Old Chicago Pizza in Petaluma offers satisfying, classic pies

It’s rare to find a menu with a warning, but at Old Chicago Pizza in Petaluma, it cautions: “Our large pizza weighs over 4 pounds with no toppings. We suggest you order your pizza with fewer toppings than you normally might.” You better believe it.

Cakelike in appearance, the Old Chicago’s delicious deep-dish beasts are stacked inches high in buttery crust. Thick, yet tender and flaky, the dough comes from a recipe that’s been going strong since the restaurant opened in 1978 in the Historic Lanmart Building in downtown Petaluma as a salute to founder Bill Berliner’s hometown of Chicago.

Berliner and general manager/co-owner Michael Hansen have since passed on, but the operation is still in the family. These days, it’s co-owned by Hansen’s widow, Joanne Hansen, and Audrey Haglund, who joined the team as a busser in 1987 and moved up in the ranks.

Little has changed over the past 45 years, with the sturdy brick building towering over Petaluma Boulevard North, its dining rooms glittering with crystal chandeliers and an ornately framed original menu hanging on a wall. The 1876 structure was at one time a house of ill repute. It’s not hard to imagine gaily painted ladies beckoning clients from large windows overlooking the street.

The pizzas are nearly as substantial as the architecture. In Chicago fashion, pie dough is packed into a deep skillet and topped with gobs and gobs of mozzarella, then toppings of your choice — or perhaps “middles”: spicy-sweet crushed tomato sauce is slathered atop the pie, helping protect the cheese from burning during a long, slow bake that can take up to half an hour.

You build your own, with prices starting at $16.85 for a small four-slice cheese pie and up to $36.45 for a large eight-slice pizza with seven toppings that must weigh more than 10 pounds. Don’t expect anything fancy, as the most daring move was adding Canadian bacon and pineapple to the toppings list in the mid-1990s. They’ve also added a gluten-free crust.

Perhaps in a nod to today’s healthy eating concerns, you can also get any size with one-third less cheese, but why in the world would you want that?

The cheese-oozing sofa-pillow-size pies are really the reason to come here. It’s satisfying to heft meaty slabs with a cake spatula and release the wonderful golden-orange grease oozing from pepperoni and sausage. The special “double crust” recipe also has definite appeal; it’s a bit lighter than the original with delicate crusty layers smothered in cheese and sauce and two toppings of choice ($19.50-$36.75).

You can get classic Chicago thin or extra-thin crust versions as well, though by comparison they are fairly mainstream. For more modern flavors here, I favor the combo of gluten-free thin crust (add $3.50) scattered with artichoke hearts and roasted garlic chicken on a swath of pesto sauce.

Keeping in mind the lengthy bake time (remember, the pies can take up to 30 minutes to bake), order a salad to start. The Lisa Iskin salad is simple but satisfying and feeds two with a toss of lettuce, red onion, tomato, green pepper, mushrooms, chopped olives and cheese with housemade tangy Italian dressing ($10.50). If you’re carb-loading, add a side of garlic bread drenched in butter ($6).

It’s also worth noting that there’s now a second takeout and delivery location at the Wilco Shopping Center at 1390 N. McDowell Blvd. in Petaluma. Call 707-732-8008.

As I lugged the leftovers of my large pizza home from the restaurant, I was pretty sure it would take me a few days of dedicated eating to tackle the remaining pepperoni, sausage, olive and mushroom combo. But that’s just one of the joys of Old Chicago — it’s served up in pounds of happiness.

Carey Sweet is a Sebastopol-based food and restaurant writer. Read her restaurant reviews every other week in Sonoma Life. Contact her at carey@careysweet.com.