While pizza is a delight enjoyed by millions across the United States and beyond, few places do pizza quite like the Midwest. Coming from a proud Midwesterner, pizza is a sacred meal for many in the heartland of the United States, especially those of us from in and around the cities of Chicago and St. Louis, where tavern-style and thin St. Louis-style pizzas are the two dominating types -- sorry deep-dish pizza, I still love you.
However, one thing that often gets forgotten by non-Midwesterners is that tavern-style pizza, and St. Louis' thin-crust pizzas are far from the same thing. While their similarities, such as having thin crust and being cut into squares, differentiate the two styles from other kinds of pizza in the United States, they quickly begin to differ greatly beyond that point. From their dough to the types of cheeses that are put on top, knowing the differences between tavern-style and thin crust is of the utmost importance -- especially if you plan on traveling to St. Louis or Chicago.
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To start, let's look at the perception of each pizza. While Chicago's tavern-style pizza is the premier pizza in the Second City, it has also become popular across America in recent times. Alternatively, you'd likely struggle to find St. Louis-style thin crust outside the city's surrounding area, leading to its slightly lessened notoriety among many non-Midwesterners.
Beyond that, the differences can most easily be identified by looking at the crust of each pizza; tavern-style pies include yeast, while the St. Louis variation does not. This small change gives tavern-style pizza dough a consistency, texture, and flavor boost that St. Louis-style pizzas don't have. Plus, because the yeast provides more structural integrity to a tavern-style pizza's thin crust, more toppings can go on top of the pie than the St. Louis version.
Where St. Louis-style pizza shines, however, is in its cheese. While tavern-style pizzas have the typical mozzarella cheese on top of the dough and the sauce, St. Louis changes things up in a big way by straying away from the norm and using the controversial three-cheese blend called Provel to complete their pizza. The blend itself is a mix of cheddar, provolone, and Swiss cheese, a combination that not only sets the St. Louis-style pizza apart from tavern-style but also sets it apart from countless other pizza stylings across the United States.
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