Fifty Years Of Chicago Deep Dish Pizza
A chat with the chief executive of Giordano's, a legendary pizza name
Happy Solar Eclipse Eve! I live very close to the band of totality. Ann Arbor falls in the 99 percent zone, and if we want to drive a few dozen miles south, we have a chance to score 100 percent. That said, this is Michigan in April. It snowed on Friday and there’s no guarantee we’ll get to see anything.
Nonetheless, I’m happy to welcome new subscribers to CulinaryWoman and to thank our returning readers. You all make CulinaryWoman possible, since there are no ads or sponsors. If you feel moved to support the newsletter with a paid subscription, I’d be very grateful.
Just click here and thank you.
Celebrating Life With Pizza
One of my early childhood memories is the night my brother and I ordered a pizza. A flyer arrived at our home last century from a new pizza delivery spot, offering a small pizza for $1.25. Pizza at home was unusual for us; we ate it on vacation or on rare occasions when we dined out, so we were excited by the opportunity.
We got our chance to try it when our parents went off to a quick weeknight church meeting, leaving my brother in charge. We were rarely unsupervised, so I convinced him to take advantage of their absence, pool our resources and summon a pizza to our house.
When my parents returned, they found us at the kitchen table, happily munching away. “We left you alone for half an hour, and you ordered a pizza!” my mother declared. But we loved pizza, then and now, and have eaten it in all its many forms.
One of the most famous Midwest pizza styles hails from Chicago, and one of Chicago’s biggest names in deep dish pizza is Giordano’s. This year, it is celebrating its 50th anniversary, growing from a single city location to 63 restaurants, mostly in the Midwest.
Probably 90 percent of the restaurants that existed when Giordano’s was found in 1974 are now gone, and Yorgos Koutsogiorgas, the chief executive of Giordanos, knows the company’s survival is unique.
“Nowadays, celebrating 50 years of anything – marriage, friendship, success in business – is a huge milestone,” he told me. " We live in a fast paced society. Yesterday’s brand is yesterday’s brand. To have that kind of lasting impact in that space, in a relationship, is a real accomplishment.”
Giordano’s primary product is a hefty proposition. Its pizzas contain ample amounts of sauce, cheese and fillings - not everyone’s preference, but delicious if you like deep dish. Four people can easily share one, possibly with leftovers. Chicago deep dish has been described as a casserole in a crust, and Yorgos says that heartiness plays to its advantage.
“The type of pizza we do speaks to celebration, the celebratory nature of sharing food.” he says. “It’s not just putting something in my tummy.”
Standing out from the pack
Still, consumers have lots of choices. There is pizza pretty much every place in America, ranging from New York City slices to Detroit style square pizza to wood-fired pies to the thin crust tavern pizza that is also a Windy City specialty. Giordano’s recently introduced a version of that style, so it has its bases covered.
“Honestly, you have to be very good today to gain the loyalty of customers,” he says. “We want to make sure we give them more than what they bargained for.”
Giordano’s offers its products in many different types of restaurants, about half of which are company owned, with the rest franchised. Revenues vary.
The typical dine-in story in a suburban market yields about $2.5 million a year, he told me. Restaurants in very dense city neighborhoods take in $4 million to $5 million, while the biggest restaurants in Chicago, Las Vegas and other markets do more than $10 to 12 million in sales per year. (Giordano’s does not publish profit information.)
The average check is about $15 to $17 per person, or about $47 per table. Giordano’s is “a very approachable and reasonable destination,” he contends.
My Giordano’s experience
I am very familiar with Giordano’s classic pizza. In 2015, I arrived early at Sloan Park in Mesa, Arizona for the Chicago Cubs’ first game of spring training. I was delighted to find that legendary Cubs pitcher Ferguson Jenkins was signing baseballs for charity.
After getting his autograph, a man stopped me. Would I like to enter a drawing for a year’s worth of Giordano’s deep dish pizza? he asked, pointing to a display. I demurred, saying I did not live in Chicago. But I was assured it could be shipped nationwide, so I filled out an entry blank.
A few weeks later, I got an email telling me that I had won! I was skeptical, however, and called Giordano’s customer service line to double check. Yes, the prize was legit. For the following 12 months, shipments of two frozen Giordano’s pizzas arrived at my door, to the enthusiasm of the family and friends, with which I shared it.
Such e-commerce business has been “very very good for us,” Yorgos says. The company operates its own site, selling packs of two, four and six pizzas, and also distributes its pizza through Costco. Giordano’s is having conversations with GoldBelly about listing its pizza there, he says.
When it comes to freshly made pizza, about 85 percent of it is sold directly through its restaurants, with about 15 percent sold on restaurant delivery platforms like Door Dash, Uber Eats and GrubHub.
Although he is not a fan of the fees those sites charge restaurants, Yorgos is realistic about the shifting marketplace. “Maybe three years from now, that 15% will be 50%. We don’t know but we have to be nimble,” he says.
If you are visiting a Giordano’s in the next few weeks, you can take advantage of its anniversary special. On Tuesdays through May 28, Giordano’s restaurants are offering 50 percent off all its pizzas at its dine-in locations across nine states. There are also some special deals online. “It’s a gesture of appreciation,” Yorgos says.
Two Developments In The Chicago Restaurant World
While we’re in the Windy City, there were a couple of news items last week. Like many communities, Chicago embraced outdoor dining during the pandemic. But this year, there will not be outdoor seating on Clark Street, a main thoroughfare chockablock with restaurants
The reason was a deal cut by Alderman Brendan Reilly, who represents the 42nd Ward. Last year, Reilly argued in favor of allowing outdoor dining, which was popular with restaurant owners, but opposed by neighbors who complained about noise and traffic jams.
It was thought that this neighborhood opposition killed the plan. However, he says he was pressured by the mayor’s office to sign a letter in which he opposed extending the program for 2024. In return, restaurants were allowed to offer outdoor seats in 2023.
“I hated making that deal. But at that time, it was my hope that over the course of a year, the administration’s view of this program on Clark Street would evolve and that they would reverse course,” Reilly told Block Club Chicago. The mayor’s office did not comment.
Meanwhile, former employees at the Signature Room, high atop the John Hancock Building, are getting some restitution. Six months after closing, 132 workers have won a $1.5 million lawsuit, according to Eater Chicago.
A federal judge ruled that Infusion Management Group broke Illinois law by failing to give workers proper notice of their decision to shutter. Under the WARN act, workplaces with 75 or more employees must give 60-days advance notice of plans to close, or else pay employees equivalent wages and benefits.
The lawsuit works out to about $11,000 per person, if divided equally.
Red Lobster Seems To Be Floundering
Last summer, Red Lobster announced a $20 all-you-can-eat shrimp deal to the menu in a bid to boost sluggish traffic. The steep discount not only contributed to a more than $11 million quarterly loss for minority owner Thai Union Group, but also effectively ended the company’s efforts to rescue the struggling restaurant brand, Restaurant Business reported.
In January, the Bangkok-based seafood supplier announced that it was cutting ties with the 650-unit Red Lobster chain and looking for a buyer. The experience left such a scar on Thai Union CEO Thiraphong Chansiri that he quipped in February that he plans to never eat lobster again.
In further signs of trouble, Red Lobster last month replaced its outgoing CEO with a restructuring expert known for guiding restaurant companies through bankruptcy.
Restaurant Business has a juicy behind the scenes story of how Red Lobster began lurching toward insolvency.
A Food-Related Tragedy in Gaza With Wide-Ranging Repercussions
You’ve probably heard about the murders last week of seven aid workers from World Central Kitchen. They were killed when a Israeli Defense Forces drone attacked the clearly marked, three-vehicle convoy that was traveling in a peaceful Gaza zone.
WCK Founder Jose Andres says the convoy’s movement was orchestrated ahead of time with Israeli officials, who termed the attack a tragic accident. The killings have sparked outrage around the world.
Watch Chef Jose’s heartbreaking denouncement of the attacks in the video above. I had just sent WCK another donation to help fund its efforts to feed Palestinian and Israeli citizens. The group managed to import 200 tons of much-needed food before the deaths. It has now suspended its operations there.
In a New York Times op-Ed, Chef Jose wrote, “You cannot win this war by starving an entire population. Peace starts with our shared humanity. It needs to start now.”
Keeping Up With CulinaryWoman
Last week, Lions, Towers and Shields, the classic film podcast, treated its listeners to not one, but two fresh episodes. We reviewed a pair of contrasting and entertaining movies: one is I Know Where I’m Going, the 1945 film by Michael Powell that preceded The Red Shoes.
The other is Johnny Guitar, a 1954 Joan Crawford movie that’s been hailed as innovative cinema. It’s a cross between a western and a film noir and has some eye catching costumes.
I’d be happy to hear from you and have you follow me on social media. Here’s where to find me.
Website: www.michelinemaynard.com
Email: culinarywoman (@) gmail dot com
LinkedIn: Micheline Maynard
Threads and Instagram: (@) michelinemaynard
Etsy shop: City Tips Vintage
Tomorrow, in Red Beans & Advice for our paid subscribers, I’ll share some of my advice for feeling comfortable when dining solo.
Make sure you wear your eclipse glasses tomorrow: I hope you’ll be able to experience it. Have a great week.