Via Chicago

2013 NE Alberta St., 719-6809, viachicagopizza.com. Lunch and dinner daily.

Hunting authentic Chicago-style pies in Portland will leave you hungry. This middle-dish shop will not. Its slices are cheese-heavy, like a wedge of mozzarella speckled with onions or sausage, or arugula and goat cheese for the artisan upgrade. The crust (gluten-free available) is a hefty rind of dough that does what it should—holds the molten dairy in place while you listen to jamming from the Know across the street and try to ignore whiffs of Salt & Straw two doors down. Welcome to Chicago via Alberta Arts. The fridge stocks Ninkasi bottles and Humm kombucha, gold-framed chalkboards advertise euchre night and a crafty deer poster hangs above pub tables of Know-goers in black hoodies. But White Sox and Cubs cards plaster the side of the fridge, and deeper menu cuts include cannoli and a daunting meatball sub.

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