Lou Malnati's Pizzeria (River North, Chicago)
Lou Malnati's Buttercrust substitutes butter for oil in the dough, a specific, checkable departure the business states itself, and it carries its own thread into the city's contested deep-dish origin story: founder Lou Malnati was the son of Rudy Malnati Sr., one of the three people credited (and disputed) with inventing the dish at Pizzeria Uno. This record is for the River North location, inside the city; the company's original 1971 restaurant was in suburban Lincolnwood.
Why it is here
Lou Malnati's Buttercrust substitutes butter for oil in the dough, a specific, checkable departure the business states itself, and it carries its own thread into the city's contested deep-dish origin story: founder Lou Malnati was the son of Rudy Malnati Sr., one of the three people credited (and disputed) with inventing the dish at Pizzeria Uno. This record is for the River North location, inside the city; the company's original 1971 restaurant was in suburban Lincolnwood.
What to order
the Malnati Chicago Classic, a sausage buttercrust deep dish