In the Chicago suburbs where Brittany and Brennan Grosvenor grew up, pizza was never complicated. According to the couple behind Proof in Portland, Oregon, ordering a pie on a Friday night always came down to a simple familial choice. Brittany recalls her family’s tradition of debating between thin-crust, deep-dish, or double-dough. Today, the Grosvenors sell the former at Proof, though the traditional Chicago-leaning language of "thin crust" has given way to the more nationally recognized phrasing of "tavern-style"—the distinct pizza trend that has swept from coast to coast in recent years.
Outsiders frequently associate the Windy City with its famous, tourist-beckoning deep-dish pizza, but Brittany notes that this stereotype is simply not reflective of everyday reality. She characterizes deep dish as a much less frequent treat compared to the ubiquitous Midwestern thin-crust style that is currently gaining momentum across the United States. The pizza you get every week, or order for a child’s birthday party, is always tavern-style, she explains.
Tavern-style pizza—which is deeply prevalent across the Midwest, with Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and St. Louis all touting their own similar pies—is widely known for its thin, cracker-like crust. Unlike the traditional radial slices of New York or Neapolitan pies, tavern-style pizza is cut into a lattice grid of squares, often referred to as a "party cut." Depending on the specific region and the neighborhood pizza shop where one’s nostalgia lies, the tomato sauce might lean sweet or spicy. However, lightness and crispness remain the style’s defining selling points. Writing for Esquire in 2023, food writer Omar Mamoon called the variant—which was then still on the rise—a direct foil to the famously thick Detroit-style pizza, which had enjoyed its own major cultural moment in the late 2010s.
The inherent beauty of the tavern-style pie lies in its shareability. A circular pizza yields significantly more individual pieces when cut into a grid rather than traditional triangles, explains Bradley Shorten, the culinary force behind both Kim’s Uncle Pizza in his hometown Chicago suburb of Westmont, Illinois, and the recently opened La Merna in Washington, D.C. Pizza cut into small squares makes for exceptional drinking food, largely because the bite-sized pieces fit comfortably on a cocktail napkin. According to Shorten, the mark of a well-executed pie is that every single square contains a balanced distribution of ingredients, with the toppings stretching right out to the crispy edges. And while the four small corner pieces might not technically be the "best" structural bites of the pie, Shorten points out that they are invariably the ones everybody reaches for first, especially diners who grew up in Chicago.
Over the past few years, as neighborhood taverns have become growing fixations for a cadre of ambitious restaurateurs, party-cut pizzas and dedicated tavern-style spots have become ubiquitous. Recent high-profile openings include Keepers in New York City; One Trick Pony in Fort Worth, Texas; Tillie’s Tavern Pizza in Wheat Ridge, Colorado; and Zarella and Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian in Chicago, where the style has always been an abundant staple. For many displaced Chicagoans, these new openings across the country present a welcome opportunity to correct the historical record regarding their city’s true pizza culture, while other Midwesterners are eager to claim their own stake in the region’s rich pizza heritage.
When Mike Fadem opened the second location of his popular New York City pizzeria Ops—an establishment widely known for its wood-fired, Neapolitan-esque pies featuring leopard-spotted crusts and pliant dough—he wanted to offer something refreshingly new. Fadem is originally from St. Louis, where the city’s namesake pizza is exceptionally thin. Despite his deep personal affection for it, Fadem readily admits that it is perhaps not the absolute best version of tavern pizza, noting the iteration’s vocal critics who often take issue with its characteristic use of provel, a gooey processed cheese. The evolutionary trajectory of tavern-style pizza, he explains, has functioned much like a game of telephone: St. Louis-style pizza is directly derived from thin-crust Chicago pizza, which itself traces its roots back to Neapolitan traditions. Distinct divergence has accompanied every single geographic jump.
Meanwhile, one of Fadem’s key employees at Ops hails from New Jersey, a state that proudly claims its own distinct thin-crust, tavern- or bar-style pizza tradition, much like the devoted following enjoyed by the bar pies of the Boston area. Consequently, Fadem found himself intrigued by the prospect of creating an Ops interpretation of the style. With Ops already renowned for its mastery of sourdough fermentation, Fadem also wanted to highlight the complex, nutty flavor of whole grains. Furthermore, he insisted that the crust be exceptionally crispy, a quality he knew would instantly appeal to New Yorkers. Fadem’s unique take appears on the menu under the regionally agnostic name "tavernetta." Although St. Louis and New Jersey served as his initial inspirations, Fadem notes that the best pizza encountered during his extensive research was actually found in Milwaukee. The Tavernetta has not displaced the other pies on the restaurant’s menu; instead, it is routinely ordered as an addition, with most dining groups opting to get at least one for the table.
In June, Los Angeles cocktail lounge Bar Next Door celebrated its third anniversary by introducing a dedicated food menu. Previously, the establishment had permitted patrons to bring in hot pies from Prince Street Pizza located right next door, a natural arrangement given that Prince Street co-owner Lawrence Longo is also a partner in the bar. However, bar owner and beverage director Brynn Smith observed that after consuming a heavy slice, customers often felt overly full and ready to call it a night. The primary goal for the business was always to encourage patrons to linger a little longer and continue drinking, which led them to conclude that tavern-style pizza would be the ideal culinary accompaniment. The fact that these pizzas—technically listed on the menu as "bar pies" to better align with the establishment’s moniker—are made exclusively for the bar by Prince Street adds yet another compelling reason for locals to venture out, Smith notes.
The fundamental idea of the tavern as a social and convivial space is entirely inseparable from the very nature of tavern-style pizza. Shorten’s overarching vision with La Merna—which he operates alongside his wife, Meg Schmitt, who grew up in St. Louis—was to recreate the warm, unpretentious atmosphere of a classic Chicago dive bar or a Wisconsin supper club. They envisioned a destination defined by wood-paneled walls and checkered floors, where patrons could easily slide into a red leather booth to share pitchers of beer and casual pizzas for an extended evening out. As food writer Francky Knapp observed, the rising appeal of the comforting tavern aesthetic across restaurants nationwide is deeply rooted in a desire to provide spaces that feel genuinely homey and lived-in. At these establishments, diners are implicitly invited to sprawl out and stay awhile, shedding modern pretense in favor of welcoming familiarity. For many people, this cultural longing is perfectly exemplified by the archetype of the hometown pizza shop, which remains forever tethered in our collective imaginations to the trappings of a simpler era.
It is precisely for this reason that, out in Oregon, the Grosvenors have also started serving their own regional takes on Bosco sticks—the cheese-stuffed breadsticks familiar from Midwestern school cafeterias—alongside Italian beef sandwiches served with giardiniera. While the couple could occasionally track down certain Midwestern comfort foods around Portland, they were frequently frustrated by the inability to find everything authentic in one single location. According to Brennan Grosvenor, their mission is straightforward: they simply want to embody the authentic feeling of stepping into an old-school tavern in Chicago and discovering what could be ordered right off the menu.
