Where do you find the best 'Chicago-style' pizza? Yelp says it's in California

Warning: The following story contains information that some Chicago residents may find disturbing, objectionable or flat-out ridiculous.

A recently released Yelp survey has declared that the best “Chicago-style” pizza (Yelp’s word, not ours) in the entire United States and Canada can be found — not in Ravenswood, the South Loop or the Fulton Market District — but in, wait for it, Monterey, California, at a joint called Heirloom Pizza.

The only Chicago pizzeria to break the Top 10 (at No. 10) is Michael’s Original Pizzeria & Tavern in the Uptown neighborhood. Pequod’s Pizza — voted the best overall pizza in America in February, also by Yelp — comes in 20th in this most recent survey (which lists 25 establishments).

Mario Espinosa, the manager at Michael’s for the last 20 years or so, serves deep-dish and tavern-style pizza. He said he knows nothing about Heirloom.

“You never know what people do for reviews. If you’re telling me that the best Chicago-style pizza is in California, I doubt it. The best Chicago-style pizza is here in Chicago,” Espinosa said.

Michael Foley — a New Jersey guy who moved to California in the late 1980s and started Heirloom in 2017 — comes across as a gracious winner during a quick phone chat on Wednesday.

“I prefer to take a humble approach. I don’t prop myself up as any kind of genius in any way because that’s just too much pressure,” said Foley, who has restaurants in both Monterey and Salinas.

Asked if he has plans to open a location in the home of “Chicago-style” pizza, he said: “Oh my gosh, I don’t think so man. Why would I want to take on Lou’s (Lou Malnati’s) and Gino’s (East)?”

Just how did Yelp come up with its list (which, by the way, includes another California restaurant in the top 10 — this one in Placentia — called Tony’s Little Italy Pizza Co.)?

Reviewers “identified businesses in the pizza category, with a large concentration of reviews mentioning ‘Chicago style pizza,’ ‘Chicago-style pizza,’ and ‘deep dish pizza,’ then ranked those spots “using a number of factors, including the total volume and ratings of reviews mentioning” those specific terms, according to Yelp.