Home to the classic deep-dish pizza, Chicago has every reason to call itself one of the truly great cities for all things involving cheese, marinara sauce, and perfectly baked dough. A museum was recently opened that celebrates Chi-town’s deep-dish reputation.
Only open for a limited period of time, the museum is located at the Roosevelt Collection and is expected to be open until the Winter season. If the museum attracts enough visitors, it is believed that it could be a much longer arrangement.
“So this all started as my personal pizza collection of stuff that just kinda got out of control,” Kendal Bruns said, who is the founder of the museum. “Now I have it set up in a way that it tells the story of how Italian immigrants brought pizza to America and it spread throughout the country.”
The museum includes a wide variety of pizza-related items, some that are over half a century old. These include pizza boxes, T-shirts, posters, and toys, amongst other things. “As America’s favorite food, pizza provides an easy entry point to learn about history, pop culture, and the people behind the pizza,” Bruns said.
While Bruns is naturally a huge fan of the classic Chicagoan deep-dish, he admits that he doesn’t prefer one type of pizza over another.
“I just take for granted that all pizza is great, and whether it’s deep dish or New York or New Haven or any different style of pizza I enjoy them all on their own merits,” he said. “But on the other hand, I really understand why people reacted so strongly because pizza is very personal for people.”
Brun’s ultimate aim though is to make all people appreciate the greatness of pizza. “I really want people, after they’re done, to go visit a local pizzeria and have it at the source,” he said.
A visit to a pizza museum wouldn’t be the same without some free pizza samples from South Loop’s very own Aurelio’s pizzeria. That’s not all though. There is expected to be pizza parties, dough-making workshops, and social events at the venue.