Ready to kick that Keto diet to the curb and give in to those carb cravings? Here’s where to find deep dish pizza in Atlanta.
The first time I visited Chicago, my most important goal was to have some of their amazing deep-dish pizza I’d heard such incredible things about. There were no apps or Yelp services (maybe that’s not such a bad thing) at the time. So we relied on the hotel concierge to direct us to his favorite pizza spot.
After what seemed like an eternity, we were treated to the most soggy, disappointing pizza ever at Lou Malnati’s. Lucky for us we were able to make our way to Gino’s East and they more than made up for the crap LM served us. So, I’m over the moon, that Gino’s East has moved to Atlanta! I was anxious to see how they compare to the Chicago pizza I’ve had previously.
Besides that cool neon lit sign (see at the top), they’ve also got murals painted by a local artist, and you can sign the corn hole boards. At the Gino’s East deep dish one in Chicago, you sign the seats. It’s a whole thing. But I love how Gino’s has really embraced Atlanta with a great selection of local beers from the likes of Eventide, Monday Night, and Scofflaw just to name a few.
Pictured at the top, check out that slice of heaven – a la deep dish pizza known as the Chicago fire! With hot and spicy sausage, red peppers and red onions it was the perfect match to the Ratatouille pie we also had. The only questions is how deep do you like your deep dish pizza? 9 inches? 12 inches? Or DEEPAF? I love that these deep dish pizzas come out much more quickly than Nancy’s, another purveyor of deep dish pizza in Atlanta. I think they use a convection oven as opposed to Nancy’s.
Before ordering your deep dish pies, you’ll want to try the hand breaded spinach and mozzarella sticks. Yes, I know you are about to eat a ton of cheese and dough, should you really have an appetizer that includes that? The answer is yes! If you are gonna eat at this deep dish pizza institution, go all in! We added the charred brussels sprouts too. It’s all about balance right?
There’s plenty of free parking in the buildings and lots around Gino’s East.
Nancy’s Pizza also has several locations in Atlanta. Here’s my summation of my experiences at Nancy’s Pizza.
At Nancy’s, the decor is nothing fancy and I wish they had more of a craft beer selection. The beer they do have is rather expensive – >$6 for a Corona!
I visited Nancy’s pizza twice now. The first time, we ordered two pizzas: an “ultra thin crust” Hawaiian and a Deep dish (half Chicken Cacciatore and half Uncle Tony’s). The Hawaiian (see it in the picture above right) was average. I’d much rather have a Domino’s Hawaiian thin crust pizza – the one by my house puts a ton of crispy bacon on top. Nancy’s pizza was not “ultra thin” at all. In fact it was rather doughy and tasted like a frozen pizza. Another pizza the Nana’s pie (a customer favorite – see it above left) was quite tasty. It was supposed to be just spinach and mushrooms, but the staff gave me someone else’s order which also included sausage. I loved it and thought it was a great addition, but double check your pizza if you are a vegetarian.
I’m happy to say that the deep dish was tasty too.
I would skip the chicken one and just go for the Uncle Tony’s. The Uncle Tony’s was hearty and delicious and made with quality cheese and lovely ingredients of sausage, mushrooms and green peppers.
All slices of the deep dish were crispy on the crust as I would have expected and the sauce was thick, not watery at all. There are only eight slices for a large but they are a decent size. It is nice to know you can order half and half if everyone can’t agree on what they want. Be prepared to wait if you order a deep dish pizza. It takes an hour or more for these to cook, so you may want to call ahead.
