So much rich cheese it’s overflowing — Hongdae’s stretchy thick-crust pizza

Text & Photos /TinyDot Paine

The pizza place I’m introducing today was so over-the-top — I actually went there alone while traveling in June. Seriously, don’t come alone unless you have an enormous appetite like mine, because I couldn’t finish a whole pizza. It’s such a waste. You really should come with at least two people, and the more, the merrier — that way you can also order salads. This Chicago pizza is known for being packed with cheese, and tons of Korean girls love taking selfies here. Tasty Road even did a feature on it. There are many branches around Seoul now, but you won’t find any in Myeongdong or Dongdaemun. This Hongdae location is the original!

It’s located on the third floor of this building!

I came during off-peak hours, but there were still a few scattered customers.

It actually feels kinda weird eating alone... there were at least two sets of utensils on the table.

The host of Tasty Road is married to the actor Bae Yong-joon!

You should come with a group if you want to order both pizza and salad.

Besides salad, they also have some pretty unique pasta dishes.

There are currently four pizza flavors available. Check the photos to decide which one to get. The smallest size is 8 slices, starting from 20,000 KRW.

What’s with the new “skull” flavor? It looks so scary — it must be super spicy!!!

If you’re worried about getting tired of all that cheese, you can add these three different sauces. They’re 2,000 KRW each, but if you order the latest Diavola Chicago pizza, you can get them for free just by uploading to SNS.

You absolutely, 100%, must order a soda or beer — the super-cheesy pizza is insanely rich (no joke).

The sour cucumber and pickled radish are incredibly, extremely important. I ordered refills three times!

In terms of size, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s super thick and basically all cheese, I could usually finish a round pizza of this size if it were thin crust. But it’s thick, and it’s ALL cheese. I ordered the Best Classic Tomato Chicago Pizza — does that one cost 20,000 KRW?

The cheese stretch is just insane.

The crust itself is already thick, and this one has a tangy classic tomato sauce flavor, made with a lot of tomatoes simmered down. It helps balance the cheese flavor somewhat, but honestly, there’s just way too much cheese...

As for the texture of the crust, I thought it was just okay.

After just two slices, I was already struggling a bit — the cheese kept flowing down like a landslide (so alarming).

Facing that much cheese, I.................

I could only eat the cheese by itself... When it cools down a bit, it gets harder and has a really unique texture. The more you chew, the more it starts to feel papery. Korean cheese tends to be like this, very different from what I’ve had in Taiwan.

Takeaway: Koreans really, really love their cheese. You can buy instant cheese sticks at convenience stores, and there are so many flavors. So a pizza with so much cheese it turns into a cheese landslide doesn’t surprise me at all. But eating a whole one must be, like, over 10,000 calories, and you’ll feel both greasy and stuffed. I’ve got a lot of respect for how well Korean girls handle these pizzas. Even though the cheese is pretty tasty (the crust is just meh), coming alone is seriously a challenge. You’ve gotta come with friends!

Original Chicago Pizza – crispy? Creamy? Tangy?
Official Website

Hongdae Flagship Store
Korea Map
Address:7, Toegye-ro 26-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Phone: 02-322-4636
Latitude and Longitude:37.550029, 126.919842

Jongno Branch
Address:?聘夜寄萝 ?杠? 兰屈?杠 391
Phone: 02-736-6789
Latitude and Longitude:37.569450, 126.987466

Itaewon Station
Address:?聘夜寄萝 譬腊? 囚熊菩杠27?? 37
Phone: 02-794-8120
Latitude and Longitude:37.534904, 126.993083

Gangnam Branch
Address:?聘夜寄萝 ?皑? ?皑?杠9? 8
Phone: 02-557-5055
Latitude and Longitude:37.500591, 127.027377

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