Is Lou Malnati's Pizzeria worth it in a day?
DependsIn a day
Keep Lou Malnati's Pizzeria only when it outranks a half-day elsewhere.
Allow 1–1.5 hours (deep-dish bakes ~45 min).
The reliable, family-friendly answer to 'where's the real Chicago deep-dish?' Touristy at the central locations, but the pizza genuinely holds up.
- Price
- $$ — moderate; a pie feeds several
- Time
- 1–1.5 hours (deep-dish bakes ~45 min)
- Last verified
- 2026-06-17
Is Lou Malnati's Pizzeria worth it…
How we verified
- First Lou Malnati's opened March 17, 1971; the trademarked 'Buttercrust' substitutes butter for oil for a flaky, thinner deep-dish crust · loumalnatis.com
- Lineage traces to Chicago's first deep-dish pizzeria, where the Malnati family worked from the 1940s · loumalnatis.com