Review From 2010:
Acting on a tip I got from a buddy at work I added Chicago Italian Beef to my list of places to hit this summer. I had never even heard of this place before he told me about it, but as I started asking around, it seemed as though anybody who has ever eaten there loved it so I've been excited about this one for a while. As with DaVinci's and Manny's I was still skeptical of it's Nashville quality to actual quality ratio. Add to the fact it's Chicago style in Nashville in a weird part of town and my skepticism was growing bigger by the day. As soon as I had the chance I had to go and see what's happening down there for myself.
We knew what we were getting into with Chicago Style pizza and how long it takes to cook so we made sure to phone ahead. We placed our order for a large pepperoni deep dish and were told 45 minutes to an hour so we slowly made our way towards that part of town. Chicago is located in the same building as that gigantic pet store on Nolensville Rd called the Aquatic Critter so it was pretty easy to find. We arrived right at 45 minutes and when we got inside the girl behind the counter said it would be right out. Just a couple minutes later our pie landed on our table. Pretty good timing. The pizza looked and smelled amazing. I was still skeptical, however, as I have been fooled in the past.
Just looking at it, I knew the crust wasn't as thick as Obie's and actually reminded a bit of what Pizza Done Right was trying to accomplish out there in Joelton. The cheese was barely visible in the pool of sauce and seasoning. I've never seen a pizza that looked anything like this, but I've also never had real traditional Chicago style pizza. I've only had Obie's and a couple of chain versions. Surprisingly, the pieces separated quite easily when it was time to serve it up. We made sure to wait a minute or before digging in to avoid the same mouth scalding that Obie's gave us. When it was finally time to take a bite I did so with great caution and skepticism. I was very quickly turned around. This was the first really good discovery since Sal's which was 15 pizzas ago. It's been a long time coming.
The crust was thinner than you would expect with a Chicago style. Most of us think of them as being super think throughout, but that's not the case here. The crust was still thicker than a lot of pizza, though. The center crust was somewhat crispy but still flexible while the edges were super crispy and hard. No part of the crust appeared burned in any way, however, and full of flavor. It didn't really taste like any crust I've had in the past either, no garlic butter or anything, just really, really good. The cheese was somewhat scarce and didn't really stand out too much. The pepperoni seemed like it was almost mixed in with the sauce. It was pretty spicy and definitely plentiful and tasty. The whole pizza was also blanketed with Italian seasoning which may have been overpowering the cheese. My favorite part of this pizza was the sauce. The sauce was amazing. Probably the best I've had all summer. It was as if they smashed fresh tomatoes to make the sauce just for my pizza. It was really thick, yet not chunky. I'm not exactly sure what they're doing behind the counter there, but I hope they keep it up. The pizza as whole was definitely one of the best in the city, though it felt more like we were eating a baked dish than a pizza, but that's Chicago style for ya. Chicago is definitely among the Top Ten of the summer so far.
Chicago Italian Beef is located at 5017 Nolensville Pike. They're open daily 10AM-11PM. My large pepperoni deep dish pizza, a Coke and a tip came out to just $20. Make sure to allow 45 minutes or more for a deep dish pizza, it will be well worth it. I actually can't wait for the Pizza Summer to draw to a close so I can get back down there and get another pizza. Speaking of the Pizza Summer's end, there are only 3 entries left and 2 stops. We're currently working on the final pizza party event. Details will be posted by tomorrow evening.
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