There is debate over who invented Chicago deep-dish pizza, but there’s no question about who popularized it: entrepreneur Ike Sewell, a Texas transplant who had moved to Chicago to work as a liquor salesman. In 1943, he and a business partner decided to open a pizzeria on Ohio Street, which he named simply the Pizzeria. Being from Texas, Sewell no doubt liked things big, so he was attracted to the concept of a pizza that was thicker than flat-crust pies that copied the Italian model.
More Top Picks Best Harmonicas For Beginners
The restaurant was so popular that in 1955, Sewell opened a second location, Pizzeria Due, to handle the overflow. The initial location, of course, then became known as Pizzeria Uno, and the rest is history.
In 1978, Sewell franchised to a man in Boston. The resulting company, now known as Uno Pizzeria & Grill, reached a high of 200 locations around the U.S. and in other countries, including South Korea and the United Arab Emirates, by the mid-2000s, cementing deep dish worldwide as “Chicago-style” pizza. The operation may now be down to 36 spots and deep dish may not be the preferred style of locals who like to be contrarian, but the Pizzeria Uno on Ohio Street remains ground zero for a Chicago cultural phenomenon.
Edward Robert McClelland is a freelance writer for Chicago magazine.