REVIEW: Pizza Hut Chicago Tavern Style Pizza

As a born and bred New Yorker, just hearing “Chicago-style pizza” puts me in a fighting mood. Deep-dish pizza is not pizza! It’s a casserole! How many times do we need to have this debate? How long will it take for everyone to accept the plain, unvarnished truth?

Then I read that Pizza Hut has released a Chicago Tavern-style pizza, which has a thin crust, not unlike a certain other type of pizza that gets enthusiastically consumed in my house on a nearly weekly basis. Ah well, I guess I need to put away the boxing gloves and nunchaku and give this thing a fair shot. You have a choice of Double Pepperoni, Pesto Margherita, Spicy Chicken Sausage, or Ultimate. I went with the Double Pepperoni since I didn’t want the different toppings to complicate the eating experience.

My first thought was that the crust was actually not as thin as I was expecting; I think Domino’s has had thin crust pizza with thinner crust than this. Aside from being a little thinner and cut differently, the Tavern-style pizza is actually very similar to another Pizza Hut product, The Big New Yorker; it has the same parmesan-forward taste. The main differences are that the thinner crust on the Tavern pizza makes for a cheesier bite (although it’s a fairly subtle difference), and the whole thing is a fair bit less greasy.

And yes, I have ordered The Big New Yorker several times, despite being located in NY and having access to actual, authentic NY pizzerias. I can only attribute this to some kind of sophisticated mind control programming on Pizza Hut’s part. I always start dialing the number to Johnny D’s Authentic New York Pizza, then slam the phone down, muttering, “But you can’t Out-Pizza the Hut….”

Ahem, anyway, due to the nonstandard cut, some pieces of the Tavern-style pizza have toppings that go all the way to the edge, while some have a more traditional crusted end. I found the exposed crust, pleasantly studded with air bubbles, was the most fun part of the pizza to eat. It’s just really satisfying on a texture level, almost like eating a cannoli and feeling the crust flake apart under your teeth. That said, it was kind of a bummer that many of the slices in the box were missing this feature.

Also, don’t make the mistake of thinking this is lighter fare because it’s thinner: I ate three pieces, which, while much smaller than three slices of traditional pizza, made me feel like I just ate enough fat and salt for the rest of the week. However, it was not to be the extent of my salt and fat intake for the week because I had some again…the next day. Microwaved.

I know, I know, microwaving pizza—especially thin-crust pizza—is usually a bad idea. I can only argue that I was extremely hungry and impatient and was easily swayed to the dark side. Surprisingly, this pizza holds up pretty well to microwaving. Some of the crust became limp, but the crunchy end pieces were still delightfully crunchy.

On the whole, Pizza Hut’s Chicago Tavern Style Pizza was enjoyable enough to make this New Yorker consider the possibility that maybe good pizza can come from other states. Just don’t try to get me to compliment Detroit-style pizza. I have my limits.

Purchased Price: $12.00
Rating: 8 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (Double Pepperoni)120 calories, 6 grams of fat, 3 grams of saturated fat, 15 mg of cholesterol, 290 milligrams of sodium, 11 grams of carbohydrates, and 6 grams of protein.

SPOTTED: 7/1/2024

Here are some interesting new products found on store shelves by your fellow readers. If you’ve tried any of them, share your thoughts in the comments.

Stouffer's Melt-Fulls Cheddar Bacon Tomato.

Stouffer's Melt-Fulls Double Cheddar Steak.

Stouffer's Melt-Fulls Grilled Chicken Parmesan.

We already covered the Grilled Chicken Parmesan one in an earlier post. (Spotted by Amanda Y at Target.)

Mission Ready to Cook Roti

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Bettergoods Gourmet Sweet Cherries
Bettergoods Vanilla Almondmilk
Bettergoods Original Almondmilk
Bettergoods Unsweetened Original Almondmilk
Bettergoods Unsweetened Vanilla Almondmilk

(Spotted by Amanda Y at Walmart.)

Pabilito’s Korean Inspired BBQ Pizza

(Spotted by Robbie at Central Market.)

Miracle Noodles Egg White Spaghetti Noodles
Miracle Noodles Egg White Vermicelli Noodles

(Spotted by Sarah R at Sprouts.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

SPOTTED: Think Minis Girl Scouts Protein Snack Bars

Think Minis Girl Scouts Adventurefuls Protein Snack Bar.

Think Minis Girl Scouts S'mores Protein Snack Bar.

Think Minis Girl Scouts Chocolate Peanut Butter Protein Snack Bar.

No Thin Mints? No Coconut Caramel? (Spotted by Sarah R at Sprouts.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

SPOTTED: Ruffles Korean-Style Sweet & Spicy Chili Potato Chips

Ruffles Korean-Style Sweet & Spicy Chili Potato Chips.

So gochujang? (Spotted by Robbie at Walmart.)

If you’re out shopping and see new products, snap a picture of them, and send them in via an email (theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com) with where you found them and “Spotted” in the subject line. Also, if you want to send in photos and are wondering if we’ve already covered something or if they’re new, don’t worry about it. Let us worry about it.

REVIEW: Lay’s Honey Butter Potato Chips

Finally!

So here we are with Lay’s offering honey butter-flavored potato chips in the US, almost a decade after the flavor’s height of popularity in South Korea. Ugh. Has it really been THAT long? This is the first time a potato chip flavor made me feel old. However, before you run out to find this, you should know it is/was only available at some Costco locations in Northern California. Yup, an exclusive AND regional Lay’s flavor.

How popular were honey butter-flavored potato chips? Well, when it first came out in South Korea in 2014, it sold out in stores. But you could purchase bags from online sellers for several times more than their original price. When I tried to acquire a bag back then, they were going for $50 on eBay. I guess you could say it’s the most viral potato chip ever. Sorry, Lay’s Wavy Milk Chocolate Dipped Potato Chips.

So, is it worth flying to Northern California to buy a bag or buying one on eBay for three times the original price, like I did? Of course not. But I think it’s good enough that I’m using this review to convince Lay’s to make this flavor available to everyone throughout the country, but with a slight tweak.

If you’re in Camp No Sweet Chips and have raised your eyebrows at those holiday Pringles that came out years ago or the Lay’s IHOP chips that were on Walmart shelves earlier this year, Lay’s Honey Butter won’t be for you.

The chips looked like original Lay’s, but after handling a few, a layer of white seasoning accumulated on my fingertips. Their flavor hit all the right sweet and savory notes that make me think of all the honey butter-flavored chips I’ve had over the decade from Korean and Japanese brands.

It starts off with a nondescript sugariness, but then the honey flavoring comes around. The underlying butteriness hits about the same time as the honey, and it’s somewhat reminiscent of what you’d taste with buttered popcorn. But the taste leans more towards sweet than savory. Honey and butter are listed as ingredients, but above those two is sugar, which might explain the initial sugar burst.

However, there needs to be more consistency in the application of the seasoning. A notable number of them lacked the sweet and savory punch that others had, which makes me think these might need more seasoning.

Despite the minor issue, Lay’s Honey Butter Potato Chips are quite tasty and I hope Frito Lay decides to roll out the flavor nationwide and not exclusively.

Purchased Price: More than one should pay on eBay
Size: 23 oz bag
Purchased at: eBay
Rating: 7 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (about 15 chips/28 grams) 160 calories, 10 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 65 milligrams of sodium, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar (including 1 gram of added sugar), and 2 grams of protein.