Ad Categories: Dining & Drinking

The aggressively garlicky butter crust makes every bite decadent, even with benign acidic tomatoes—straight from some mythical vine in Modesto, California—and tart spinach melding into a lightly browned mozzarella landscape. homeruninnpizza.com

Near the epicenter of the Randolph Street dining scene, Bar Siena goes the extra mile with this pie, strewing it with arugula, spicy pistachios, melted Taleggio, and a drizzle of honey. 832 W. Randolph St., 312-492-7775

The malt-infused dough gets tossed by hand, cooked till crackery, cut into strips with scissors, and finished with unorthodox ingredients. It’s stellar pizza, Quad Cities–style. 1924 W. Chicago Ave., 773-645-4949

The dependable lunch-meeting spot has recently gone through a trendy reinvention, but the pizzas remain appealing. Think of this pie as the seductive and sophisticated older cousin of the pineapple-topped Hawaiian. 59 W. Grand Ave., 312-329-0400

Manuel Montes piles fresh ingredients on butter-brushed crusts. The fun starts when you discover that the green peppers are actually chili peppers. And, good to know: Nueva is BYO if you choose to eat in at one of its three tables. 7109 N. Clark St., 773-681-0689

Most of its pies skew middle-of-the-road. Not the Terra, with braised leeks, lots of mushrooms, and a hearty drizzle of truffle oil on a chewy crust. davantienoteca.com

Stick to the basics at Jonathan Goldsmith’s passion project: The Margherita remains blissfully authentic, its sauce the purest expression of tomato flavor out there. 1769 W. Sunnyside Ave., 773-878-2420

The 900-degree oven in this all-day neighborhood mainstay cranks out a wonderfully charred crust that manages to be crunchy on the outside and supple at the nucleus. 2607 N. Milwaukee Ave., 773-697-4234