Deep dish has a reputation problem among people who think they’ve outgrown it: heavy, bready, a once-a-year tourist event. George’s Deep Dish in Edgewater is the standing rebuttal — and the crew went north on Clark Street to film the case.
The heresy
George’s breaks the deep dish rulebook in two places. First, the dough: a 48-hour sourdough ferment where tradition says fresh and fast. The payoff is a crust that eats light and airy with actual tang — closer to great bakery bread than to the buttery biscuit of the classic school. Second, the edge: a caramelized Pecorino Romano rim, cheese fried dark against the pan in open homage to Detroit’s frico crown. It’s deep dish that read widely and came home with ideas.
The orthodoxy can relax: this is still unmistakably Chicago deep dish — tall walls, molten cheese layer, bright tomato on top. It’s just deep dish with better posture.
The man behind the pan
The crew sat down with founder George Bumbaris for a two-part feature and interview — the full story of how a sourdough obsession became one of the most acclaimed deep dish rooms in the city. Both parts are linked from the George’s profile page, along with the crew’s photos from the visit.
Intel for your pilgrimage
The practical notes, learned the hard way:
- Pre-order. George’s is a neighborhood favorite that routinely sells out — the 48-hour ferment means tonight’s dough was committed two days ago. Walk-ins gamble; planners eat.
- Respect the edge. The caramelized Pecorino rim is not a garnish, it’s the thesis. Eat to the crust, not around it.
- Edgewater deserves the trip. Clark Street north of Foster is one of the city’s great unhurried food corridors. Make an afternoon of it.
George’s holds the number three slot on the crew’s best deep dish in Chicago list — the highest a non-1943-lineage pie has any business ranking, and it earned every inch. The full explainer on what deep dish is (and isn’t) lives on the style page. Trust in the Crust.
The pie in question 