Why Chicago's (Other) Regional Pizza Is Called 'Tavern-Style'

While Domino's may have its New York-style pizza, Pizza Hut one-upped its rival by being the first international chain to sell what it calls Chicago tavern-style pizza. It also launched a commercial campaign featuring alleged Chicagoans complaining about how Pizza Hut had outed their little secret as if somehow popularizing the pizza meant there would be less of it to go around. As it turns out, those fictional Windy City citizens are a bit late to the party, since other parts of the country are already aware that tavern-style pizza is a thing. It's offered in restaurants from San Francisco to Nashville –- and yes, even in New York.

Tavern-style pizza is characterized by having a very thin crust, with "cracker-like" being the cliché of choice, although it really doesn't bear much resemblance to a saltine or Ritz. It's also round but cut into small squares instead of triangular wedges. Tavern-style pizza seems to date back to the early 1940s, as does Chicago-style deep dish. While the latter started out as a restaurant meal, the former began as a bar snack, hence the name. This may also have necessitated the square cut since smaller pieces made for the kind of two-bite snack you could hold in one hand while balancing a beer in the other. (No plates required, which may have been another plus for the bar owners.) It sometimes goes by the name of "party cut," as well, perhaps for similar reasons.

Pizza Hut may include the word "Chicago" in the name of its tavern-style pizza and showcase the city in its ad campaign, but this regional pizza style has been embraced by the entire Midwest. Milwaukee, Chicago's neighbor to the north by about 80 miles, will occasionally assert that it has its own pizza style. However, outside the city, few are sold on the concept. Even the pizzeria said to have originated the stuff, Caradaro Club, states on its website that it serves "traditional thin crust Chicago-style pizza."

Two other cities, though, can stake a legitimate claim to having their own distinctive versions of tavern-style pizza. Quad Cities pizza is native to Bettendorf and Davenport, Iowa as well as Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline, Illinois. (Yes, that's five cities, but the name may be conflating the two Molines.) It is distinguished by having a crust made with molasses. St. Louis boasts a better-known pizza that, like Chicago's, goes back to the 1940s. (Quad Cities is a relative newcomer, dating to the '50s.) What differentiates it from other tavern-style pizzas is its use of provel, a cheese primarily popular in St. Louis and made from a blend of cheddar, provolone, and Swiss with a hint of liquid smoke. 

St. Louisians are downright miffed that Chicago seems to get all the credit for creating a thin-crust pizza. Even if tavern-style did originate in the Windy City, The Lou gets props for adding its own spin.