Giordano's Pizzeria

Giordano's is a pizzeria that specializes in Chicago-style stuffed pizza.

History

Brothers Efren and Joseph Boglio immigrated to the United States from Argentina and in 1974 they founded Giordano's. Efren Boglio told Chicago Magazine that he and his brother were born in a small town near Turin, Italy, where their mother had been known for the quality of her recipes. He added that his family was most fond of her Easter pizza pies. Upon arriving in America, Efren began working at a pizzeria in Chicago, but was not satisfied with the pizzas he tasted and decided to open his own restaurant called Roma. When his brother Joseph came to Chicago, Efren claims they decided to open a restaurant using their mother's recipe and after experimenting over several months developed the stuffed pizza.

Several commentators have questioned the restaurant's claim about the creation of the stuffed pizza, noting similarities with the origin story of Nancy's Pizza, which had introduced its own stuffed pizza in the same year. Both chains claim to have based the pizza off a family recipe for scarciedda, an Easter dish common to Basilicata and Apulia, two regions of Italy. Due to the similarities commentators have suggested there is a connection between the founders of the two pizza chains.