In 1943, when Ike Sewell opened a restaurant at the corner of Ohio Street and Wabash Avenue in Chicago, Americans ate pizza primarily as a snack. Ike figured that if you combined some of Italy's old, authentic recipes with impressive quantities of the finest meats, fresh cheeses, ripe vegetables and flavorful spices, pizza would become a hearty meal. It was the start of an American tradition - the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza. Ike's Original Deep Dish Pizza has been imitated many times, but never quite duplicated.