#pizza-chains

#pizza-chains

Unlike the usual recognizable brands, what makes Hunt Brothers Pizza unique is that it doesn't have any traditional restaurant locations. Rather, it operates as a seller inside convenience stores and gas stations that it doesn't own. The pizza itself is still made by Hunt Brothers (the brand name is clearly on the packaging), but it's prepared directly by the staff of whichever shop has contracted to sell it.

Pizza might sound simple as a concept, but it's a complicated beast in the kitchen and hitting all these notes is surprisingly rare, especially in the chain restaurant world. While pizza quality is inherently subjective, when it comes to pepperoni pies, there are some universal truths we can all agree on. The perfect pepperoni pizza has evenly distributed pepperoni rounds, sliced thin with a slightly crispy edge, the ideal cheese-to-sauce ratio, and a balanced crust that's light but chewy.

We were lucky enough to sample and rank 19 popular pizza chain restaurants, crowning Uno Pizzeria & Grill (often called Pizzeria Uno or just Uno's) as our all-time favorite. For those not versed in the many different pizza styles around the U.S., Chicago is home to a few popular styles. But while the thin-crust tavern-style pizza is said to be Chicago's true favorite pizza, the deep-dish pie stole the show.

I'm a firm believer that no pizza-filled movie night is complete without a few classic pizza chain sides - a Caesar salad, some garlic knots, or, the most classic of them all, good old-fashioned cheesy bread. In fact, sometimes the cheesy bread, while simple and unsuspecting, ends up being the star of the show. You just have to know where to look.