"Family-owned since the ’50s, this East Side institution has remained painstakingly loyal to tradition. In the bustling, ever-changing lakefront neighborhood, it’s easy to take for granted the old school red-checkered tablecloths, blue-collar barstool classicism, and joys of sipping Blatz shoulder-to-shoulder with compatriots under the bar’s neon lights. But it’s worth remembering (and waiting for) Zaffiro’s Midwestern tavern-style pizza: a circle pie, square cut, and loaded up. The sharable, salty version here is a living ode to the style’s birth as beer-drinking food. Zaffiro’s leans extra hard into wafer-thin crust, which lets out a satisfying crackle and snap, while the fennel-inflected sausage is redolent of the time this was the Italian quarter of Milwaukee. Best for: A cozy and carby retreat from a cold winter night." - Todd Lazarski