Critic’s note: This occasional entry is about stuff that I eat or drink that you should eat or drink, too. It may be about items that are locally made, or they may not be, but you’ll be able to find them in town. And you should.
I’m not allowed to call it a comeback, because it’s my fault I lost track of Michael Cline, who makes my favorite Chicago-style deep dish pizza. BUT: Cline, who sold perfect pie from a food cart downtown called Thick until summer 2016, did change his name and his scene.
“Technically, I never quit,” he explains, adding he and his neighbors saw a 30 percent drop in business in 2016, and that City Center Parking was a “HUGE pain in the ass company to deal with.”
So Cline bought a food truck, and changed the name to Chicagoland. Right now, he’s based at the North Russell Widmer Brothers property, for maximum beer and pizza satisfaction. It’s the same buttery, crusted wedges of cheese with a melty pull that goes longer than your arm, perfect toppings, and red sauce that I fell in love with four years ago. There are excellent Detroit and other thick-crust pizzas all around Portland, but this is the only acceptable Chicago facsimile I’ve been able to find.
Pies start at $24 and range up as you add toppings—that housemade Italian sausage and some spinach is the way to go—and are available for delivery via Postmates. At the brewery, you can score a slice or a whole pizza, and on Thursdays, slices of cheese or pepperoni are just $3.
Cline is also now making Polish sausages, burgers, and pork chop sandwiches, but I’m just gonna roll deep for the dish.
Chicagoland, 956 N Russell, 630-697-6581. Order delivery on Postmates.
