tavern-style pizza

{{Short description|Pizza with thin, crunchy crust and square slices}}

File:Chicago thin crust pizza.jpg

Tavern-style pizza is a type of pizza that has both a crust firm enough to have a noticeable crunch and slices cut into squares, as opposed to wedges.{{Cite news |last=López-Alt |first=J. Kenji |date=2023-03-17 |title=Kenji López-Alt Spent 5 Months Studying Chicago Thin-Crust Pizza. Here’s What He Learned. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/dining/tavern-thin-crust-pizza-chicago.html |access-date=2024-08-21 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240806071706/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/17/dining/tavern-thin-crust-pizza-chicago.html |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |last1=Vettel |first1=Phil |last2=Kevin Pang |date=2009-07-23 |title=Pizza slices: Two foodies debate the merits of wedge versus 'party cut' |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-090722-pizza-cut-debate,0,7968080.story |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090726105418/http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-090722-pizza-cut-debate,0,7968080.story |archive-date=2009-07-26 |access-date=2009-07-23 |work=Chicago Tribune}}{{Cite web |last=Chahwala |first=Jaison |date=March 13, 2017 |title=20 Great Spots to Taste Real Chicago Pizza: Tavern-Style Thin Crust |url=http://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-chicago-thin-crust-pizza-restaurants-tavern-style |access-date=March 13, 2017 |website=Eater Chicago |archive-date=March 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314131314/http://chicago.eater.com/maps/best-chicago-thin-crust-pizza-restaurants-tavern-style |url-status=live }}

The name "tavern-style" comes from the pizzas originally served in taverns, often as an enticement to drink alcohol. This origin in taverns is also linked to the pizza's shape, as the square shape of the slices made it possible for taverns that did not have plates to instead set them on napkins.{{Cite web |last=McClelland |first=Edward |date=June 30, 2020 |title=Tavern Style Isn't Just Chicago's Signature Pizza, but Its Signature Food |url=https://www.chicagomag.com/dining-drinking/june-2020/tavern-style-pizza-history/ |access-date=August 22, 2022 |website=Chicago Magazine |archive-date=February 27, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210227103519/https://www.chicagomag.com/dining-drinking/June-2020/Tavern-Style-Pizza-History/ |url-status=live }} Residents of Milwaukee{{Cite news |first1=Joy |last1=Powers |first2=Jack |last2=Hurbanis |date=2021-04-27 |title=A Look Into The History Of Milwaukee Style Pizza |url=https://www.wuwm.com/2021-04-27/a-look-into-the-history-of-milwaukee-style-pizza |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=WUWM 89.7 FM - Milwaukee's NPR |language=en |archive-date=2024-05-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240519014444/https://www.wuwm.com/2021-04-27/a-look-into-the-history-of-milwaukee-style-pizza |url-status=live }}{{Cite magazine |first=Ann |last=Christenson |date=2021-04-06 |title=What Is Milwaukee-Style Pizza? And Who Made it First? |url=https://www.milwaukeemag.com/what-is-milwaukee-style-pizza-and-who-made-it-first/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=Milwaukee Magazine |language=en-US}}{{Cite news |first=Lori |last=Fredrich |date=2022-10-14 |title=What you knead to know: Milwaukee-style pizza |url=https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/knead-to-know-milwaukee-style-pizza |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=OnMilwaukee |archive-date=2023-10-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017223647/https://onmilwaukee.com/articles/knead-to-know-milwaukee-style-pizza |url-status=live }} and of Chicago{{Cite news |first=Kat |last=Odell |date=2023-07-28 |title=The Pizza That’s Taking Over the US |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-28/tavern-style-pizza-and-its-crispy-thin-crust-is-taking-over-the-us |access-date=2024-08-21 |work=Bloomberg |language=en |archive-date=2023-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230728163854/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-07-28/tavern-style-pizza-and-its-crispy-thin-crust-is-taking-over-the-us |url-status=live }}{{Cite news |first=Omar |last=Mamoon |date=2023-03-24 |title=Chicago Tavern-Style Pizza is Sweeping America |url=https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a43366499/best-tavern-style-pizza-us/ |access-date=2024-08-21 |website=Esquire |language=en-US |archive-date=2024-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240628143731/https://www.esquire.com/food-drink/restaurants/a43366499/best-tavern-style-pizza-us/ |url-status=live }} each claim to have originated the style in the 1940s.

{{As of|2013}}, according to Grubhub data and the company Chicago Pizza Tours, thin-crust pizza outsells the more widely known deep-dish style among locals, with GrubHub stating that deep-dish comprises only 9% of its pizza deliveries.{{Cite web |last=John |first=Derek |date=2013-12-20 |title=Deep Dish or Thin Crust? Even Chicagoans Can't Agree |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/20/255601925/deep-dish-or-thin-crust-even-chicagoans-cant-agree |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150528171754/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2013/12/20/255601925/deep-dish-or-thin-crust-even-chicagoans-cant-agree |archive-date=2015-05-28 |access-date=2018-03-06 |website=NPR |department=The Salt}}{{Cite news |last=Rousseau |first=Caryn |date=2014-09-19 |title=It's not all deep-dish pizza in Chicago |url=http://www.detroitnews.com/story/life/food/2014/09/19/chicago-pizza-tour-slice-pie-deepdish/15907921/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112003847/https://eu.detroitnews.com/story/life/food/2014/09/19/chicago-pizza-tour-slice-pie-deepdish/15907921/ |archive-date=2020-11-12 |access-date=2017-01-17 |work=The Detroit News |agency=Associated Press}} In response, Technomics food industry researcher Darren Tristano questioned GrubHub's conclusion on the basis of the delivery service's user demographics, saying that its younger users cannot afford deep-dish pizza, while NPR noted that the data would not include information on two particular chains specializing in the style (though with just 20 restaurants in the city of 2.7{{nbsp}}million) that are not on GrubHub.