After the visit to the John Hancock Center, it was time to get a bite. A real bite. Enough of popcorns no matter how good they are.

So I walked a few short blocks south to Giordano’s Pizzeria.

Giordano’s Pizzeria is famous for their Stuffed Pizza. For a while I was confused over Deep Dish Pizza and Stuffed Pizza — just the same thing with a different name. My friends insisted they are different and I gotta try both.

Ordering was an intimidating affair. I was not familiar with the menu and the folks who took the order were taking orders very fast. They did not seem like the type who will spend time explaining the menu to me. This is Chicago, this is not Vancouver.

Whether you are eating in or having it to go, you order from the same counter. There were just a lot of people milling around the area either waiting for their to go order or for a table.

So the timid Ben stood back in a safe distance and take his own sweet time to try to decide what he wanted.

The first item on the menu is usually their best selling item but it’s only cheese. It was cheese, cheese, cheese, and cheese options on top.

Then it was the “Special”. Hmmm … OK maybe the special. I was thinking the Spinach would be nice because it does take away the sourness in the tomato sauce. Shrimp would be great too as it will be sweeter. Tropic Delight … oh, it was hard to decide. Vegi — out of the question for a sworn meatatarian like me.

I finally decided to go with the “Special” simply because it is the priciest … and hence fully loaded.

It was a nice casual dining area. The pizza took a while to come to the table. It was OK as I … really needed to rest my feet and catch up on my reading. I was planning the trip in Chicago as I go.

There is the pizza tray holder. Such a simple idea to save space on the table.

I was glad they gave me a whole jug of iced water. I sure needed the drink as I hardly had anything to drink the whole morning other than a cup of coffee.

The smallest version of the Stuffed Pizza is good for two people. Actually if you look at it, it is more of a pie than a pizza.

OK, it is a pie with pizza type ingredients.

Taste-wise, it was wonderful. It was more cheesey than tomatoey. They have an unbelievable amount of cheese on it. So it was really moist and soft. The tomato sauce was actually quite nice too as it did not overwhelm the whole pizza with sourness.

It is easier eating with a knife and fork than with the hands.

So what is the difference between the stuffed pizza and the deep dish pizza?

My simple explanation is that it had a layer of dough on top, making it essentially a pizza pie.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yOtvj6_5GY&w=600&h=360]

Anyway, the above is a video I found that explains how the Stuffed Pizza is made. Now you know.

The thing I did not like is the crust — too thick, too hard, too dry, too not so good.

But it is expensive, don’t you think? But then I can understand because of the amount of stuff that goes into it.