{"id":1672,"date":"2026-11-02T00:58:16","date_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:58:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/?p=1672"},"modified":"2026-11-02T00:58:16","modified_gmt":"2026-11-02T00:58:16","slug":"how-the-midwests-unpretentious-tavern-style-pizza-conquered-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/?p=1672","title":{"rendered":"How the Midwest\u2019s Unpretentious Tavern-Style Pizza Conquered America"},"content":{"rendered":"

For decades, outsiders looking at Chicago\u2019s culinary landscape have immediately pointed to deep-dish pizza as the city\u2019s definitive culinary export. Tourists line up for hours to experience the towering, casserole-like pies that require a knife and fork. Yet, for locals who grew up in the neighborhoods and suburbs of the Windy City, deep-dish is largely reserved for out-of-town visitors or rare, special occasions. <\/p>\n

According to Brittany and Brennan Grosvenor, the couple behind Proof in Portland, Oregon, the pizza of their Chicago childhood was much simpler and deeply ingrained in everyday life. Growing up, ordering pizza meant navigating a familiar family debate. <\/p>\n

\u201cThin-crust, deep-dish, or double-dough?\u201d Brittany recalls of her family\u2019s Friday night tradition. <\/p>\n

Today, the Grosvenors sell the former at Proof. However, the colloquial language of "thin crust" has given way to a more nationally recognized phrase: "tavern-style." This distinct Midwestern style has swept from coast to coast in recent years, transforming the American pizza landscape and offering a counter-narrative to the heavy, thick-crust varieties that previously dominated national food trends.<\/p>\n

The pizza you get every week, or encounter at a child\u2019s birthday party, is almost always tavern-style, Brittany notes. This style is prevalent across the Midwest, with Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and St. Louis all championing their own regional variations of the pie. Characterized by a thin, cracker-like crust, tavern-style pizza is famously cut into a lattice or grid of small squares\u2014frequently referred to as a "party cut"\u2014rather than traditional triangular slices. <\/p>\n

Depending on the specific region and the nostalgia of the local pizzeria, the sauce might lean sweet or spicy, but lightness and crispness remain the style\u2019s defining qualities. Writing for Esquire<\/em> in 2023, critic Omar Mamoon described the variant as a direct foil to famously thick Detroit-style pizza, which had its massive moment in the spotlight in the late 2010s.<\/p>\n

The inherent appeal of the tavern-style pie lies heavily in its shareability and sociability. A round pizza yields significantly more portions when sliced into a grid rather than wedges, explains Bradley Shorten, the creative force behind Kim\u2019s Uncle Pizza in his hometown Chicago suburb of Westmont, Illinois, and the recently opened La Merna in Washington, D.C. <\/p>\n

Pizza cut into bite-sized squares makes for exceptional drinking food, Shorten points out, primarily because the pieces comfortably fit on a cocktail napkin. What elevates a good tavern pie, according to Shorten, is structural integrity and ingredient distribution: every single square should feature a little bit of everything, with toppings extending all the way to the crispy edge. <\/p>\n

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While food enthusiasts often joke that the four small corner pieces aren’t technically the best bites, Shorten observes that they are invariably the ones everybody reaches for first, especially those with deep roots in Chicago.<\/p>\n

Over the past few years, as neighborhood taverns have become a growing fixation for a new wave of restaurateurs, party-cut pizzas and tavern-style joints have proliferated nationwide. Recent high-profile openings include Keepers in New York City, One Trick Pony in Fort Worth, Texas, Tillie\u2019s Tavern Pizza in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, and spots like Zarella and Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian in Chicago, where the style has always reigned supreme. <\/p>\n

For many displaced Chicagoans, these nationwide openings offer a long-awaited opportunity to correct the record regarding their city\u2019s true pizza culture. Simultaneously, other Midwesterners are seizing the moment to stake their own claims on the region\u2019s shared culinary heritage.<\/p>\n

When Mike Fadem opened the second location of his popular New York City pizzeria, Ops\u2014renowned for its wood-fired, Neapolitan-esque pies featuring leopard-spotted crusts and pliant dough\u2014he wanted to introduce something fresh to his menu. Fadem hails from St. Louis, where the local signature pizza style is ultra-thin. Despite his deep personal fondness for it, Fadem admits that it might not objectively be the best version of tavern pizza, acknowledging the style’s vocal critics who often take issue with its traditional use of Provel, a gooey processed cheese. <\/p>\n

The evolutionary trajectory of tavern-style pizza, Fadem explains, resembles a classic game of telephone: St. Louis-style pizza is historically derived from thin-crust Chicago pizza, which itself traces its lineage back to Neapolitan roots. Noticeable divergence has accompanied each geographic jump.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, one of Fadem\u2019s employees at Ops originally hails from New Jersey, a state that proudly boasts its own rich tradition of thin-crust, tavern- or bar-style pizza, much like the fiercely loyal following surrounding the bar pies of the Boston area. Inspired by these overlapping traditions, Fadem began exploring the concept. <\/p>\n

\u201cI had this interest in\u2014can we make an Ops version of this?\u201d Fadem says. <\/p>\n

Given that Ops is already widely known for its exceptional sourdough, Fadem also wanted to highlight the rich, complex flavor profiles of whole grains, coupled with an intense crispiness that he knew would captivate New York diners. Fadem\u2019s unique take appears on the menu under the regionally agnostic name "tavernetta." <\/p>\n

Although St. Louis and New Jersey served as the initial conceptual sparks, Fadem notes that the most remarkable pizza he encountered during his research was actually discovered in Milwaukee. The Tavernetta has not replaced the restaurant’s existing signature pies; instead, it is ordered as a complement, with most dining groups opting to add at least one to their table.<\/p>\n

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This emphasis on communal dining and extended lingering is similarly driving trends on the West Coast. In June, Los Angeles cocktail destination Bar Next Door celebrated its third anniversary by officially expanding its offerings to include food. Previously, the cocktail lounge had permitted patrons to bring in pies from Prince Street Pizza next door, largely because Prince Street co-owner Lawrence Longo is a partner in the establishment. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut, you know, after having a slice, sometimes you get a little full and you\u2019re like, I want to go to bed<\/em>,\u201d says owner and bar director Brynn Smith. \u201cThat\u2019s the whole goal for us: for people to stay a little longer, drink more. We thought the tavern-style pizza would be perfect.\u201d <\/p>\n

The fact that the pizzas\u2014officially listed on the menu as "bar pies" to better match the sophisticated yet unpretentious atmosphere of the bar\u2014are crafted exclusively for the establishment by Prince Street gives patrons yet another compelling reason to venture out, Smith notes.<\/p>\n

The concept of the neighborhood tavern as a warm, social, and convivial space is fundamentally inseparable from the tavern-style pizza it serves. Shorten\u2019s primary goal with La Merna\u2014which he operates alongside his wife, Meg Schmitt, who grew up in St. Louis\u2014was to recreate the genuine feel of a classic Chicago dive bar or a traditional Wisconsin supper club. These are spaces defined by wood-paneled walls, checkered flooring, and red leather booths where patrons can settle in with pitchers of beer and shareable pizzas for hours on end. <\/p>\n

As observers of modern dining trends have noted, the rising appeal of the "tavern" aesthetic across restaurants nationwide is deeply rooted in a collective desire for spaces that feel homey, lived-in, and authentic. At these modern taverns, diners are encouraged to relax, drop their pretense, and embrace a comforting familiarity. For countless people, this ethos is perfectly embodied by the archetype of the hometown pizza shop, which remains permanently linked in the cultural imagination to the warmth of a simpler era.<\/p>\n

It is precisely this emotional resonance that inspired the Grosvenors in Oregon to begin serving their own regional interpretations of classic Midwestern comfort foods, including Bosco sticks\u2014the nostalgic stuffed breadsticks of Midwestern school cafeterias\u2014and Italian beef sandwiches topped with giardiniera. While they could occasionally track down certain Midwestern staples around Portland, they were frequently frustrated by the inability to find everything under one roof. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to embody the feeling,\u201d Brennan Grosvenor says. \u201cIf you went into a tavern in Chicago, what could you order there?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For decades, outsiders looking at Chicago\u2019s culinary landscape have immediately pointed to deep-dish pizza as the city\u2019s definitive culinary export. Tourists line up for hours to experience the towering, casserole-like pies that require a knife and fork. Yet, for locals who grew up in the neighborhoods and suburbs of the Windy City, deep-dish is largely […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":1671,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[734],"tags":[743,1704,736,735,737,1809,2651,738,2063,850,2650],"class_list":["post-1672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-food-tourism-culinary-travel","tag-america","tag-conquered","tag-culinary-tourism","tag-food-travel","tag-local-food","tag-midwest","tag-pizza","tag-street-food","tag-style","tag-tavern","tag-unpretentious"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1671"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetripbook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}