Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

There’s no question that deep-dish pizza is one of Chicago's most iconic foods, loved by tourists and locals alike. But who exactly invented it? It turns out the details are a bit murky. Let's begin with what we do know. The first establishment to serve deep-dish pizza was a place simply called The Pizzeria that opened in 1943 on the corner of Ohio and Wabash. The restaurant would later be known as Pizzeria Uno and is now known as Uno Pizzeria and Grill. What we don’t know is who exactly perfected the recipe for deep-dish pizza. The Pizzeria's owner Ike Sewell and his business partner Ric Riccardo are commonly credited with inventing the dish, but we don’t know for sure if they actually got their hands dirty in the kitchen. Adolpho “Rudy” Malnati Sr., who was manager of The Pizzeria, his son Lou, who worked as a bartender there, and Alice May Redmond, a cook at the establishment, are other possibilities. But whoever invented it, folks loved it, and Chicago pizzerias have ...

There are many reasons to love Cracker Jack: its addictive sweet-and-salty flavor combination, its association with America’s favorite pastime as immortalized in the song “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” or the prizes hidden inside the boxes are just a few. This all-American snack was invented in Chicago and debuted at the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Here’s the story of how Cracker Jack came to be the snack we know and love today. German immigrant Frederick Rueckheim got his start in the snack food business selling popcorn out of a street cart on Fourth Avenue in 1872. He became so successful that he brought his brother Louis over from Germany to help out. The two then perfected a recipe consisting of popcorn, peanuts, and molasses. In the 1880s, the company operated out of a plant on South Clinton Street. The popcorn creation was first mass-produced and sold at the Columbian Exposition in 1893. It was originally known as “Candied Popcorn and Peanuts.” The story goes that this confection...