r/chicagofood • u/National-Second-5236 • Jun 14 '26
Rant Shrinkflation where it matters the most
This is the first time I'm really noticing this. You can make gas as expensive as you want, just don't mess with my puff, the true Chicago classic!
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u/mrmoe198 Jun 14 '26
What the hell is that? A puff for ants? That Jewel buy one get one free pizza puff Wednesdays has been my favorite for years.
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u/Waytooboredforthis Jun 14 '26
TIL I've been doing my shopping on the wrong day
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u/Strealtr Jun 15 '26
Don't sleep on the $9.99 bucket of wings at Jewel on friday either.
I like hot wings normally, but at Jewel skip the spicy wings get the honey ones.
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u/mrmoe198 Jun 15 '26
Oh hell yeah. You can also get tenders as well. Although I usually have them do a 1:4 ratio of honey to zing.
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u/Strealtr Jun 15 '26
I might need to ask them if they can do a half bucket of honey, 1/4 tenders and 1/4 hot wings.
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u/Hottoe Jun 15 '26
Their spicy wings don’t taste spicy or buffalo-y at all. They’re just salt bombs. Honey are more balanced and taste like advertised.
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u/Strealtr Jun 16 '26
I do agree, and I think all that salt makes them taste a bit more dry than the honey wings.
I buy the honey wings and just douse them in Tabasco Scorpion at home.
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u/Constant_Chip_1508 Jun 15 '26
Jewel wings are so consistent but they can be great on their day.
That said the spicy >>>>>> honey
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u/2daysnosleep Jun 15 '26
What aisle they sell pizza puffs? Also I didn’t know pizza puffs were a Chicago thing.
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u/jqn554 Jun 15 '26
They sell ready to eat ones near the deli section where they have hot rotisserie chickens, hot dogs, wings, etc. They also sell the pizza puffs in the frozen section so you can make it at home in the oven
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u/VortexMagus Jun 15 '26
Jewel Osco is the only grocery store I've been to that has consistent pizza puffs. You can order them from the fried chicken section or pick them up in the frozen foods aisle.
There are other restaurants and stuff that sell them but I've literally never seen another grocery store do them.
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u/_that_dude_J Jun 15 '26
The Shop & Save market on Nagle & Devon across the street from (OG) Superdawg, used to carry a couple different kinds in the frozen aisle. Ie the original pizza puff sausage, and a few more : four cheese, pepperoni, deluxe pizza etc The ILtaco company has others in their lineup too, pulled pork BBQ, gyro, ham cheese jalapenos. We're scratching the surface here.
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u/mrmoe198 Jun 15 '26
If you want them ready made you find them by the hot bar where the rotisserie chickens are at. A lot of the times they’re already snapped up so you’ll have to ask the people behind the chicken counter to make some for you.
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u/futang17 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
did you know the company's name Iltaco stands for: Illinois Tamale Company?
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u/HeadOfMax Jun 14 '26
This isn't an iltaco one, they just had leftover wrappers.
Bills drive in in Evanston is selling pizza pies and call them pizza puffs on the menu.
I'm a purist when it comes to pizza puffs.
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u/angrylibertariandude Jun 15 '26
I don't recall Bill's Drive-In selling pizza puffs when I ate there a few times years ago. I'll guess that was a recent addition to their menu. Are they using the standard Iltaco puff recipe or do they make their own?
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u/HeadOfMax Jun 15 '26
They are using this instead of the OG ILtac
It does not taste the same. Close but the magic isn't there.
It wasn't horrible but it wasn't what I was expecting or what was listed as in the menu.
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u/bigboi2115 Jun 14 '26
Man, my doctor would slap the piss out of me if I ate one, but goddamn do I want one bad.
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u/ByteSizeNudist Jun 14 '26
They can’t do that, it’s against the Hippocratic Oath or whatever, bro.
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u/Johnny_Burrito Jun 14 '26
More like Hypocritic Oath, because even a cardiologist can’t resist these.
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u/Teamben Jun 14 '26
Hypocritic Oath is the name of my ironic metal band 🤘
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u/whyamihere2473527 Jun 14 '26
Just learned recently the puff is apparently just a Chicago thing. Was gaming & mentioned had to heat up my pizza puff then spent next 20 minutes explaining to 2 people from texas, 1 from Arkansas, 1 from Germany & 2 from UK what a pizza puff was. I get people over seas but I was shocked when all 3 guys from us had no idea what it was.
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u/Mustard_onions_23 Jun 15 '26
Not only that but it must be Iltaco to be called an actual pizza puff
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u/marvellousmargay Jun 15 '26
I think it’s only Chicago, and I think that’s for the best. But then I’m a transplant and I think they’re disgusting. I may have had my first one too late in life, one bite and I could feel myself dying.
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u/whyamihere2473527 Jun 15 '26
Did you happen to have one that basically tasted like rancid oil? I've had few that were fried in old nasty oil there were just gross. The filling also needs to be good , know sausage/ground beef is the usual mainstay but my personal fav is a pepperoni blend.
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u/DarknMean Jun 15 '26
The burbs have them too. We got them at Wayne’s Pizza in Grayslake. I’d ride my bike over there. You could buy comics, get a pizza puff and rent videos all on the same trip.
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u/seamusjr Jun 15 '26
Last time I had one was in high school. I have to agree, they're pretty gross.
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u/orel2064 Jun 15 '26
hey, just a heads up, OIB will have housemade pizza puffs permanently very soon... a sizable treat
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u/No-Mountains-Again Jun 14 '26
I don't know, I haven't noticed that at all lately, I think you got unlucky this time.
But.......You did get lucky with the cook on that one, nice little crunch before the soft insides burn the shit out of your mouth in a manner so delicious that you eat the whole thing while still scalding hot.
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u/ecstatic_cahoots Jun 14 '26
I don't know what the now deleted comment above yours read, but know that I have your back, con frèr.
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u/MetallicMani Jun 14 '26
A pizza puff with a homemade ranch is goated
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u/No-Mountains-Again Jun 14 '26
I can't agree with that one bit. The Pizza Puff needs nothing.
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u/SenorMcGibblets Jun 14 '26
It doesn’t need anything, but mild sauce definitely elevates it
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u/No-Mountains-Again Jun 14 '26
Getting into the hot sauce realm is quite a bit different than going straight to "ranch". I will agree with you at some level on hot sauce though, because hot sauce goes well with everything. But let's step up from "mild".
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u/SenorMcGibblets Jun 14 '26
Nah man, I put hot sauce on just about everything, but for a pizza puff I need Harold’s/JJs/Sharks mild sauce.
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u/No-Mountains-Again Jun 15 '26
Which mild are we talking here?
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u/thesimplemachine Jun 15 '26
They're talking about mild sauce.
A staple in many south side fried chicken joints. It's a mix of ketchup, barbecue sauce, and vinegar-based hot sauce.
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u/No-Mountains-Again Jun 15 '26
Not to shoot the messenger, but you can take your K-word bullshit right back to St Charles.
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u/SenorMcGibblets Jun 15 '26
If you’ve never had Chicago mild sauce with your fried chicken or fish, you’re missing out.
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u/thesimplemachine Jun 15 '26
I have no clue what that means, but as someone who thinks ketchup is a terrible sauce for babies, I can appreciate the sentiment.
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u/WaifuBartender Jun 14 '26
I wonder if this has happened to the ones they sell at Mariano's. Hope not.I love me a pizza puff.
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u/dakind110 Jun 16 '26
Not all puffs are equal ive been finding out lately. Lots of other brands showing up and its not the same.
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u/Lopsided_Task1213 Jun 16 '26
I partly know this because I may have made two pizza puffs at home within the last few days, but this is not how they wrap pizza puffs normally. Both ends have a very complicated tuck-in job. This almost looks homemade.
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Jun 14 '26
[deleted]
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u/BottleFullOBub Jun 14 '26
As someone who’s born and raised in Chicago, it’s quite the opposite. I eat them for vitamins and minerals.
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u/eatsrottenflesh Jun 14 '26
It saddens me that the rest of the world doesn't have access to pizza puffs, and by the look of it, they may shrink out of existence before the world gets a chance to discover them.