In the suburbs of Chicago, where Brittany and Brennan Grosvenor grew up, a Friday night order always came down to a simple family debate: thin-crust, deep-dish, or double-dough. Today, the couple runs Proof in Portland, Oregon, where they serve the first of those options—though the familiar regional language of "thin-crust" has given way to a term with national resonance. They sell tavern-style pizza, the unassuming cracker-thin pie that has swept from coast to coast in recent years, reshaping the American pizza landscape.
Outsiders often associate the Windy City with its famous, tourist-beckoning deep-dish pizza, but Brittany notes that this stereotype does not reflect everyday realities. Deep dish is reserved for rare occasions, whereas the Midwestern thin-crust style dominates local life. The pizza people order every week, or encounter at children’s birthday parties and casual neighborhood gatherings, is invariably tavern-style.
This style is prevalent across the Midwest. Cities and regions like Chicago, Milwaukee, Minnesota, and St. Louis all tout their own iterations of these similar pies. Tavern-style pizza is instantly recognizable by its crisp, cracker-like crust, which is sliced into a grid of small squares—often referred to as a "party cut"—rather than traditional triangular wedges. Depending on the region and the specific nostalgiatrip of a neighborhood pizzeria, the tomato sauce might lean sweet or spicy. Above all, lightness and crispness remain the style’s defining selling points. Writing for Esquire in 2023, critic Omar Mamoon described the variant as a direct foil to the famously thick Detroit-style pizza, which enjoyed a massive cultural moment in the late 2010s.
The beauty of the tavern-style pie lies in its inherent shareability. A circular pizza yields significantly more portions when cut into a grid than into traditional triangles, explains Bradley Shorten, the culinary force behind 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 ideal drinking food, largely because individual pieces fit comfortably on a cocktail napkin. According to Shorten, the hallmark of a properly constructed pie is that every single square receives its share of toppings and ingredients right out to the very edge. While the four small corner pieces might not technically be the best bites on the tray, Shorten acknowledges they are the ones everyone reaches for first, particularly diners who grew up in Chicago.
Over the past few years, as tavern-inspired concepts have become a growing fixation for a cadre of ambitious restaurateurs, party-cut pizzas and tavern-style spots have become ubiquitous. New openings span the country, from Keepers in New York City and One Trick Pony in Fort Worth, Texas, to Tillie’s Tavern Pizza in Wheat Ridge, Colorado, alongside established staples like Zarella and Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian in Chicago, where the style has always been abundant. For displaced Chicagoans, these nationwide openings offer a long-awaited opportunity to correct the record regarding their hometown’s true pizza culture, while other Midwesterners proudly stake their own regional claims in the broader pizza conversation.
When Mike Fadem opened the second location of his popular New York City pizzeria Ops—known primarily for its wood-fired, Neapolitan-esque pies with leopard-spotted crusts and pliant dough—he wanted to offer something distinct. Fadem hails from St. Louis, where the local namesake pizza is exceptionally thin. Despite his deep fondness for it, he readily admits it may not be the definitive version of tavern pizza, noting its critics who often take issue with its signature gooey processed cheese, known as provel. The evolutionary trajectory of tavern-style pizza resembles a game of telephone, Fadem explains: St. Louis pizza derived from thin-crust Chicago pizza, which itself traces its lineage back to traditional Neapolitan pies, with each geographic jump accompanied by distinct culinary divergences.
Meanwhile, one of Fadem’s employees at Ops is from New Jersey, a state that proudly champions its own distinct thin-crust, tavern- or bar-style pizza tradition, much like the devoted following surrounding the bar pies of the Boston area. This sparked a creative curiosity in Fadem: could they craft an Ops interpretation of the style? Given that Ops is already renowned for its sourdough formulations, Fadem wanted to highlight the rich, complex flavors of whole grains while achieving an exceptional level of crispness—a quality he knew would instantly appeal to New Yorkers.
Fadem’s take ultimately debuted on the menu under the regionally agnostic name "tavernetta." Although St. Louis and New Jersey served as early points of inspiration, his research ultimately revealed that some of the finest examples of the style resided in Milwaukee. The Tavernetta has not displaced the other established pies at the restaurant; instead, diners frequently order it as a complementary addition, with most groups at tables purchasing at least one to share.
In Los Angeles, the cocktail lounge Bar Next Door celebrated its third anniversary by introducing a dedicated food menu. Previously, the bar permitted patrons to bring in pies from Prince Street Pizza next door, facilitated by the fact that Prince Street co-owner Lawrence Longo is a partner in the bar. However, owner and bar director Brynn Smith observed a practical limitation to this arrangement. After consuming a heavy slice of Sicilian-style pizza, customers would occasionally feel too full and decide to head home rather than stay for another round. The primary business objective is encouraging guests to linger longer and enjoy more drinks, making tavern-style pizza a natural fit. The fact that these pizzas—listed on the menu as "bar pies" to complement the establishment’s moniker—are crafted exclusively for the bar by Prince Street provides yet another compelling reason for patrons to venture out.
The broader concept of the neighborhood tavern as a social, convivial space remains inseparable from the appeal of tavern-style pizza. Shorten’s primary goal with La Merna, which he operates alongside his wife Meg Schmitt—who grew up in St. Louis—was to recreate the warm, inviting atmosphere of a classic Chicago dive bar or a Wisconsin supper club. These are spaces defined by wood-paneled walls and checkered floors, where guests can comfortably slide into red leather booths, order pitchers of beer alongside shared pizzas, and settle in for the evening.
This rising aesthetic preference for the authentic tavern vibe across restaurants nationwide is rooted in a desire for homey, lived-in environments. At these establishments, diners are encouraged to unwind, shed pretense, and embrace a welcoming familiarity. For many people, this experience is best exemplified by the archetype of the hometown pizza shop, which remains permanently tethered in our cultural imaginations to the unpretentious comforts of a simpler era.
Reflecting this deep-seated nostalgia, the Grosvenors in Oregon have begun serving their own interpretations of Bosco sticks—the classic stuffed cheese breadsticks found in Midwestern school cafeterias—alongside Italian beef sandwiches topped with giardiniera. While they could occasionally source certain Midwestern staples around Portland, they were frequently frustrated by the inability to find everything under one roof. As Brennan Grosvenor puts it, they are simply trying to embody an authentic feeling: if a customer walked into a traditional tavern in Chicago, what would they expect to find on the menu?
