Pizza City USA Tours

us pizza restaurants and recipes but learned some Chicago history as well. Our leader was knowledgeable and funny. A great option for any group.

alanced between pizza history and facts from our Dough-cent (Steve), time to connect with guests (a mix of locals and tourists!), and of course time to savor the different pizza types. One of the things that separates this tour from others is that you actually get to visit Chicago neighborhoods outside the Loop and off the beaten tourist track. Meeting the pizzeria owners and touring their kitchens was also a welcomed plus. For those planning weddings - all three walking tours (Bucktown, West Loop, and West Town) are near several of Chicago's premier loft/industrial venues so this would a unique and convenient guest activity. I will be recommending this all visitors and Chicago friends alike. In fact, I had such a great time that I actually reached out to Steve to inquire about becoming a Dough-cent!

before my wedding the next week. We had an absolute blast on the tour. We did a bus tour, though I want to go back and do a walking tour as soon as I can. The group was perfectly sized and ready to eat pizza. Steve and Amy curated a set of incredible places, including the best deep dish pizza I’ve ever had. We ate pizza at each place and got to meet the owner in each place, see the oven, and see how the pizza is made. In the course of the afternoon we had a good amount of pizza: enough so we felt perfectly full without feeling like we had overdone it at all. It is really not an exaggeration at all to say that Steve at this point is one of the world’s leading experts on pizza, as well as possibly the single greatest food fan in the city of Chicago. His descriptions of the different kinds of pizza were so interesting. He knows what differentiates truly great pizza from plain old good pizza was fascinating, and he delivers it all (no pizza pun intended) in this completely unpretentious chill way that Jim and I just loved. He and his Amy are both incredibly nice and kind. They make you feel at home right away, like you are with old friends. We just so enjoyed their company. Because of this pizza tour, I ended up getting Pat’s Pizza for my wedding brunch the next week. We met the owner of Pat’s, Gina, as part of the pizza tour, so that was pretty great. Jim and I agreed at the end that this would have been a perfect thing for out-of-town guests at the wedding, or for my wedding party. You could have probably 12-20 people on a tour all for yourselves, and just have a blast. Chicago has such great pizza, it seems like such a great way to introduce people who don’t know the city as well to different neighborhoods and some of the great food we have. Thanks so much to Steve and Amy for an experience we won’t forget. We just truly loved it. Can’t wait to come back for another tour soon.

h big fans of Steve Dolinsky, aka the Hungry Hound, and love his podcast The Feed, so we knew we were in for a great time. Still, our already high expectations were exceeded -- the tour was an absolute blast and we haven't stopped talking about it since. First and foremost, we got to try a variety of incredible pizzas -- definitely come hungry! We started off at a place that's now my favorite deep dish pizza spot in the city -- I now see deep dish pizza in a whole new light, and learned how to differentiate it from its deadbeat cousin, the stuffed pizza. From there we hopped on a small tour bus, and between our subsequent pizza stops were treated to some fantastic pizza history and a pizza Q&A care of the Hungry Hound -- he is, to the surprise of no one, a wealth of pizza and food knowledge and full of fun and interesting stories. Our second stop was an amazing artisanal pizza place, followed by a third-generation family owned Chicago tavern-style pizza joint (the real Chicago-style pizza), and finally a NY style spot. All four stops on the pizza tour were truly excellent, and at each restaurant we not only ate some fantastic pizza but also talked with the chef, got a behind-the-scenes look at the pizza ovens, toured the kitchen, or all of the above. Steve and his wife Amy have curated such a fun, interesting and delicious tour and I can't recommend it more highly -- they also couldn't be nicer or more genuine people. My brother and I both loved the tour and our only regret is that his whole wedding party wasn't in town in time for the pizza tour -- we're hoping to get the whole gang back together and go on another Pizza City USA tour very soon, because the tour would be great for a large group as well. It'd be perfect for a bachelor or bachelorette party, a day-after-wedding outing for friends and family, or just a fun weekend outing -- great a wedding-related event, but you of course don't need a special occasion to eat and learn about great pizza. If you like pizza, go as soon as you can! Pizza City USA tours are the best.

ting a variety of pizza styles and learning about their history here in Chicago. The tour is fascinating, historical, educational, and best of all “delicious!” Will your guests be well fed, no doubt! Will your guests, young and old, learn something new, absolutely! Will your guests finish the tour with big smiles, 100%!