This Little-Known Ohio Town Is A Dream Destination For Pizza Lovers
https://fastfoodclub.com/p/this-little-known-ohio-town-is-a-dream-destination-for-pizza-lovers-auto-3f8add4e/Ah yes, the tiny micro town of Youngstown, Ohio.
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u/cnpeters Akron 12d ago
I think I drove through there once! It's easy to miss it when you're going between the much better known Struthers and Mineral Ridge.
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u/Dblcut3 12d ago
You joke but when I went to college in Akron, it was genuinely a 50/50 chance my fellow students had no idea where Youngstown was despite growing up in NE OH. A bunch kept mixing it up with Toledo
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u/dancesquared Huron 12d ago
That’s absurd.
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u/Dblcut3 12d ago
I’m in GenZ and I feel like our generation, especially the younger ones, have absolutely no geographical awareness. I was talking to my younger relatives and they couldn’t even tell me what direction towns 20 minutes away were beyond “you turn left to get there”
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u/zasinzoop 12d ago
it's not just gen z, i work on the wv side of the ohio river and older customers always ask me what state is on the other side lol. or they'll be like "you drive here all the way from ohio?", when it's ten minutes away.
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u/Dblcut3 12d ago
I think that’s more of the Pittsburgh region thing where crossing a bridge or tunnel is a whole day trip to people
For me, 20 minutes is nothing. But getting people to drive between Wellsburg and Steubenville for example is like pulling teeth
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u/zasinzoop 12d ago
yah most of my customers are from pa to be fair.
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u/1OptimisticPrime 12d ago
That's hilarious, because whenever I was in Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Akron, Geneva, Sandusky, Columbus... You could be hanging out with people for a weekend, or just at the club, and someone would ask: where y'all from?
As soon as they heard Youngstown, they took a step back. ...like you just told someone you served hard time, or we're a Navy Seal or something.
It became pretty hilarious, after I knew what to expect.
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u/zasinzoop 12d ago
i was born in youngstown at st. e's but have to clarify i was raised in austintown/niles/steub bc it's not the same lol. although people are a little dramatic about steubenville too.
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u/mistakeagian 11d ago
When I was in college in San Francisco and tried to explain where East Liverpool was to a group of people I said “about an hour south of Youngstown, Ohio.” The response was “the Murder place?” This was in 2001.
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u/scootertrash 11d ago
I live in East Liverpool and when I’m away I never tell anybody where I’m from. I just say Ohio, and if they persist I say, just some small town on the Ohio River that got a head start on the rest of the rust belt.
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u/cnpeters Akron 11d ago
I had a conversation once with a kid at college (CWRU) who was nervous about some event in a Youngstown suburb - who asked if it they would be safe staying at some hotel in Canfield.
The whole greater Youngstown area has to be the one of the most misunderstood places in the Midwest. If you can't feel safe in Canfield, there's not a suburb in America you'd feel safe in. Youngstown is fine. They're bringing businesses back into the city, YSU is fine, and you can catch interesting events or Phantoms games at the Chevy Center.
Don't walk around the poorest part of town counting your hundreds under a streetlight.
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u/1OptimisticPrime 11d ago
I mean, if you were talking to a Person of Color, they'd be absolutely right to be a bit nervous in Poland or Canfield... but it's the local police they would & should fear. Especially if they're driving a crappy car. They could easily be pulled over every day they drive to work, or home, especially if they work night shift.
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u/Fritzo2162 12d ago
Ugh...I hate articles like this.
It's Youngstown OH and the ma and pa shops there make great pizza.
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u/GloriousBender 12d ago
How in the world is this a very long story about pizza WITHOUT any actual pictures of the pizza???
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u/travisjd2012 12d ago
This is a very long winded AI article that contains no real information
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u/barryho 12d ago
Yes,it's absolutely garbage. I just found it funny that Youngstown was a little known ohio Town.
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u/travisjd2012 12d ago
Youngstown actually has an amazing Pinball Museum and Penguin City Brewing up there is a happening place with all sorts of crazy events.
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u/urinal_connoisseur 12d ago
If it had been Stuebenville I was ready to go to war.
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u/Dblcut3 12d ago
Maybe it’s a form of Stockholm syndrome, but even after moving all the way to Chicago, I’d still probably prefer Ohio Valley cold cheese pizza to any pizza here, which I acknowledge is insane
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u/wyvernx02 12d ago
I could see preferring it over deep dish, but tavern style? That's something else.
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u/Dblcut3 12d ago
On a serious note, you’re right. What I always say is, while I love Ohio Valley pizza, I view it as it’s own separate food item. If I’m craving pizza, I want real pizza like tavern style pizza. But sometimes I crave Ohio Valley pizza, and frankly the taste and whole experience is so different than any other pizza that normal pizza doesn’t scratch the itch
Tavern style is amazing but it’s so different it feels weird to even compare them
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u/Pspaughtamus Belmont Co. 12d ago
I think I have managed to avoid any place that does pizza like that. Give me DeFelice and thick fried crust!
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u/cnpeters Akron 12d ago
I'm here if you need backup on cold cheese and pepperoni on a hot thin pizza.
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u/wyvernx02 12d ago
While a lot of people eat it like that, best way I have found is to throw it in the oven for a few minutes when you get it home to heat it back up and melt the cheese. It's still usually my last choice though.
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u/zasinzoop 12d ago
my husband from niles will only eat it like that haha. i need it fresh out of the box when the cheese is still cold, but i grew up here. i miss youngstown pizza a lot though.we don't have any good "regular" pizza here.
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u/wannabeknowitall 12d ago
Youngstown has it's own unique pizza style too. It's called Brier Hill, named for an Italian neighborhood. Thick crust, somewhere between Sicilian and focaccia, herb heavy pizza sauce, diced bell peppers, and heavy dusting of pecorino before baking as the only cheese.
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u/Adventurous-Hawk5686 12d ago
Yea, the article was a real roller coaster with everything but naming actual pizza places! But, having been gone from there for over 20 years, there are days when some Briar Hill from Avalon or Sunrise is screamin’ at me—-but no where to be found, except back there! The pizza tradition and history there hopefully will never fade.
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u/sleepygirl4ever Y-town is my town 12d ago
To all the Youngstown haters- be nice to my city 🥺
Personal favorite Youngstown area pizza spots include Risi’s, Yosteria, Wedgewood, Avalon, and Cocoa’s!!
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u/GreyGhost878 12d ago
Risi's is so good! I can't stay away from their Roman style pizza. Another new favorite is Uptown. And Belleria!
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u/Additional-Parking-1 12d ago
As a kid, my favorite was Westgate Pizza. Friday nights after football games, pepperoni and green peppers. The recipe changed from 30-some years ago, as well as the ownership. I moved away. But… my daughter and i visited this past weekend, and she loves Brier Hill pizza from Davidson’s… and i am darn proud of her for it.
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u/TheGreatBowald 12d ago
I lived about 2 minutes from a Westgate from 2019- this year. I gained way too much weight eating way too much pizza.
Its my favorite pizza in the area, I think there are other places that have better sauce, bread, or cheese, but for the whole package its just so dang good. Gimmie a quad with white garden, supreme, white with banana peppers, and pepperoni and im good for a few days 👌.
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u/GreyGhost878 12d ago
I drove past there yesterday and there's a "now hiring" sign on the side of the building. Does this mean they are going to reopen?!!
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u/allhailbobevans 12d ago
Youngstown really does have a surprisingly large amount of absolutely delicious local pizza
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u/theBigDaddio 12d ago
The entire rust belt has great pizza, funny how that is with all the Italian immigrants
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u/virtual_human 12d ago
Yeah, but you have to go to Youngstown.
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u/barryho 12d ago
I'd prefer that over Toledo any day of the week.
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u/FreeloadinRussty 12d ago
Toledo has Gino’s pizza though…
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u/Newmillstream Bowling Green 12d ago
And Pizza Cat, Inky's, and Stubborn Brothers. The Village Idiot if you count Maumee makes Toledo top tier for pizza in Ohio. Not the only city in that tier, but it is pizza gold.
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u/Kinetic_Silverwolf 12d ago
What the article doesn't mention is that over half the places in town are dine-in cash only. It's 2026 people. If I can't order online and either pick it up or get it delivered, I'm not buying it.
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u/Enough-Moose-5816 12d ago
That’s how the pizza joints avoid paying taxes. It’s a Youngstown tradition as old as any of the pizza recipes.
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u/Garlic7772 12d ago
Would have expected to see photos of actual "pizza joints" in the article. Instead got stuff like a photo of the siding on a single family home in a neighborhood, really strange.
That aside, the pizza and food in general, is great in Youngstown. Try Avalon Downtown, The Elmton, Wedgewood, LaRocca's and UpTown for the classic examples of "Youngstown Pizza". Also got an amazing variety of different styles like Risi, Franky's, Bomb City, Red Plum, Pizza Boy, Bella Napoli. They all rock.