in 1963 as a hot dog trailer, and the easiest place to try both in one stop.
- Order
- Chicago dog, Italian beef (dipped)
- Price
- About $5–6 for a hot dog, $9–12 for an Italian beef (estimate)
- Tip
- Open 10 am–1 am every day, a few blocks from the Magnificent Mile.
Giordano's (Millennium Park)
The Loop, E Randolph StThe name behind Chicago stuffed pizza since 1974, with nearly a pound of mozzarella in each 10-inch pie, next to Millennium Park.
- Order
- Stuffed spinach or sausage pizza
- Price
- About $22–30 for a 10-inch small stuffed pizza (estimate)
- Tip
- The stuffed pizza bakes for up to 50 minutes, so order it as soon as you are seated.
Borinquen
North Center, N Western AveRun by the family of the man who invented the jibarito in 1996, at the original Borinquen in Humboldt Park, which has since closed.
- Order
- Steak jibarito
- Price
- About $13–17 for a jibarito (estimate)
- Tip
- Open daily from 10 am (11 am on Sundays) until 10 pm.
Pizzeria Uno (original)
River North, E Ohio StThe restaurant that says it served the first deep-dish pizza in 1943, a claim some dispute. Go for the history; critics rank newer names higher.
- Order
- Chicago Classic deep dish
- Price
- About $25–35 for a 9-inch small (estimate)
- Tip
- Open 11 am–11 pm daily.
Places checked as of October 2026. Opening hours change, so check before you go.
Tips for eating in Chicago
- Order deep dish or stuffed pizza as soon as you sit down, or call ahead: bakes take 40–50 minutes.
- Learn three words for Italian beef: dry (little gravy), wet (extra gravy) and dipped (the whole sandwich dunked). Add 'hot' for spicy giardiniera.
- Never put ketchup on a Chicago dog. Ask for it 'with everything' and you get the seven classic toppings.
- Most of the classic sandwich stands are cheap and fast; save your bigger budget for one dinner in the West Loop.
- Eating your way across the US? See the best BBQ in Austin and the best food in Nashville.
Can't pick? Let FeedMii decide.
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Download free for iPhoneFrequently asked questions
What food is Chicago famous for?
Deep-dish pizza, the Italian beef sandwich, the Chicago-style hot dog and the Maxwell Street Polish. Locals also love tavern-style thin crust pizza, the jibarito (a plantain steak sandwich) and Garrett's caramel-and-cheddar popcorn.
Where is the best deep-dish pizza in Chicago?
Pequod's in Lincoln Park ranks in the top three of both The Infatuation's and Time Out's deep-dish lists, for its caramelized pan crust. Lou Malnati's is the classic buttery deep dish, Giordano's is best known for stuffed pizza, and Pizzeria Uno says it served the first deep dish in 1943.
Deep dish or tavern-style: which do Chicagoans eat?
Both. Tavern-style thin crust, cut into squares, is the quick everyday option; deep dish takes 40 minutes or more to bake, so it is more of a sit-down meal.
Where should I eat in Chicago for the first time?
Have one deep dish (Pequod's or Lou Malnati's), one Italian beef (Al's or Portillo's), a Chicago dog at Superdawg or Portillo's, and a Maxwell Street Polish at Jim's Original. For a sit-down dinner, book Girl & The Goat in the West Loop.