Midwest

Growing up in suburban Detroit, there was deep-dish square pizza and there was round pizza. The round style was the kind of pizza you’d find at your local bowling alley, roller rink, arcade or neighborhood sports bar. It was thin, super crispy and you could pick it up and eat it with just a napkin.

I wasn’t aware that any of my hometown pizzas were considered trendy until 2016 when Detroit-style pies exploded in NYC and then, during the pandemic, in Los Angeles. But much like the square pizza, the thin, crispy, round pies have an identity as well: Tavern-style pizza has many names (party cut, bar pie, etc.) but it’s the slightly lesser known, thin-crust style of pizza born in the Midwest. And lately, it’s been having a moment in Los Angeles.

“It was the kind of pizza they served you at whatever bar you were at,” says fellow Michigan native Aaron Lindell of Echo Park’s Quarter Sheets. “I wasn’t aware then that it was its own style,” he says.

What makes it a Midwest-style tavern pie exactly? Essentially it’s a lower-moisture, higher-fat dough resulting in a thin, crackery, flaky pizza crust. Typically bar pies go lighter on tomato sauce and caramelize the mozzarella significantly, resulting in a molten matrix of cheese and sauce that takes me back to my childhood with each bite.

Despite its prevalence in Michigan and other parts of the Midwest, tavern-style is most commonly associated with the Chicagoland area, thanks to places like Vito & Nick’s. Lindell developed his own recipe for bar pie in 2023 that combines Midwest tavern style with those of the northeast to bump up business on slower nights. Now, the nights that Quarter Sheets has bar pies on the menu are some of the busiest of the week.

However, Lindell was far from the first to offer a take on tavern-style pizzas here in L.A. Eagle Rock’s Casa Bianca Pizza Pie opened in 1955 with the intention to bring Chicago thin-crust to Los Angeles. Fresh Brothers Pizza opened in 2008 in Manhattan Beach specializing in tavern-style pies and wings and the chain quickly expanded to 20 locations in the SoCal area. In 2013, Rance’s Chicago Pizza opened in Costa Mesa offering both Chicago deep dish and tavern-style (and eventually expanded to Long Beach in 2017). Midwest icon Gino’s East of Chicago even opened in Sherman Oaks in 2019, also offering their take.

And since the pandemic, newer spots have been doing their own versions much like Quarter Sheets.

Here are nine places to try tavern-style pizza around L.A. right now.

June 12 (UPI) — Multiple tornadoes caused severe damage across several midwestern states Thursday evening.

A 54-year-old man was killed in a homeless encampment in a park Wednesday in Des Moines, Iowa, after he was hit by a tree that “broke apart and fell during strong storms,” police said in a statement. They found the man injured, and he died on the scene, CBS News reported.

There have been no other official reports of injuries.

As of Friday morning, nearly 500,000 customers were without power in Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin and Michigan.

Some of the hardest-hit areas are just south of Chicago in Kouts and Merrillville, Ind., and Bartlett, Naperville, Streator and Dwight, Ill.

A tornado hit Streator at 5:52 p.m. CDT Thursday, and another was reported in Dwight just after 6:15 p.m. The system had traveled east to Lake and Porter counties in Indiana around 7 p.m.

Streator Mayor Tara Bedei said there have been no deaths reported in the city.

“We are incredibly grateful for the safety of our residents and the quick action of emergency personnel,” she said in a statement.

An animal shelter in Springfield, Ill., suffered heavy damage to two buildings, CBS reported, but none of the nearly 150 cats and 28 dogs housed there were injured, said Animal Protective League Executive Director Deana Corbin.

“It pretty much wiped out our shelter facility, took the roofs off both of our buildings,” Corbin said. “It’s a miracle. We were so blessed to not have any injuries of either people or animals.”

Home and news video showed several destroyed homes, including one in which a man was trapped under debris in Streator. He was removed safely with the help of first responders. It’s unclear if he was injured.

Illinois State Police later confirmed “heavy damage” in Streator, and Illinois-18 leading into the town was closed for clean-up and rescue efforts. Displaced residents and separated families in Streator were being sent to Streator City Hall, officials said.

Merrillville Police also reported heavy damage and road closures in the city.

Hobart, Ind., announced Thursday night that it was opening a local gymnasium to those in need of shelter.

“For families displaced by the storm, the Hobart Police Department is opening the gymnasiums at the Police Court Complex as a temporary shelter location,” a police Facebook post said. “The facility has available space, clean restrooms, fans, and good airflow, providing a safe place for those in need. Please note that there is no air conditioning, unfortunately.”

Maple Park, Ill., winery owner Joe Brandonisio told CBS that one of his workers tied himself to a water trailer to keep from being blown away.

“I saw the debris fly up and spin around. I got down in the basement. I told the staff to get down there,” Brandonisio said.