With multiple locations, we found one walking distance from our hotel and made reservations online the morning before we went. It was perfect. We were seated 1 min after arriving. We wanted to dabble in a few things so we got a small "Lou's" deep dish pizza with spinach & mushroom, an order of Garlic bread, which comes with marinara sauce, a Malnati's salad (kinda like greek salad), and the beef sandwich with a side of fresh fruit. True to the deep dish, you need to wait like 30 minutes for your pie! We happily ate our app and salad while watching march madness on the screens (thank u!) Wow, I have to say compared to the other deep dish places, this place tops them all! It wasn't cheese soup in a tough crust but really like a moderate thick crust with a nice serving of sauce, melted cheese (that pulls!), and generous toppings. I liked the beef sandwich but it wasn't the highlight of the meal. The garlic bread was nicely toasted with butter + garlic and the marinara sauce was yummy but I prefer the garlic knots I get back home (nyc). The salad was a good balance to have with the deep dish. Hand down, would come back for the deep dish pizza.

First timer here. Loved The Malnati Chicago Classic™ pizza! The House Salad with the red wine vinaigrette was so delicious! Our server, Roberto was so helpful. He gave us the run down and took great care of us! Next time we're in Chicago, we'll return!

I was in Chicago for 5 days and had Lou Malnati's for 3 days, that says a lot. Definitely the best deep dish pizza I've tried in Chicago!! Around 45 mins wait for deep dish pizza due to the thick crust, but it was def worth it. The crust is crispy and the pizza is meaty with good acidic balance of tomato sauce. Service was good, no complaints.

You can't come to Chicago and not eat deep dish pizza. Lou Malnati's is an institution. Great atmosphere, great staff and really good food. So about that... our order was messed up twice with the salad and then them putting pepperoni on my veggie Lou pizza. Man did they bend over backwards to make it right without me having to say much. I recommend and definitely would return to this place.

Here's the thing with Yelp... one experience is all it takes for myself and many others to write a review. The Infatuation, for example, makes multiple visits. Then again, one is professionally written and curated, and another has this (me) lovable putz writing for free. I say this because Lou's is case-in-point why it's a good idea to make multiple visits. Re-reading the menu after devouring my pizza, I see there are options for a gooey crust, easy on sausage, and heavy on tomato. All of these tie in to qualms I had with the Malnati Classic "as is." So, let's talk about that Malnati Classic. It's not bad, then again I've had better. Where it comes to their crust, I found it was too crisp. I won't go as far as to say it was a potato chip, but it didn't have any noticeable give. Where it comes to the meat (sausage) it was done as a big, honking sausage patty! While I indubitably appreciate when a restaurant does not skimp on protein, this was excessive, as it overpowered everything with its flavor and texture, taking away from the cheese and tomato. I found both a little light, with their flavors somewhat muted, and the cheese not having that signature pull. Though, I was determined to have a good experience. I came back and ordered the classic once again, only this time being a little smarter about what I'd be getting... or so I thought. I requested the Classic with heavy tomato, light sausage, and gooey. Come to find out they are unable to make it gooey, as the sausage would be underdone and thus it would be unsafe to eat. Drats! It also might have been smarter to order something without the sausage, but a signboard at their entrance spoke about a hot-honey pizza with pepperoni and sausage which I wanted to try. The server recommended I get the regular crust instead of butter-crust, as it may have less crispiness. I also requested heavy tomato, and light sausage to ensure I wouldn't be getting another patty. Well, the regular crust showed me why their butter crust is famous... for the regular does not hold a candle to it. While the regular was once again more crisp than I would have prefered, I will give them more points for this pie. The heavy tomato allowed them to shine, and they have terrific flavor, as opposed to the flavorless racquetballs so many places sell. It is also noted that this time around the cheese had some pull, without being a mozzarella stick where you hold one end, and your companion leaves the table holding the other to see how far you can stretch it. Finally, where it comes to protein, the amounts of pepperoni and sausage on this iteration were on-point, and the hot honey helped add a little sweet heat... which is hard for me to say no to! On both occasions, I had the pleasure of enjoying the Chocolate Chip Pizza. This was awesome, and one of the better desserts I've had in a while. The cookie is a perfect balance of dough and chocolate, served very warm with ice cream on top. As it melts and these meld together, you get heaven. Look, I could come back a third time and talk about how the gooey turned out, and it's not impossible that I'd do so and write an update. However, this can be an endless cycle as I attempt to perfect my order. Thus, I feel as though I should judge based on my experience so far. That being: Lou Malnati's is a place that allows plenty of customization. However, some of their default options have execution I don't necessarily agree with or thoroughly enjoy. Because this is more a matter of preference than an issue per se, I won't dock them too many points for that. Plus, the dessert is absolutely killer! In terms of value, considering the prices of everything, I think the cost for a personal Malnati Chicago Classic is reasonable. The service was kind and appropriately attentive for a place like this. In terms of atmosphere, it was what I'd describe as a blend of hip and rustic, but I wasn't super fond of the massive projection screen behind the bar one of those night. Lastly, would be nice if they had some very small bites to nibble on (especially for those dining alone) while waiting 30-45 minutes for a pizza. So, I award four stars as I am giving them some benefit of the doubt. I don't want a matter of personal preference affecting a rating. With this, as I did not find Lou's mind-blowing, but a place with a respectable deep-dish pizza, four stars seem just about right.

My husband (luckily) had the foresight to make a reservation ahead of time. I liked this location- it was very cute! Our server was friendly and efficient. I don't love the sausage brick in the deep dish (which was all my husband had ever ordered for us on previous visits), but this time we got the Lou, which had mushrooms, tomatoes, and spinach blend and it was soooo delicious. It would be nice if they would consider offering a kids thin crust cheese pizza that's 1/2 the size of the single serving.

My fiancée loves Lou's pizza. We get it every time when we are in Chicago. Good old Chicago deep dish. This time we got the Lou salad to share and it was delicious. Very heavy on the dressing, so next time I would say dressing on the side. For mains we got two deep dish pizzas. The first was a large and had pepperoni, onions and pepper. The second one was medium with black olives, pepper, onions, and spinach. Just for reference it was 5 of us and we had 5 leftover slices, so the pizzas are very filling and expect to have leftovers for a snack later.

A visit to Chicago could not be complete without tasting some of Lou Malnati deep dish! We shared a medium sized of the Malnati Classic which is the traditional sausage and tomato sauce atop a bed of cheese, and the Lous which was cheesier with more fresh tomato and vegetables. We also got a malnati salad in family size which had a lot of dressing but was tasty. Although the restaurant wasn't full, the staff were busy and our server disappeared for a while so we were left without cutlery for some of our group and had to wait to eat. The pizza takes 30mins to cook so if you're hungry order a appetizer!

A great place to get some Chicago deep dish, but make sure you plan ahead. Lou Malnati's is one of the more popular pizza chains in the city. Between that and the time it takes to actually bake the sheer mass of deep dish, you should absolutely order ahead and make a reservation. Timing is key. We arrived early and ended up popping over next door to have a drink rather than hanging out in the tight waiting area as other diners streamed in and out. The pizza was great! Service was good! This is my second location to have visited and seems consistent. Busy, filling.