The 75-Year-Old Chicago Restaurant The Obamas Love For Tavern-Style Pizza

Throughout American history, there have been certain U.S. presidents with especially good taste in food, frequenting great eateries across the country and inspiring the rest of us to seek out their picks. One of our favorite examples of this is the love former President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama have for Italian Fiesta Pizzeria in Chicago. This spot has an impressive history, serving pies for over 75 years. The Obamas are vocal about their fandom, mentioning Italian Fiesta in their memoirs and television interviews. Plus, their devotion to this eatery reveals their Chi-Town roots and discerning appreciation for tavern-style pizza.

When people think of Chicago and pizza, they typically picture deep-dish pies. But the difference between Chicago deep-dish and tavern-style pizza is that while the former has that thick, doughy crust, the latter's is thin, crispy, and cracker-like. It's also traditionally sliced into squares. While other cities have embraced tavern-style pizza, it's believed to have kicked off in Chicago in the 1940s. Pizza had been around in the Windy City since the early 1900s but exploded in popularity when taverns started offering it post-Prohibition.

While New York City pizza-makers utilized Italian methods like hand-tossing their dough, Chicagoans rolled their dough and eventually did so with machines that created thinner crusts. They then piled these crackery crusts with more cheese than NYC pies had, creating a style that's actually more popular with Chicagoans today — it's an "if you know, you know" thing, and the Obamas know.

Travel to different regions of the U.S. or the rest of the world and you'll encounter all different kinds of pizza, from Neapolitan to New Haven. While deep-dish pizza is delicious and absolutely has its own strong fan base, many Second City citizens are likely to claim tavern-style pies as Chicago's number-one pizza. If you want to try the best of the best, the Obamas' endorsement should be enough to convince you to check out Italian Fiesta.

The restaurant was established in the late 1940s by Phillip and Connie DeCarlo. Today, there are five locations of Italian Fiesta throughout Chicagoland, and the mini-chain has remained a family-run business for four generations and counting. The menu is comfortingly classic and simple, with tavern-style pies in individual, small, medium, and large sizes, and tried-and-true toppings, plus a few specials like shrimp, turkey sausage, and pepperoncini. There are also hot sandwiches like the other Chicago culinary icon, Italian beef, as well as a few pasta dishes, chicken and seafood dinner platters, and sides and appetizers like wings.

The Obamas are clearly not this pizzeria's only happy regulars. "Been eating this pizza since childhood," one Yelp! reviewer says. "Delicious then and now." Likewise, another reviewer quips, "This is the awesome 'Chicago-Style' pizza we locals hide from the tourists." The statement was echoed by another user, who added, "This is real Chicago pizza!" If you find yourself in Chicago and want to go where the locals go, head out for presidentially approved tavern-style pie.