Chicago Style Pizza: Little Star Pizza versus Zachary's Chicago Pizza versus Patxi's Chicago Pizza

[Gerard]

Three months ago I posted this...

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

...expressing my preference for Little Star over Zachary's.

Having now tried Patxi's, I've pretty well satisfied that Little Star has THE BEST CHICAGO PIZZA IN THE BAY AREA. It's not even close. Little Star doesn't equal the heights of Lou Malnati's or the original Pizzeria Uno (trust me -- light years beyond the chain), both of which I've enjoyed many times, but I sincerely believe Little Star could do excellent business in Chicago itself.

As for the new kid (Patxi's), it's almost redundant to review it, since it's so like Zachary's. The crust is remarkably and disappointingly the same. The only major difference is the sauce, which is much more smooth-textured and, I think, better than Zachary's.

So for me it's:
1) Little Star
*) an enormous gulf wherein monsters swallow lesser pizzas so we don't have to eat them
2) Patxi's
*) an insignificant improvement (over Zachary's) that wouldn't warrant a drive from the East Bay
3) Zachary's

Anybody else tried all three? Anybody know of a better place?

G

[Mmmonica]

I've tried all three restaurants' pizzas many times and Little Star is my favorite. I would eat the leftovers cold and be happier than I would eating a fresh hot pizza from Patxi's.

Lou Malnati's dry ice packed frozen pizzas are fantastic and not all that expensive if you buy a bunch at once. It's definitely worth a try.

[Robert Lauriston]

Little Star does deep dish.

So does Little Chicago in Berkeley (takeout / delivery only, 527-8789, or slices at Albatross Pub).

[NoeMan]

So maybe the folks showing a preference for Little Star over Zachary's and Paxti's are actually just prefering deep dish (no top crust) to stuffed (top crust), which are just different products all together.

[Robert Lauriston]

Maybe.

I've never had stuffed in Chicago--I assume that it's possible to make it so that the top layer isn't the soggy doughy glop that makes Zachary's disgusting?

[Gerard]

I don't think in the Bay Area the distinction is particularly worthwhile. In Chicago it certainly is.

Little Star Pizza is actually quite good. Zachary's isn't.

G

[NoeMan]

There are 2 different types of Chicago Pizza. deep-dish and stuffed. As a native Chicagoan who grew up near Nancy's, the 1971 birthpace of the Stuffed Pizza, it is disappointing that people outside the city always seem to credit Pizzeria Uno and Lou Malnati's for having the best Chicago pizza and never mention Nancy's. Nancy's needs to hire some better PR people. Ike Sewell did start the deep-dish concept (at Uno and Due), but Nancy's invented the stuffed pizza and still cranks out the best. Malnati's also started in 1971, by the son of Rudy Malnati who was Ike Sewell's chef at Uno when they invented the deep dish, and hats off to them for doing the mail order biz and spreading the deep dish gospel.

Zachary's and Paxti's make stuffed pizza. Haven't been to Little Star yet, so I don't know, but I thought I heard that they are former Zacahary's people, so they are also probably doing stuffed pizza. Thus it is possible that they all can trace their product's roots back to Nancy's.

Nancy's is now starting to franchise nationally and maybe one will come to SF. I'm not normally a fan of franchises, but for this I'd make an exception in the hopes they'd do it right and might bring Chicago hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches and Italian sausage sandwiches out with them. Here are a couple of fun reads on the subject.

http://www.nancyspizza.com/html/history1.html
http://www.newcitychicago.com/chicago...

[Gerard]

I've spent a great deal of time in Chicago and once lived there briefly. And you're right. Nancy's is great.

To keep this on topic, what do you think of Little Star?

G

[NoeMan]

Haven't been yet, I've been dreading the crowds I've read about, but I really should go.

[Melanie Wong]

There are at least three different types of Chicago pizza - don't forget thin crust.

Bricks in Petaluma -
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[NoeMan]

Yup. Cut into squares, often on the counter in bars, hence the nickname bar pizza. Just not what non-Chicagoans refer to when they say Chicago pizza. I miss it all.

[Melanie Wong]

The other place that promotes its thin crust pizza as Chicago-style is Gumbah's in Vallejo.

http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[jkg]

I grew up here in the Bay Area and always associated 'Chicago Style' with deep-dish, not stuffed, pizza. I think it's mostly because of Pizz'a Chicago in Palo Alto (also Santa Clara and SJ), which I think is excellent in spite of its penchant towards 'California-ized' non-traditional toppings.. Any opinions on other good deep-dish places?

[Mick Ruthven]

>Anybody know of a better place?<

Sure, Gatsby's in Sausalito. Oh, sorry, it's been gone for several years :-)

[ChowFun_derek]

I remember Gatsby's!! It was terrific...music and pizza..

[ChowFun_derek]

For me...I put Little Star as first... Zachary's at second (I like the chunky sauce)...and Paxtis at third...I can't even remember the pizza I had there , it was that forgettable...
Have you tried the "flown in" Malnatis? Is it worth the expense?

[Gerard]

To each his own on the sauce. To me, it's the essentially the same pizza at both places.

Never tried it flown in.

G

[Frosty Melon]

Until Patxi's came to town, I did the overnight-mail thing from Malnati's. I've posted about it on the General Topics board in the past...and my answer is, yes, worth the expense, if you buy in bulk. The value increases the more that you buy. It does bake well at home. But I'm perfectly happy walking over to Patxi's for the real deal.

[farmersdaughter]

Have you tried Little Star and/or Zachary's? How do they compare to Patxi's to you? I haven't tried Patxi's Chicago style yet, but have had L.S. and Z's. I prefer Little Star but would love to know if there is something even better.

[Frosty Melon]

Haven't tried Little Star or Zachary's. The one time I headed to Little Star I ended up at Nopa instead. From reports here I think I'd enjoy Little Star, but not sure about Zachary's.