Taste test: Pizza Hut's tavern style pie
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Pizza Hut's new Chicago Tavern Style pizza. Photo: Monica Eng/Axios
In recent days I've seen a jillion commercials for Pizza Hut's new Chicago Tavern Style pizza, catapulting our local pie into the national spotlight. Yay!
Not so fast: This is only a good thing if the chain actually does a decent job representing the deliciousness of our local delicacy.
- As an unofficial quality control monitor for food under our city's name, I recently tried the new offering and compared it against a pie from Pat's Pizza.
The cheese: Pat's tasted richer and less dry.
The sauce: Pizza Hut skimped, while Pat's smeared on just enough.
The sausage: Pat's oozed with more juicy fat.
The crust: Cracker thin on both, but Pat's crackled with baked bread goodness, while Pizza Hut's recalled cardboard in texture and taste.
Cost: Pizza Hut 14" sausage, $10.
- Pat's 12" sausage, $16.75.
The verdict: Pizza Hut cranks out a decent tavern pie for a decent price, but the crust falls short.
- Pat's may cost more, but the work put into fermenting and drying that crust makes it worth the extra dough.
Plus: Pizza Hut gets a demerit for failing to offer giardiniera as a topping or even a side.