Pizza Food Pr0n - Saturday Night at the 'Quods

Pequod's is always packed on a Saturday night.
This is why:

Pepperoni with Garlic; always a good combo.
 

Italian Sausage and Canadian Bacon / half Mushroom;
Not a bad combo ,  but the Canadian Bacon does take over.

A few tips for first-timers:
 As mentioned in a previous pizza rant,

 Pequod's pan pizza has caramelized (read: burnt) cheese on the outer crust;

This is the reason you come here.
 

When ordering, make sure you order the PAN pizza and not the thin crust. The thin, although not bad, does not have this crunchy cheesy goodness on it's outer crust, and you will leave disappointed.
Keep the number of toppings to a minimum. I typically recommend only 2 toppings at a time, but I wouldn't go over 3. Don't go overboard or you will lose the greatness of this pizza in all of the toppings.

My fellow Pequod-a-holics and I have come up with a consensus of good combinations; here are a few of our favorites:

Pepperoni and Garlic - You really can't go wrong with this one (My personal favorite). 

Italian Sausage and Pepperoncini (spicy yellow peppers) - for the people who like a little heat.

Italian Sausage and ... just about anything - They have great Italian Sausage at Pequod's.

Pepperoni / Sausage combo - best of both worlds.
 

Spinach and Garlic - a classic combo (even better with Italian Sausage).
 

The Heartstopper - You could ask for it by name, but they won't know what the heck you're talking about. This is the only exception to the 3 toppings or less rule. Every meat available goes on this pie (Sausage, Ground Beef, Canadian Bacon, Pepperoni), with the optional addition of fresh garlic, and yes, you do run the risk of not getting the full effect of a Pequod pizza, but ... damn, it's good.

One final note: You may very well think this is the best deep-dish pizza in Chicago. Just remember to put the little asterisk * in there in your mind, because this style of pan pizza is not really authentic 'Chicago Style'; it's more of a hybrid of Chicago and Sicilian/Detroit style, baked in a round deep-dish pan instead of the rectangular pans they use in Detroit (look up Buddy's Pizza in Detroit). That said, Pequod's is in my top 3 for Deep Dish/Pan pizza , and the leader changes from week to week depending on my mood.

No Gyros In Sight

Only the sign remains... Sigh.

New Burger in Town: M Burger

M Burger just opened its doors at 161 E. Huron.
They got tasty burgers, average fries (not as good as Five Guys fries)
and one thing Five Guys doesn't have...
SHAKES!
Yes, you can get a malt too.

You might want to wait a week until the hype dies down because
today it took over 30 minutes waiting in line just to place my to-go order.
As you can see on that last photo, the guy in the blue-jean jacket with the mullet
has been waiting in line since 1980.
This place is mostly to-go orders because the ordering/waiting area is tiny.

Food Pr0n - Deep Dish Pizza - Garlic Crust

I'm working on a garlic flavored crust for my deep dish pizza. First test was a sausage and pepperoni (pictured below).
Tasted great, but needed more garlic in the crust. Back to the tasty, tasty drawing board.

Iron Cupcake - Yes, it's a thing.

There's a group in Chicago (this happens in other cities too) that has been having challenges for cupcake bakers.
This month's challenge was: Chile (you know... hot peppers!) 
http://ironcupcakechicago.com/2010/03/04/ironcupcake-chicago-march-challenge/icchi-march/

I just learned about this, and have been way too immersed in my deep dish pizza experiments to compete with what would have likely been a chocolate/chile cupcake of some kind, though I do have a few other ideas for 'hot' cupcakes.

A fellow baker who has been baking cupcakes for quite a while did take up the challenge, however,
and here's a photo of the cupcake that will likely be competing.

I won't give away the kind of chile she used,
but I will tell you there was a really great key lime cream cheese frosting on top
and the heat was not overpowering.