Home to roughly 8,500 people as of 2020, Old Forge, Pennsylvania, has an entire style of pizza named after it. That pie has quite a cult following, which is why this mining town is considered one of the best pizza cities in the U.S. The Old Forge style is defined by a rectangular shape and light, chewy crust. Whole pies are ordered by the tray and served in cuts instead of slices. One of two main types that people can order is the red Old Forge pizza, which features a sweet tomato sauce and could be considered more traditional. This version has a sauce-less sister called the white Old Forge pizza, which resembles a grilled cheese sandwich. It has a double-crust filled with a blend of cheeses and herbs.

Foodies and tourists flock to Old Forge's pizza places, such as Mary Lou's Pizza, which boasts a 4.6-star Yelp rating. As one customer raved, "Mary Lou's white pizza may very well be some of the best pizza in the world, and I'm a pizza snob." That pie stood out to other customers as well, one of whom went the extra mile to have some. The diner shared, "The most delicious white pizza I've ever had. I can't recommend it enough. I actually drove two hours just to get a pie."

Other standouts like Salerno's Café receive high praise on Yelp for a crust that a reviewer described as light, fluffy, and crisp without being greasy. One Pennsylvanian declared that Salerno's has "the best 'Old Forge' style pizza around," which is high praise considering that there's a high concentration of pizza joints in the area.

A slice of history: the origins of Old Forge pizza

old forge white pizza

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Old Forge is located in Lackawanna County. Established as a town in 1871, it has a history of coal mining and iron manufacturing. It wasn't until the 1920s that pizza came into play. Elio Ghigiarelli, the owner of Elio G's Pizza, claimed that Old Forge-style pizza was inspired by his grandmother. She purportedly made the rectangular style of pizza from 1926 to 1965, serving it up as a snack to hungry miners. Her recipe included anchovy paste and spicy peppers in the sauce. It turns out she was onto something, and in 1962, a pizzeria named Arcaro & Genell opened nearby. Fast-forward several decades, and Old Forge-style pizza has become a culinary staple.

Over 160 restaurants serve pizza throughout Lackawanna County. The area even boasts its own Pizza Trail, which includes eateries across multiple municipalities. Foodies interested in visiting those establishments can pick up a pizza passport at participating cafés and get a stamp from each one they dine at on the trail. One would think that with the plethora of popular pizza places, the competition between businesses would be fierce. However, they've apparently managed to coexist.

"All the places make really good pizza," Arcaro & Genell owner Angelo Genell told USA Today. "You'll have people buy pizza on Friday from one person, on Saturday from somebody else, and on Tuesday from somebody else. There's not a bad pizza in Old Forge."