Giordano's is not your everyday fast-food pizza joint. That's evident when the menu cautions that it will take about 30 to 45 minutes for your pizza. And the waiter reiterates that fact when she arrives. We are committed to waiting, so we order soft drinks and dive into the menu.

We look over the menu and see the tempting sandwiches -- selections include a meatball sandwich or chicken parmesan with marinara and pasta, with everything from spaghetti to eggplant parmesan -- but we're there for the pizza. Thin crust or stuffed? Definitely the stuffed with sausage, pepperoni, and green peppers. We order a medium stuffed-crust (12 inches), which the menu says serves two to three people, and an order of garlic bread to tide us over.

The wait doesn't seem long, and soon our waiter is carrying our pizza toward us. She sets it in the middle of the table and serves up our first slices. We take our first bites of this Chicago treat and agree this is much better than the fast-food pizza joints. There's no skimping on the toppings, and every bite is filled with what you ordered. The thick crust has a crunchy shell, and once you bite into it, you find the chewy center. And the taste of the crust complements the pizza - this is definitely a package deal. Perfect!

The only drawback is that we couldn't take the leftovers with us! Three of us were able to eat just over half the pizza.

The pizza alone cost about $20, not bad at all for some authentic Chicago pizza in the city and a filling meal. The garlic bread was about $2.50 and soft drinks about $2 each.

If you're looking for that famous stuffed-crust pizza in Chicago, Giordano's won't disappoint. Not in Chicago? No problem! They have a mail-order menu. Your pizza of choice will arrive half-baked and frozen, packed in dry ice for optimum freshness, when served in your home. They also have a delivery and catering menu.

For more information and a list of locations, visit www.giordanos.com.

If you have never had Chicago deep-dish pizza, you are in for a treat. The deep-dish pizzas are about 3 inches deep and stuffed with the goodies of your choice. The cheese is in the inside of the pizza, with the sauce on the top. The pizza is so thich that you really can only eat one or two pieces, max--this ain't Pizza Hut pizza, boys and girls! Don't be fooled and order too much.

The deep-dish pizzas take about 45 minutes to make, so keep that in mind. What I normally do is order the pizza and put my name down for a table, go for a little walk, and when I get back, the pizza is done and waiting for me.

I've tried a few other pizza joints that claim to have great deep-dish pizza, and they're not bad, but I have to say Giordano's is the best I've had.