Lou Malnati's: what diners say about Chicago deep dish
Shared report · refreshed weekly · updated Nov 6, 2026
Complaints about food at Lou Malnati's Pizzeria point to bland flavor, deep dish that falls short of Chicago hopes, crust texture and dough, and watery or sparse toppings.
OneStar read 721 Google Maps reviews of Lou Malnati's Pizzeria posted from May 2026 to Nov 2026. Of the 721 people who reviewed Lou Malnati's Pizzeria in OneStar's sample, 23% complain and 89% praise it. The top complaints about Lou Malnati's Pizzeria are food and drink quality (40% of complaints), wait times (35%) and staff and service (7%). In OneStar's sample of Lou Malnati's Pizzeria reviews, 2% of reviewers say they won't come back. OneStar's report on Lou Malnati's Pizzeria was last updated on Nov 6, 2026.
What goes wrong
The food arrived luke warm.
We preordered our pizza, made a reservation, and showed up early and we spent over an hour there with no pizza….
What should have been a memorable birthday celebration turned into a very upsetting experience. Between the poor service, the mishandling of our bill, the disappointing food, and what we believe...
Pizza is great. It's soooooooo loud.
Major restroom capacity issue, which makes it very unclean.
What goes well
Great service . Friendly staff. Sage did a excellent job.
Great deep pizza, crust was super delicious, very good service, a lot of cheese , extremely recommended, better than other famous ones
Everything I had hoped for! Amazing!
Super fast service, got a table straight away and our classic pizza only took 20 min. Amazing to finally try the famous Lou Malnatis deep dish in Chicago. Our server Chris was great
Muito bom local para HH e conversas entre amigos no fim da tarde
Reasons for quitting
The main complaint of the 15 reviewers who say they stopped or are quitting
Their categories
Yes or no questions the person who shared it asked of each review
What should have been a memorable birthday celebration turned into a very upsetting experience. Between the poor service, the mishandling of our bill, the disappointing food, and what we believe...
We preordered our pizza, made a reservation, and showed up early and we spent over an hour there with no pizza….
What they use it for
114 of 721 reviewers said; shares are of them
On vacation and asked a local sheriff and he said this place was legit. No joke. It was amazing! The buttery pizza crust was sooo good. The sausage wasn't overpowering. And the sauce, mmmmm.
Pizza was great! Staff was awesome, we have two small kids so they put us in a back room that filled up with other families which is great to take some of the pressure off parents while allowing...
Came here for my birthday and Sage was seriously the best. She was so sweet, super friendly, and made everyone at our table feel like we’d known her forever.
What they ask for
6 reviews ask for something
Made with OneStar's Google review analyzer. Run one on your own place or a competitor's, free with no card.