What's Better, Lou Malnati's or Giordano's Pizza in Chicago?

Deep dish is the one Chicago food argument that follows you onto the plane home, and it usually narrows to two names: Lou Malnati's and Giordano's. Both are chains with downtown locations, both draw tourist crowds, and both will tell you theirs is the real thing. The honest answer is that they are not really the same product. One leans toward a thinner, buttery crust with the sauce on top, the other toward a tall stuffed pie with a second crust inside, and which one wins depends entirely on what you want from a slice.

What's Better Lou Malnati's or Giordano's Pizza

There is no single winner, because the two restaurants make different styles of pizza. Lou Malnati's is the cleaner expression of classic Chicago deep dish: a shorter, buttery crust, a modest layer of cheese and a chunky tomato sauce finished on top. Giordano's is best known for stuffed pizza, a taller pie with cheese sealed between two crusts and sauce ladled over the top. If you want the canonical deep-dish experience, order Lou Malnati's; if you want maximum cheese in a dramatic, pie-like slice, order Giordano's.

The distinction matters more than most visitors expect. Deep dish and stuffed pizza are often treated as synonyms outside Chicago, but locals tend to draw a line between them. Deep dish is a single-crust pie built up in a deep pan, with the sauce as the final layer so the cheese does not brown too fast during the long bake. Stuffed pizza takes the same pan and adds a thin top crust over the cheese, which makes the slice taller, denser and closer to a savory pie than a pizza.

Both restaurants have multiple locations in and around downtown, so neither is hard to reach on a short visit. Both also ship frozen pizzas nationally, which tells you something about how strongly people feel about their favorite. The argument is not about quality, since both are competent, popular operations with loyal followings. It is about which construction you actually enjoy eating.

There is also a history angle that shapes the rivalry. Lou Malnati's traces its lineage directly to the family that helped define deep dish in the city's early pizzerias, and its menu leans on that heritage. Giordano's arrived later with a stuffed style brought by its founders from Italy, where savory double-crust pies were already a tradition. So the two restaurants are not just competing for the same dish, they are representing two branches of an immigrant cooking story that happened to land in the same kind of pan. Knowing that, the question stops being which one is authentic and becomes which branch you prefer.

How the Crust, Sauce and Construction Differ

Lou Malnati's signature is its buttercrust, a relatively thin base with a rich, almost biscuit-like texture, topped with a chunky, lightly seasoned tomato sauce. Giordano's signature is its stuffed pizza, which layers cheese between a bottom crust and a thin top crust, then finishes with a smoother sauce. The practical difference at the table is height and density: a Giordano's slice stands taller and eats heavier, while a Lou Malnati's slice tastes more like a dressed-up pizza and less like a casserole.

Here is how the two stack up side by side:

The bake time row is worth underlining. Both styles cook for a long time because the pans are deep and the fillings are heavy, so neither kitchen will rush your pie. Ordering an appetizer and settling in is normal, and locals treat the wait as part of the experience. If you are on a tight itinerary between an architecture cruise and a museum stop, budget at least an hour and a half for the meal.

Sauce is the quieter difference. Lou Malnati's uses a chunky, bright tomato sauce that reads as the star layer, and the recipe is closely associated with the family's history in the city's deep-dish story. Giordano's sauce is blended smoother and sits on top of the sealed crust, where it acts more as a finish than a feature. If you love fresh tomato flavor, that nudges the comparison toward Malnati's; if you love molten cheese pulling in strings, Giordano's stuffed construction delivers more of it per slice.

Ordering behavior differs too, and it catches visitors off guard. At Giordano's, the stuffed pie is cut into fewer, taller wedges, and a single wedge can stand upright on a plate like a small doorstop. At Lou Malnati's, the wedges are shorter and the ratio of crust to filling feels more balanced, so a small pie stretches further across a table of three or four. Neither restaurant expects you to eat more than one or two wedges each, and both kitchens will box the rest without blinking. Leftover deep dish reheats well in a skillet or an oven, which is not true of every pizza style, so over-ordering is a low-risk move.

Which One Should You Actually Pick on a Short Trip?

Pick Lou Malnati's if you are eating deep dish for the first time or want the version most often described as classic Chicago deep dish. Pick Giordano's if you are feeding hungrier appetites or specifically want the stuffed style, which is the more theatrical, cheese-heavy slice. If your trip allows only one pizza meal and you have no strong preference, Lou Malnati's is the safer introduction, because its slice is lighter and closer to what people picture when they imagine the dish.

A few practical points make the decision easier. Stuffed pizza is genuinely filling; two people sharing a small Giordano's pie will usually be full, and a medium feeds a table. Deep dish at Lou Malnati's is also substantial but eats lighter per slice, so it is the better choice for a lunch that leaves room for dinner later. Neither is a quick bite, so plan them as a sit-down meal rather than a between-attractions snack. More of these guides are collected on Best Things to Do in Chicago.

Timing within the day matters as much as the choice of restaurant. A deep-dish lunch sits better than a deep-dish dinner if you have an evening itinerary, because the meal is heavy and the wait is real. Downtown locations near the tourist corridor get slammed from roughly 6pm onward, while a 3pm or 4pm seating often walks straight in. If your day already includes a long walk along the Riverwalk or a museum morning, slot the pizza afterward and let the meal be the rest stop.

If you are staying near the Magnificent Mile or in the Loop, both chains have downtown locations within a short ride. The CTA fare table shows a train ride at $2.50 and a bus at $2.25, with free transfers for up to two additional rides within two hours, so getting to either pizzeria from downtown costs about the same as any other errand in the city. the published CTA fare table is worth a look before you plan a food-heavy day.

Can You Taste Both Without Eating Two Whole Pies?

Yes, and a guided food tour is the efficient way to do it. The 6-Dish Small-Group Food Tour run by Secret Food Tours includes deep dish pizza alongside an Italian beef sandwich and other Chicago staples in one three-hour walk, so you sample the city's signature foods without committing to two full restaurant meals. It is the practical answer for visitors who want the comparison without the calories of ordering two pies solo.

That tour is also a good hedge against choosing wrong. A guide who stops at multiple kitchens in one afternoon effectively settles the deep-dish-versus-stuffed question for you, and you finish the day having also tried foods you might not have ordered on your own. For a longer version of the same idea, the site's Chicago food tours roundup compares the walking and tasting options across the city, including donut tours and a pizza tour by coach.

If you would rather do the comparison yourself, split your party. Half order a small Malnati's pie, half order a small stuffed pie from Giordano's, and trade slices. It is the only way to taste both constructions in one sitting, and it turns a debate into an experiment. The site's deep dish pizza guide covers the wider field, including where the style came from and which other pizzerias belong in the conversation.

What About Pequod's and the Other Contenders?

Pequod's is the third name that belongs in any honest deep-dish conversation, and some locals rank it above both chains. Its signature is a caramelized crust, baked so the edge chars slightly sweet against the cheese and sauce. If your question is really "which deep-dish should I seek out in Chicago," the answer includes Pequod's alongside the two big names, and the site's head-to-head on Pequod's versus Lou Malnati's breaks that pairing down in detail.

The two chains are the easiest comparison because they are everywhere, but the city's pizza identity is wider than either one. There are tavern-cut thin crust places, Neapolitan spots and pan-pizza specialists, and plenty of Chicagoans will tell you their favorite pizza in the city is not deep dish at all. A first visit is a reasonable excuse to try the famous style once; a second visit is when the deeper field opens up. For the origin question, where the original deep dish pizza was born covers the founding story and the pizzeria that started it.

One planning note if deep dish anchors a bigger sightseeing day: both chains take walk-ins but fill up at peak dinner hours in the tourist corridors, so a late-afternoon pizza beats a 7pm one for wait time. Pair it with something vertical afterward. The site's comparison of [Skydeck versus 360 Chicago](/guides/skydeck-vs-360-chicago/) helps if you want a view to walk off lunch, and the architecture boat tour guide covers the river option that sits conveniently near several downtown pizzerias. For the broader menu of the city, bestthingstodoinchicago.com keeps a running list of what is worth your time.

Common Questions About Deep Dish Pizza in Chicago

what's better lou malnati's or giordano's pizza

Neither is objectively better because they make different styles. Lou Malnati's is classic deep dish with a buttery crust and sauce on top; Giordano's is stuffed pizza with a second crust sealing in the cheese. First-timers usually prefer Lou Malnati's; cheese-lovers and big appetites usually prefer Giordano's.

Is Giordano's actually deep dish or stuffed pizza?

Giordano's flagship product is stuffed pizza, which is a related but distinct style. It uses a deeper pan, seals the cheese under a thin top crust and finishes with sauce. The restaurant also serves thinner pizzas, but its reputation rests on the stuffed pie.

Why does deep dish take so long to cook?

The pans are deep and the layers are dense, so the pie needs a long bake to cook the crust through without burning the top. Most deep-dish kitchens quote a substantial wait after you order, and it is normal to order appetizers while the pie bakes.

Can you walk into Lou Malnati's or Giordano's without a reservation?

Both chains take walk-ins at most locations, but downtown rooms fill at peak dinner hours and on weekends. A late-afternoon seating is usually the fastest, and larger groups benefit from calling ahead.

Which one ships frozen pizzas to your home?

Both. Lou Malnati's and Giordano's each ship frozen versions of their signature pies nationwide, which is how the rivalry follows people home. The frozen versions are decent but do not fully reproduce the fresh-baked crust.