Tavern Style Pizza

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Quick Bite

Tavern style pizza is Chicago’s thin, crispy, square-cut pizza, the one locals are just as likely, if not more likely, to order than deep dish. It is crunchy, shareable, and built for a pitcher of beer.

History

Tavern style pizza developed in Chicago’s neighborhood bars and working-class taverns. The idea was simple: serve a salty, crispy, easy-to-share pizza that kept people drinking, talking, and staying a little longer.

Unlike deep dish, tavern style has a thin crust, often rolled rather than stretched. It is baked until crisp, topped edge-to-edge, and cut into squares instead of wedges. That “party cut” made it easy to serve on napkins in bars where plates were not always the point.

The style became especially loved on the South Side, though it is found all over Chicago and the suburbs. Pizzerias like Vito & Nick’s, Home Run Inn, Pat’s, and many neighborhood spots helped make it the everyday pizza of the city.

To outsiders, deep dish may be the famous Chicago pizza. To many locals, tavern style is the real weeknight pizza, thin, crisp, sausage-heavy, and made to disappear one square at a time.

Fun Facts

• The little corner pieces are some people’s favorite part.
• “Party cut” means the pizza is sliced into squares, not triangles.
• Tavern style is often considered Chicago’s true everyday pizza.

Where to Try

Vito & Nick’s Pizzeria Chicago, Illinois
A South Side icon serving cracker-thin crust pizza since the 1950s.

Pat’s Pizza Chicago, Illinois
A long-running thin-crust favorite known for crisp, square-cut tavern pies.

Home Run Inn Chicago and Illinois locations
A classic Chicago tavern-style name dating back to 1947, with restaurants and frozen pizzas.

Recipe

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Tavern Style Pizza Makes: One 14-inch pizza Prep: 1 hour 15 minutes Bake: 10–14 minutes Difficulty: Medium Style: Illinois / Chicago Tavern Pizza

Ingredients

For the crust

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• ¾ cup warm water

For the pizza

• ½ cup pizza sauce
• 2 cups shredded low-moisture mozzarella
• ½ pound Italian sausage, pinched into small pieces
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan
• Dried oregano, optional

Instructions

1. Make the dough: Mix flour, sugar, salt, yeast, olive oil, and warm water into a firm dough.
2. Knead and rest: Knead for 5 minutes, then cover and let rest for 1 hour.
3. Preheat: Heat the oven to 500°F with a pizza stone or baking steel if you have one.
4. Roll thin: Roll the dough very thin on a floured surface.
5. Transfer: Transfer to parchment paper or a pizza peel.
6. Sauce: Spread sauce close to the edge.
7. Top: Add mozzarella, sausage, Parmesan, and oregano.
8. Bake: Bake for 10–14 minutes, until the crust is crisp and the cheese is browned.
9. Cut: Let rest for 2 minutes, then cut into squares.

Traditional note: To make it more traditional, roll the crust thin, bake it crisp, use Italian sausage, and cut it into squares. A pizza stone or steel helps get that tavern-style crunch at home.

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