The Beer Temple (pizza by Middlebrow) [Meeting #142]

The Beer Temple (pizza by Middlebrow)

3173 N. Elston Ave (Map)
Chicago, IL 60618
(773) 754-0907

CPC invaded Bungalow by The Beer Temple to eat pizza by Middle Brow on Tuesday, January 20, 2026.

Borrowed from The Beer Temple's website

For years, The Beer Temple has probably been the second best beer bar in Chicago (behind Hopleaf obviously). And for most of that time, they were a BYO Food establishment, which was great, especially with Carniceria Guanajuato across the street. But then, presumably realizing how much money they were leaving on the table, The Beer Temple started cooking and serving food. I never tried and don't think I know anyone who did. Apparently I wasn't the only one (or maybe they were just tired of the extra work), and The Beer Temple pivoted again, this time bringing in the bread geniuses at Middlebrow in to make pizza for the beer drinkers. Pizza and beer. What a concept!!!

Also borrowed from The Beer Temple's website

All 4 readers of this weblog (a number that includes members) surely remember our glowing praise about Middlebrow. TL;DR lots of places make two syles of pizza, but almost none do both well. Well, not only does Middlebrow make some of the best artisan thin crust pies in Chicago, they also make, only on Tuesdays, some of the best Chicago thin crust AKA tavern style pizza in town.

Well, the Chicago Pizza Club is here to report that Middlebrow has done it again. This is the best Detroit style pizza in Chicago by a decent margin. The sourdough crust, the umami-rich bright tomato sauce, and the quality toppings are all great - zero flaws to report. And yes, they use classic Detroit brick cheese along with mozzarella. Here's what we ate:

Unlike Chicago, where sausage reigns supreme, pepperoni is the topping of choice for Detroiters. The pepperoni pizza at Middlebrow/The Beer Temple would make any Detroiter happy. Actually it might make them a little sad because this crust is just a better piece of bread than the ones at the legendary Detroit spots.

Chicago meets Detroit. This one is topped with sausage on the whole thing and giardiniera on half. I'm not sure who's giardiniera they're using, but this is a very good clean rendition with a nice kick. 

The mushroom pizza comes with oyster mushrooms, caramelized onions, and mushroom cream. Delicious. Vegetarians are not an afterthought here.

The youngest Pizza Club member insisted on a cheese pizza so we added this towards the end. I was full but I forced myself to try half a slice in the name of science. I'm not going to lie and say it was better than the other pizzas, but it held it's own. 10/10 would eat again.

The End.