Chicago: Downtown Pizza Tour & Deep Dish vs. Italian Styles

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Free cancellationExcellent quality

1/20

Duration2h–3h

GroupUp to 16

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

Four Pizza Styles, Two Hours, One Hungry Afternoon in Chicago

You'll taste four distinct pizza styles—deep dish, Roman, Neapolitan, and artisanal—while walking through River North, Gold Coast, and the Loop with a guide who explains how each one evolved and what makes the ovens and techniques different. Lunch is included, and the whole thing takes about two hours. Come hungry.

2h–3h

Step-by-step itinerary

Walking tour of Chicago pizza spots

Walk through River North pizzerias
Explore pizzerias in downtown Chicago Loop
Visit pizza spots on Magnificent Mile
Walk past Holy Name Cathedral

The Experience

The guide was supposed to meet us near Navy Pier, but the coffee shop he'd texted about had closed last month. So we stood there for five minutes checking our phones until he called and redirected us half a block over—the kind of small thing that happens in real life, and honestly, it set the tone for the whole walk. Once we got moving through River North, though, it became clear he knew exactly where he was going. We stopped at four different pizzerias over the next couple of hours, and each one made a completely different thing. The first was deep dish—that thick, almost bread-like crust you have to eat with a fork. Then we crossed the river into the Loop and tried a Roman pizza, which was thinner and airier, cut into rectangles. The guide explained how Italian immigrants brought their own styles to Chicago, and how the deep dish was basically an invention born from what they had access to here.

What stuck with me was how much the ovens matter. One place had a wood-fired oven that'd been running since the 1980s, and the guide pointed out how the temperature and the way the heat moves changes everything about how the dough rises and browns. We tasted a Neapolitan pizza next—the one with the leopard-spotted crust and the softer center—and then an artisanal style that was somewhere in between. By the third stop, I was full, but the guide had warned us to come hungry, and he wasn't wrong. We walked past Holy Name Cathedral after one of the tastings, and the whole thing felt less like a tour and more like being shown around by someone who actually cares about the neighborhood and the food.

The walk itself covers River North, Gold Coast, and the downtown Loop, so you're moving through different parts of Chicago and seeing how the neighborhoods change. It's a couple of hours total, and the pace is steady but not rushed—you're walking between spots, but there's time to actually taste and ask questions. The guide handles all the talking about technique and history, so you just show up ready to eat and listen.

What’s included

Your tour includes a professional guide, tastings of four different pizza styles, lunch at the pizzerias you visit, and walking access to River North, Gold Coast, the Magnificent Mile, and the Loop. The guide covers the history of pizza as an immigrant food in Chicago and explains the differences in how each style is made.

Good to know

Easy physical levelWheelchair accessibleAccessible transportStroller friendlyInfant seats availablePets welcomePublic transport nearbyInfants must sit on laps

Operated by Chicago Pizza Tour

Is this one for you?A good fit if you want to understand Chicago's pizza culture and eat a real lunch without planning which restaurants to hit—the guide's route and the fixed stops take that off your hands. Expect to walk steadily for two hours and eat at four places, which is what makes tasting four different styles possible in one afternoon.