Beloved Deep-Dish Pizza Shop Burt's Place Reopens Friday

By Lisa White in Food on Mar 1, 2017 6:20PM

Pizza fans, rejoice! A historic suburban deep-dish spot that won over even the most vocal critic of Chicago-style pizza will reopen Friday.

Burt's Place, which was run by the eccentric pizza god among men Burt Katz, shuttered its doors in October 2015 after serving up handcrafted slices of their speciality pie for 26 years. Katz announced the closure was due to his poor health, and that he would have preferred to keep the shop open. He passed away the following May at the age of 78.

Reporter Louisa Chu, a longtime champion of Burt's and the person responsible for showing Anthony Bourdain to the light of deep dish, spoke to the new owners, Jerry Petrow and John Munao, before the reopening about what will remain the same and what will change at the iconic spot.

Katz himself chose the duo to continue his pizza legacy, and trained the two first-time restaurateurs on the ins and outs of Burt's Place. The pair will of course continue to honor the traditional Burt's Place pie by using the same ingredients, recipes, methods and pans that Katz used, Chu reported. The team has prepared more than a hundred pizzas before the reopening, Chu said, and even garnered praise from Katz's daughter.

The rule will stand (for now) that you'll need to call and place your dine-in order 24 hours in advance, a policy Katz implemented since he crafted each pizza himself using one oven. (Petrow and Munao have added a second oven to the revamped shop).

Before opening Burt's Place, Katz got his start in the pizza game after opening Gulliver's in 1965 before making his mark opening Pequod's in 1971. There, he fully developed his own personalized style: a unique pan-style offering with a deeply caramelized crust and super-fresh ingredients.

Chu shared behind-the-scene shots and more details on the renovated space in her Chicago Tribune profile, which you can check out here. Burt's Place will reopen this Friday, March 3, at 4:30 p.m. at 8541 Ferris Ave. in Morton Grove. Make sure to call ahead for reservations and to order your pizza at 847-965-7997.

To pizza pre-game, take a trip down memory lane with Anthony Bourdain as he visited Burt's Place during a Chicago episode of his No Reservations show.

Anthony Bourdain - Chicago Deep Dish Pizza from TravelChannelTV on Vimeo.