It started with a skyscraper. Honestly. Back in 2013, New York and Chicago were bickering over which city had the tallest building—the Willis Tower or the newly minted One World Trade Center. But for Jon Stewart, the height of a building was just an appetizer for a much more visceral, much more grease-stained conflict. He didn't just want to talk about architecture; he wanted to destroy the culinary reputation of the Windy City.
What followed was the Jon Stewart pizza rant, a three-minute masterclass in hyper-verbal New York elitism that basically reset the rules for food feuds forever.
"It’s not pizza," Stewart famously barked, his voice climbing an octave with every syllable. "It’s a f***ing casserole!" He wasn't just being a jerk for the sake of ratings. He was defending a lifestyle. To a New Yorker, pizza is a portable, foldable, thin-crust miracle. To Stewart, Chicago deep dish was an "above-ground marinara swimming pool for rats."
If you've ever seen the clip, you know the energy. It’s frantic. It's sweaty. It involves Stewart comparing the act of eating Chicago pizza to "climbing inside a Tauntaun" just to keep warm. It was beautiful.
The Night the Sauce Hit the Fan
The rant aired on November 13, 2013, during The Daily Show. Stewart’s target wasn't just the thickness of the crust, though he had plenty to say about the "cornbread biscuit" base. He was genuinely offended by the structural layout. He couldn't wrap his head around why anyone would pour "uncooked marinara sauce" on top of the cheese.
"Atop the cheese! On top!"
He looked like a man who had seen a ghost, or at least a very saucy pie that defied the laws of God. He mocked the iron skillet. He mocked the celery salt on Chicago hot dogs (though that's a whole other fight). He basically told an entire city that their pride and joy was a lie.
Predictably, Chicago didn't just take it.
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The backlash was instant and hilarious. Local news stations in Chicago treated it like a declaration of war. Then-mayor Rahm Emanuel even sent a deep-dish pizza to the Daily Show offices, though Stewart joked it arrived with "dead fish" on it.
Why we are still talking about this in 2026
You might wonder why a comedy segment from over a decade ago still pops up in your feed. It’s because the Jon Stewart pizza rant tapped into something deeper than just food. It’s about identity.
New Yorkers define themselves by their ability to eat a slice while walking to a subway they’re already late for. Chicagoans define themselves by the endurance required to survive a winter that would kill a lesser human—and they need a heavy, 3-pound cheese-bomb to do it.
- The Fork Factor: Stewart had already established his pizza-expert bona fides years earlier. Remember the 2011 incident where he roasted Donald Trump for taking Sarah Palin to a Famiglia’s and eating his slice with a fork?
- The "Real" New York Bias: Stewart frequently mentioned John’s of Bleecker Street as a standard-bearer. To him, if you can't fold it, it’s an insult to the medium.
- The Peace Treaty: Eventually, Marc Malnati of Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria actually showed up on the show. Stewart took a bite of the deep dish and admitted, through a mouthful of cheese, that it was "very tasty."
But even then, he couldn't let it go completely. He immediately pivoted to calling California pizza "sh-t," proving that a New Yorker's hunger for culinary conflict is never truly satisfied.
The Anatomy of the Rant
Most people remember the "casserole" line, but the nuance is in the descriptions. Stewart called it "tomato soup in a bread bowl." He described the sauce as being "on display like some sort of sauce wh*re."
It’s the kind of writing that feels like it was birthed from a very specific type of late-night New York hunger.
There’s a technical argument here, too. Pizza, by most definitions, is a flatbread. When you start involving a deep-dish pan and layers that resemble a lasagna more than a pie, you're moving into a different category of food. Stewart was a purist. He wasn't saying the food tasted bad (initially); he was saying the label was a lie.
Chicagoans will tell you that they don't even eat deep dish that often. They usually eat "tavern style"—thin crust cut into squares. But Stewart didn't care about the facts of Midwestern consumption. He cared about the myth.
The legacy of the "Strife of Pie"
In 2024, when Stewart returned to The Daily Show part-time, he actually revived the beef. During the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, he climbed onto his desk and started screaming about "tomato-infused, soup-adjacent fondue."
It was like he had never left.
The crowd booed. He loved it. It’s a rare piece of comedy that can remain relevant for thirteen years without changing a single word of the premise. We’re still divided. We’re still arguing over whether cheese goes under or over the sauce.
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How to actually handle this debate in the wild
If you find yourself in a heated discussion about the Jon Stewart pizza rant, or if you're stuck in a booth at Pizano’s with a New York friend, here’s how to navigate the fallout:
- Acknowledge the Casserole: You have to admit it’s heavy. Calling a deep dish a "pizza" to a New Yorker is like calling a truck a "bicycle." They both get you there, but the mechanics are totally different.
- Defend the Flavor: Even Stewart conceded that Lou Malnati’s is "tasty." The argument is about the name, not the flavor.
- Mention the Fork: If anyone reaches for a utensil while eating a New York slice, invoke the spirit of 2011 Stewart and remind them that they are "sticking a fork into New York’s eye."
- Know Your Pizzerias: If you want to sound like a pro, mention that Stewart's favorites include NY Pizza Suprema and Joe’s on Carmine Street.
At the end of the day, the rant wasn't really about hating Chicago. It was about the beautiful, stupid passion people have for the things they grew up with. Stewart’s anger was a love letter to the New York slice disguised as a three-minute scream-fest.
If you want to relive the glory, go back and watch the original 2013 clip. Look for the moment he mentions "stagnant cart water" as an acceptable hot dog condiment. That’s when you know you’re dealing with a true New York expert.
Go grab a slice. Fold it. Don't use a fork. And for the love of everything holy, keep the sauce under the cheese if you're within five miles of the Hudson River.