Glenn G.
Yelp
Pizza is one of my favorite comfort foods, and each style to me is almost like a different cuisine. Lately, I've been craving Chicago-style pizza, so this past National Pizza Day I decided to pay a visit to Rance's Chicago Pizza in Long Beach. From back before the Pandemic, I remembered how good Rance's pizza is from visiting their location in Costa Mesa, but this was my first time coming here.
There are those who believe that the very best Chicago-style pizza is only available in Chicago. In my experience, there are selected venues in both NorCal and SoCal that do Chicago-style pizza even better than they do it in Chi Raq. The best place I've found for deep-dish Chicago pizza in the Long Beach/Orange County area is unquestionably Rance's!
Rance's has three different crust styles available - Tavern, Pan, and Stuffed. The latter is what I've been craving for the longest time - it has a thick layer of crust at the bottom; that first layer is then topped with layers of cheese and the toppings of your choice; finally it's all covered with a thin, second layer of crust, and then "crowned" with pizza sauce. At Rance's a "Stuffed" Crust pie takes around 45 minutes to bake, so you should plan accordingly.
There are currently two Rance's locations, with both serving some truly amazing pies. The original venue in Costa Mesa is located inside a strip mall, with no outdoor seating and a very modest indoor seating area. This location (on 2nd Street in downtown Long Beach) has a decidedly upscale vibe for a pizza restaurant, with a cool, edgy atmosphere inside, and a small open-air patio out front on 2nd. The patio is dog-friendly.
On to the pizza! At Rance's a "Stuffed" Crust pie takes around 45 minutes to bake, so I called ahead and timed our order so it would be ready when we arrived. I went with a HOUSE SPECIAL (Sausage, green peppers, onions and mushrooms), and added to that pepperoni and garlic. As it was placed on the table, it looked amazing, and smelled even better than it looked, so we dug in immediately. The dough is darn close to perfect; the taste is simply incredible, and our pie was perfectly cooked; the crust held a very generous amount of toppings and sauce without getting soggy at all. The toppings are all tasty and their flavor profile blends with that of the sauce and the spices into a veritable symphony of flavor! Pairing the pizza with some excellent draft beer I managed to completely satisfy my craving for Chicago-style deep-dish pizza - all was right with the World :-)
Now that I've reintroduced myself to the exceptional pies at Rance's, I look forward to returning and feasting on more of their amazing Stuffed pies; I'll make a point of reintroducing myself to their other crust styles as well.