Every Major Style of Pizza, Explained by a Kitchen That Makes Two of Them

There are more styles of pizza than most menus will ever admit. The big four in America are New York style, Chicago deep dish, Neapolitan, and Detroit — and after that the family tree splits into Sicilian squares, bar pies, tavern-cut thin crust, St. Louis style, and a dozen regional arguments that get people uninvited from dinner.

We make two of the big four every day, so we have opinions. Here is the honest field guide.

New York style

The fold-and-go classic. A hand-tossed crust, thin through the middle with a chewy, blistered edge, sauce that stays bright, and enough structural integrity to eat one-handed while you argue about the Cowboys. The slice is big by design. New York style is what most Americans picture when someone says the word pizza, and it is the crust we build on at Big Jim's — hand-tossed, house-made sauce, five sizes up to a 24-inch box that barely fits through a door.

Chicago deep dish

Not a thick pizza. A different food that happens to share a name. Deep dish is built in a high-walled pan: crust pressed up the sides, cheese laid down first, toppings next, and chunky tomato sauce on top, because anything else would burn during the long bake. It takes real time in the oven — ours runs about an hour, baked to order — and it eats like a casserole that went to culinary school. Bring a fork. Bring friends.

Neapolitan

The original, and still the most protected. A soft, wet dough, a screaming-hot oven, ninety seconds of bake time, and a center so tender it flops. San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil. Neapolitan is beautiful and it is also gone in four bites, which is why it started so many of the heartier American styles in the first place.

Detroit style

A square, baked in steel pans that used to hold auto parts, with cheese spread all the way to the edges so it caramelizes into a crunchy frame. Airy inside, crispy outside, sauce often striped across the top after the bake. Detroit had a real moment in the last decade and earned it.

Sicilian and the square family

Thick, focaccia-like squares with a sturdy crumb. The grandmother of Detroit style, and the pan pizza most home bakers accidentally make first. Great cold the next morning, which counts for more than people admit.

Tavern style

Thin, crackery, rolled instead of tossed, and cut into small squares — the famous party cut. Built for tables full of people grabbing pieces between stories. The Midwest swears by it.

St. Louis style

Cracker crust, sweet sauce, and Provel — a processed blend of cheddar, Swiss, and provolone that the rest of the country argues about and St. Louis serenely ignores.

Bar pie

A personal-sized thin pizza with charred, lacy edges, born in New Jersey taverns. The right answer when you want a whole pizza to yourself and no negotiations.

So which one is best?

Wrong question. The right question is what the night calls for. Feeding a table of six with different opinions: a big New York pie, maybe two. A slow dinner where the food is the event: deep dish, ordered ahead. Solo lunch: a slice and a cold one. We keep a full menu of calzones, subs, wings, and pasta around the pizza for the person at every table who claims they are not in a pizza mood. They usually steal a slice anyway.

If you are in Amarillo, you can settle the New York versus Chicago debate at one table — we are one of the few kitchens anywhere that takes both styles seriously. The menu is here, the drive-thru is real, and the deep dish clock starts when you call.