Earlier this year, I started to notice Outsiders Pizza Co. products hitting the frozen food case at my local Chicago-area grocery stores. Intrigue arose as I noticed “Detroit Style” emblazoned across the pizza’s packaging. I thought, “That takes a lot of nerve in a city like Chicago…”
Here in Chicago, we fiercely defend our pizza styles—and no, it’s not all about deep-dish like Lou Malnati’s, Pizzeria Uno and Gino’s East (with the latter two offering frozen retail counterparts)… Chicago’s Italian, cracker-thin, tavern-cut pizza, which predates deep-dish, often flies under the radar—and some of these local thin operators, including Home Run Inn and Vito & Nick’s II (which best embodies the style), have also found success in the retail freezer case.