Millys Pizza in the Pan [Meeting #128]

Milly's Pizza In The Pan

1005 W Argyle Street (Map)
Chicago, IL 60640
(224) 656-4732

CPC invaded Milly's Pizza in the Pan on Sunday, February 26, 2023.

Dalton ("just Dalton") and Robert Maleski: Two Kings of Customer Service (Photo credits: Swayze and Maleski)

"Be nice." So simple, so effective. 

Anyone who's been paying attention to pizza in Chicago in the last couple of years is well aware of Milly's reputation as one of the best deep dish pizzerias around. It's entirely deserved and we'll get to that. But first let me tell you a little story. Milly's has a limited production capacity so you really do need to order ahead of time. I placed our initial order for two pizzas for 5:45 on Sunday. They have limited seating (four 4-tops and 4 stools at a counter in the front window) and don't take reservations but we correctly assumed we'd be fine early on a Sunday night. I emailed the restaurant to ask if they sold drinks and, if not, if they allow outside drinks. Half an hour later, owner Robert Maleski wrote me back to let me know they sold non-alcoholic drinks and they were BYOB. Very nice.

They set up a serving area for us. Very, very nice.

A couple of days later, a CPC member asked about adding two guests to our group. That was fine but it meant adding a pizza to our order. Problem: The next available time slot was 6:15. I placed the order, figuring we could eat two and then have the third when it was ready. But I emailed the owner and let him know what was going on and within 15 minutes, he'd made room for our third pie at 5:45. Even nicer.

The menu at Milly's has 5 pre-set toppings combinations as well as a build your own option. We ordered three pizzas for 7 adults and 3 children. All were excellent. 

My favorite pizza of the night had pepperoni and peppadew peppers, always a good combination and even better when the pepperoni gets those beautiful crispy edges.

Coming in a close second was the sausage and mushroom (technically mushroom was only on half of it but I can only speak to the mushroom one). Look at that sausage - top quality stuff.

The first two were build your own pizzas. In third place but still delicious was the Que Suerte, which comes with pineapple, cherry tomatoes, jalapeño & bacon.

The first thing that jumps out when looking at a Milly's pizza (once you get beyond the general beauty of all of them) is the caramelized crust. Originally made famous by Burt Katz, first at Pequod's and then at Burt's Place, when done right, the crunchy blackened cheese is an absolute treat. Milly's does it right and they do it right consistently. They did it back when they were operating out of a ghost kitchen in Humboldt Park (Maleski opened Milly's after being laid off from his job as a server during the pandemic) and they're doing it now in their brick and mortar location in Uptown. Basically, this is what you should get when you want a better version of Pequod's - this is better in every single way.

But it's not just the caramelized bits that make the crust stand out, it's the fact that, like Burt's back when Burt was still alive and decidedly unlike Pequod's, the crust at Milly's would be delicious with absolutely nothing on it - it's great bread.

The toppings were top notch across the board. Well, the pineapple was just regular canned pineapple, but everything else was great. The sauce had a real depth of flavor and a rich texture - really good stuff. The only criticism I have is that the toppings don't need to be applied with such a restrained hand, but that's how Burt did it and it's how plenty of Neapolitan places do it, so I'm willing to accept that's my American gluttony talking - these pizzas certainly weren't hurting for flavor.

Bottom line: along with George's and Labriola, this is one of the three best deep dish pizzas in Chicagoland and therefore the world.

Milly's doesn't sell dessert. But right next door is Don Pablos Kitchen & Bakeshop, an excellent Chilean empanada shop that does have some sweets, including delicious alfajores.