Rosati's Chicago Deep Dish Pizza

10 f***kiing years writing about food! Even I can’t believe it. Especially since the last 10 years have brought many changes both good and……well, you know, not so good. The SO really was instrumental in giving me the kick in the patootie to just sit down and do it which I did through blogger. Say what you want, but blogger is really not that bad (even though I got talked into another platform) and it was, and still is, free. You really can’t beat that. I dove in and made the most of it, using it as an excuse to get out of the apartment and try some food. Any food, any new food, any weird food, any “you must try this” food that came on the horizon. And in SF, there was always something.

My first post was Three Babes Pie Shop which was doing pop-ups in 2011 at Stable Cafe in the Mission. I made my way there on two different MUNI buses (ah, fun times!) to check out some savory and some sweet pies slices. Like a lot of things over the years I found the slices on the small side for the price and I wasn’t down for the ice cream upcharge, because you all know….ice cream. But regardless of my middling opinion of Three Babes, I hit the ground eating and haven’t looked back. Yes, I have taken some breaks for some personal reasons we all know, but I still kept eating, finding new spots, new food and a number of other things along my journey over the last 10 years. Something I still can’t fathom.

I have tried over the years to balance out what I eat, but let’s be honest, I really have trouble passing up pastries, pizza, burgers and fried chicken. It’s a thing. And any place trying to do Southern needed to be checked out, regardless of where they were. Surprisingly SF has it fair share of decent options, though they still has issues with biscuits and pulled pork. My biggest goal was really to east affordably in SF and I do think I managed that in addition to the occasional splurge. Not to mention my constant fight against the $10 (or more) sandwich with no sides! (Something which seems to be invading my current locale to much chagrin at the moment)

I think the 10 year mark is when you are supposed to sum up your best of and can’t forgets but at this point it would be mute considering what has gone on the last few years for me, so many meals with the SO are intertwined thus any food or restaurant good or bad are going to be first and foremost on the list. Particularly birthday dinners where we went all out at spots like Atelier Crenn or French Laundry or House of Prime Rib y’all! That was some meat eating through down for sure which you missed as it was the year before I started this blog but whatever.

So here I am, ensconced in NC, for now, and making the best of the situation until I can figure out….something else. The more things stay the same, they more they change. Isn’t that how the saying goes? But what better way to celebrate 10 years than with some pizza which is basically a savory pie thus full circle back to Three Babes and one of the SO’s three favorite foods along with watermelon and ice cream. I’m going all in too as I was in the mood for some deep dish pizza ala Chicago style and it took some time to track down a spot. Turns out there are none in Durham, one near Raleigh and just my luck, one in Morrisville, relatively close to my current work. And nooooo, Pizza Hut nor none of the chains will count for this.

I came across a place called Rosati’s. A chain of sorts which seems to have been around since 1964 (!) and purports to be slinging Chicago style pies. Now I do so love me some deep dish Chicago pizza as you may know. Me and the SO went to Chicago for fam visits on numerous occasions and I even went so far as to cover some of our pizza adventures one holiday. Finding a spot the says it is “Chicago” seemed like a good find and I was intrigued to see how they are and how they stack up to true Chicago pizza from, you know, Chicago.

As stated above I was all in for this and I truly meant it. I perused their menu online and decided to get the big ass 16 inch deep dish “monster” with pepperoni, ground beef, bacon, mushrooms, green peppers and onions (it also comes with black and green olives but just…no for me). They say you should always get the larger pizza because….math and the 16 inch monster is as big as they come in deep dish. It was huge and heavy.

Let’s start with the crust. It wasn’t like the ones from Chicago. No deep dish thin ridges or cornmeal. This one was more akin to focaccia bread with puffier, airier bread like you might find in a traditional pizza. To stand up to all these toppings I guess it worked though I think I am more partial to cornmeal and what Giordano’s was serving up. They did layer it up with bread then cheese then toppings in the traditional way which was nice. So while not my complete fave, I was okay with it in the end as it seemed to work for what you are getting here.

The toppings were quite plentiful. There really was no shortage of pepperoni and cheese on this thing. I also liked the sauce as it was not on the sweet side but more garlic and savory. While the above pic makes it seem like there was tons of it, it was really more like a layer on top of the toppings and a good balance to all the extra bread and cheese you get on a deep dish like this one.

To say each slice was hearty and filling is an understatement. At eight slices and $30 a pop it may seem like a lot but in truth, I got four lunches and two dinners out of this. That is how big the slices were. Even for a normally big eater like me they were super filling. It breaks out to about $5 a meal which in my world these days is a bargain.

Sure, it wasn’t a cornmeal crust and wasn’t exactly Gino’s or Giordano’s (which it seems you can get shipped to you anywhere in the US) but all things considered, the breadiness works with this particularly loaded pizza and let’s not forget—-IT’S PIZZA PEOPLE! Do I have to remind everyone of the old joke I know I’ve told several times before?! With all the meat, cheese and bread here it was a little hard to go wrong. The big size, multiple meals and price were also big ups for me. I could definitely see myself getting by Rosati’s again, when I am in a carbo loading mood or just in a pizza mood after work, since I don’t live near it. Which is probably a good thing there isn’t a place like it in Durham.

There we have it, tens years, innumerable pizzas, burgers, fried chicken and whatever else I can shove in my mouth. These days I’ve been doing my fair share of stress eating which can be good and bad, but at least I’m still running so I can eat what I want. As for whether there will be another 10 years that remains to be seen. Things these days seem to be instant constant flux for me and honestly, in the upcoming months there may be more. Who knows. But maybe that will keep you tuning in to see what happens! Nothing like a cliff hanger to keep you interested. Just grab a slice of pizza and hang on!