The Spiciest Pizza In The Midwest

The Dance With El Diablo Pizza from Big G’s Pizza

Big G’s Pizza. Pardon the pun, but it really is a slice of heaven in Wrigleyville. Just north of the Cubs stadium on Clark St., Big G’s looks like your standard, blue collar pizza joint but it’s serving pizza’s that blow past standard and flirt with out-of-this-world.

With the surrounding drunken sloppiness that Chicago’s north end drunkville brings to the area, it’s a risk to get to hoity-toity with your pizza parlor. Decorate the space with too much decadence and you might end up with an Anna Casa couch covered in regurgitated stadium nachos. Instead Big G’s goes simple. You walk in and feel like you’re in the type of blue collar pizza joint that union iron workers might go to for a slice during their lunch break.

The thing is, Big G’s pizza is nowhere near simple. Sure they do the simple pizza’s right. The make a great pepperoni pizza and of course in a city like Chicago you can’t stay in business if you mess up a slice of sausage pizza. But where they really work their magic is in their next level pizzas. That’s their art.

 Reading through their menu of delicacies you can imagine their pizza Picasso painting in the kitchen on his canvas of crust. A Lasagna Marinara Pizza, a Penne Pasta Pesto Pizza, for the love of god they even have a Fried Chicken and Waffle Pizza.  And the kicker is, they’re ALL fantastic.

I’ve heard it best described as New York Style on Steroids. That crust that’s not as thin as tavern style or thick as Detroit Style. Flimsy but firm, subtle but direct, this pizza is in a league of its own. And the size, my god the size of this pizza! Sure I had a choice in the matter, it comes in 12”, 16”, or 20”, but I’m not one to turn away from a challenge. I live by the phrase, “go big or go home”, but I had no idea what I was getting myself into with this massive masterpiece. With twenty inches of hot, spicy glory we went with the “Dance With El Diablo” pizza.

Everything had a kick and when I say a kick I’m not talking about a toddler playfully tapping his toe on your shin. No sir, this spicy marinara, spicy chicken, jalapeno and habenero having, jalapeno cheese covered beast was a full on Ronaldo kick to the groin in the best way possible.

I live for heat. When people ask me how spicy I make sure they know I’m not looking for that gringo crap. I want the good stuff, the tear jerkers. And this pizza delivered and it did it with a matching flavor that had me crying both tears of pain and joy. My taste buds were not only dancing to cool down, they were dancing with a happiness they haven’t felt in many moons.

It’s not too often you find a spicy pizza that’s both hot and tasty but it’s also not too often that you find an artist like Jamie at Big G’s. This man is a legend. This man is a hero. This man could adopt me and I’d throw away my paternal family just for the food he’d bring to the table.

If you ever find yourself drunkenly stumbling out of a Cubs game with a hungry gut barking for something to soak up the eight Old Style’s you slammed during the game, walk yourself north and feast my friends. You won’t be disappointed.

And if you these words don’t do it for you, check out the video of Sean and I reviewing the “Dance With El Diablo” Pizza on our food review channel, Number Six With Cheese. (and while you’re at it, give us a follow on Instagram @NumberSixWithCheese) Until next feast my friends.

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