So, let me be honest…pizza is not one of my favorite meals. Whenever I say this, my husband yells “BLASPHEMY!” Like almost everyone else, I grew up eating pizza quite often. My parents would order from Vesuvio’s in Dover almost weekly. My mom would drive over to the Pizza Hut in Rockaway on Route 46 for Priazzo pizzas (Remember those??? So good, and I have a Copycat recipe to try, but we will save that for another post). And I can’t talk about pizza and not mention M & S pizza in Dover, which was always the best.
In addition to all of those great pizza shops, my dad made some mean homemade pizza. He would go to Verilli’s Bakery in Morristown and get their par-baked pizza shells and Don Pepino sauce and make pizza at home. For my birthday in 6th grade, he made pizzas for my whole class and delivered them to school, hot and fresh. To this day, Don Pepinos sauce is the only one I use; maybe it’s the Jersey Fresh tomatoes they use, but it’s amazing!
These days, my family and I usually order pizza every Friday night. I almost always order an antipasto salad instead or occasionally, pasta. I leave the pizza to the boys. They have a few favorite local spots that they love, but if you ask any of them what their favorite pizza is, all 3 of them will tell “Mack & Manco’s,” which is now Manco & Manco. Anyone who frequents Ocean City, NJ knows about this famous shore pizza. Matt and the kids have to have their pepperoni pizza with Birch Beer to drink. Pizza is just not my jam, and I feel like I’ve tried them all: I’ve had Jersey pizza, New York pizza, and Chicago deep-dish pizza. They are all good, in their own right, but never anything that I crave or have to have. But hey, live and let live, right?
So, this was a long introduction to tell you about what we are up to today. It’s my son’s 15th birthday. The 2 things he loves the most are trains and pizza. As we do every Labor Day weekend, we head up to Steamtown, which is a National Park in Scranton, to look at all the cool trains and hang out. Then we head up to Old Forge, 5 miles north of Scranton, which is known as the Pizza Capital of America. It’s a small town of ~9,000 people. Back in the day, many immigrants came from Italy to work the coal mines and settled in Old Forge. The town became famous for their rectangle, crispy crust pizzas with unique sauce. The cheese is a blend of mozzarella, American and cheddar. You can get red or white pizza by the tray or cut (they are NOT called pies or slices). As I mentioned, I don’t generally love pizza, but I LOVE this pizza.
Arcaro and Genell half baked pizza, ready to eat! 
Arcaro and Genell half baked pizza all boxed up. 
Old Forge, PA – Pizza Capital 
Arcaro and Genell, Old Forge 
Arcaro and Genell, Old Forge 
Arcaro and Genell street sign
There are lots of places to choose from to try Old Forge pizza. Our favorite is Acaro & Genell. The restaurant has an old school style and the service is great. They have a takeout counter where you can grab all sorts of frozen pasta and sauces, fresh salads, and Cannoli. Most importantly, they sell par-baked pizzas, so that you can take some Old Forge heaven home with you. I encourage you to take a ride up to try Old Forge pizza for yourself. If you live too far away, you can have some Acaro & Genell magic delivered to you via Goldbelly.
If you want to learn more about Old Forge pizza, check out the link below for a great article that USA Today ran back in 2017. I’ve also included links for our fave Old Forge spot, and for Steamtown USA.
https://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm
Love me some pizza!!!! Last year I found a recipe to make the dough at home and added my twists, some homemade red sauce, asiago, mozzarella and pepperoni. It’s become the preferred to buying out.
The boys love to make pizza at home! One of our fave methods is cast iron skillet pizza. They love to be able to make their own pies. And I agree…homemade is usually better than buying out.