Stop #5 Lou Malnati's

Lou Malnati’s

Multiple Locations in Chicagoland

Our Location: 439 N. Wells

Chicago, IL 60610

Malnati is arguably one of the most famous names in Chicago Pizza -- as it should be. Lou Malnati’s is known for its deep dish pizza and claims to have “the best in World.” I can’t vouch for it being the best in the wo

rld (maybe someday, people), but it does rank highly among our group, many other Chicagoans and Chicago-style pizza fans, in general. I actually got a call from my dad during dinner, and he asked me to eat an extra piece for him! He is among those lovers of Lou Malnati’s pizza, and has been known to order Lou’s deep dish by mail (don’t worry, it comes frozen!).

We’ve got good news here; so, let’s get started. Malnati’s was unable to edge out the current leader, Pequod’s, but it came very close. Overall, Lou’s got a 4.23/5. (Just a reminder, Pequod’s came in with a 4.26/5.) Our Lou Malnati’s experience was pretty good. Aside from the obvious (pizza), our server was very friendly and our pizza was served for us again! Always a good feature. The River North location that we visited was perfect, close to the el, and as Noelle pointed out, has “a really cute patio out front!” With its very “Chicago” feel, we gave the atmosphere a 3.7 -- Lou is only being beaten in this category by his brother over at Pizano’s. There was something about that borderline cheesy, authentic Italian feel (for us anyway) ... We’ve found the value to be pretty even across all of our visits, but the beer at Lou Malnati’s was exceptionally cheap (in a good way)! Mary even made the comment, “The beer is cheap, but our waitress sure isn’t. She gets 20% for a job well done!” (For the record, we have tipped all of our servers 20%.) Here’s how Malnati’s stacked up in the th

ree general categories:

Service: 3.9/5

Atmosphere: 3.7/5

Value: 4.1/5

Lou Malnati’s is well known for its butter crust (it’s delicious); it is really crispy on the edges, and not too “bready” on the bottom. We ordered a Deep dish pizza with sausage, green peppers and onions. Another infamous Lou Malnati’s feature is sausage in every bite, and as

Kyle said, “always a winner here!” I, personally, thought the onions were a little too big. But other than that, I didn’t hear any complaints around the table! Now for the scores:

Crust: 4.4

Sauce: 3.9

Toppings: 4.4

Cheese: 4.3

Overall Quality: 4.4

Overall Taste: 4.5

Overall Score: 4.29/5

The thin crust pizza also ranked highly with the Pizza Club. We ordered the “Lou.” It had spinach,

mushrooms and tomatoes on it and it was very tasty! In Kyle’s opinion, it was a “distant second to Pequod’s thin veggie.” It was. It was still good though. To be perfectly honest with you, it is hard to find bad pizza in Chicago, but we are looking for the best, a

nd this was definitely not the best thin crust pizza we had. Take a look at the scores anyway:

Crust: 4.5

Sauce: 3.7

Toppings: 4.2

Cheese: 4.2

Overall Quality: 4.0

Overall Taste: 4.5

Overall Score: 4.18/5

Well, there’s no doubt about it: the Malnati family has made their mark on Chicago pizza, and Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria does not disappoint! If you’re looking for good pizza and something truly Chicago -- Lou Malnati’s is a great choice.