Hello, Eaters! There are few culinary arguments as fierce as the difference between New York-style thin-crust pizza and Chicago-style deep-dish pizza. And now, thanks to a national chain arriving in Orem, Utahns can take sides in that argument.
Rosati’s, which has locations in Chicago plus a dozen other states, now has a restaurant in Utah — at 775 E. University Parkway in Orem. Its owners make the claim that it’s the first authentic Chicago-style pizza available in Utah.
The restaurant is operated by two friends, Heidi Sonnenberg and Katie Jacobson, who own the franchise with their husbands. Sonnenberg’s husband is from Chicago, she said, and had introduced her to Rosati’s first in Chicago and later in Las Vegas, where she’s from.
“We didn’t feel like having to drive that far for the pizza, so we decided to bring one here,” Sonnenberg told me this week. They first contacted Rosati’s a year and a half ago, she said, and they had their grand opening on Nov. 17, after a three-week soft opening.
The key to enjoying Chicago-style deep-dish, Jacobson said, is to plan ahead. “It’s going to take time. … It’s not like any other pizza that you’ve had or you’ve waited for,” she said.
On a weeknight, it may take 45 minutes to bake a deep-dish pizza; on Fridays and Saturdays — especially when BYU’s football team is playing at home — the wait may be an hour or more.
That’s because it goes through the oven twice — once to bake the thick crust and the layer of cheese, and a second time to heat up the sauce that goes on top. (Putting sauce above the cheese is another Chicago-style staple.)
In Rosati’s first month in Utah, Sonnenberg said they’ve had two kinds of deep-dish customers: “Either they’re so excited because they’ve never had it before, or they have had it before and they can’t wait to have it again.” (A create-your-own deep-dish costs $18.99 for a 10-inch pie, and $23.99 for a 14-inch pizza.)
And for those who don’t want to wait for deep-dish, Sonnenberg noted that Rosati’s is famous in Chicago for its thin-crust pizza. There’s also wings, pasta dishes and sandwiches — including another Chicago favorite, the Italian beef sandwich ($10.49).
Of course, I had to try the deep-dish, which you can read about in the “Dish of the Week” section.
Rosati’s is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, and closed Sundays.
Live deliciously,
Sean
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