Taste testing Pizza Hut's Chicago Tavern Style

In recent days I've seen a jillion commercials for Pizza Hut's new Chicago Tavern Style pizza, catapulting our local pie into the national spotlight. Yay!

Not so fast: This is only a good thing if the chain actually does a decent job representing the deliciousness of our local delicacy.

• As an unofficial quality control monitor for food under our city's name, I recently tried the new offering and compared it against a pie from Pat's Pizza .

The cheese: Pat's tasted richer and less dry.

The sauce: Pizza Hut skimped, while Pat's smeared on just enough.

The sausage: Pat's oozed with more juicy fat.

The crust: Cracker thin on both, but Pat's crackled with baked bread goodness, while Pizza Hut's recalled cardboard in texture and taste.

Cost: Pizza Hut 14" sausage, $10.

• Pat's 12" sausage, $16.75.

The verdict: Pizza Hut cranks out a decent tavern pie for a decent price, but the crust falls short.

• Pat's may cost more, but the work put into fermenting and drying that crust makes it worth the extra dough.

Plus: Pizza Hut gets a demerit for failing to offer giardiniera as a topping or even a side.