Columbus-style pizza

A Columbus-style pizza from Massey's Pizza, with provolone cheese and abundant cup-and-char pepperoni on one half. The pizza is cut in long rectangles, which is traditional at some Columbus pizza shops, though shorter, smaller rectangles or squares are more common.

Columbus-style pizza is an American regional pizza style associated with Columbus, Ohio. It has a circular shape, pieces cut into short or long rectangles, thin crust, dense toppings that cover the surface, and, usually, provolone cheese and a slightly sweet sauce. It was developed in the early 1950s.

History

Pizza was first sold in Columbus at TAT Ristorante de Famiglia in 1934, with thick crust in the Neapolitan style, but the first pizzeria in Columbus was Romeo's, which was opened by Jimmy Massucci (who changed his name to Massey) and Romeo Sirij on Fifth Avenue near Grandview Heights in 1949 or 1950. Massey had worked in Chicago briefly before moving to Columbus, and he may have been influenced by the thin crust style of pizza that had recently been introduced in bars and taverns there. Massey also started using pepperoni as a pizza topping at Romeo's in the early 1950s, giving Columbus, along with New Haven, Connecticut, a claim to be the birthplace of pepperoni pizza. Within five years, at least 50 pizzerias were opened across Columbus and the surrounding area, and the pizza they served had coalesced into a distinct style. Extant examples from the 1950s and early 1960s include:

• Massey's, founded by Jimmy Massey in Whitehall in 1951
• Tommy's, founded by Tommy Iacano near Port Columbus Airport in 1952 (current locations in Upper Arlington and near the campus of the Ohio State University)
• Gatto's, founded by Jimmy and Joe Gatto in Clintonville in 1952
• Rubino's, founded by Ruben Cohen in Bexley in 1954
• Luigi's, founded by Luigi Tumeo in Hilliard in 1955
• Ange's, founded by William Strino Angeletti in Whitehall in 1957
• Josie's, founded by Kelly and Josephine Catalfina in Franklinton in 1959
• Terita's, founded by Gus Iannarino in Linden in 1959
• Emelio's, founded by Mike and Binnie DiSabato in the Hilltop in 1960
• The Pizza House, founded by Bob Tiberi and Richie Dorn at the northern edge of Clintonville in 1961
• Vick's, founded by Hollis and Louise Vickers in Reynoldsburg in 1961
• Donatos, founded by Don Potts in South Columbus and purchased by Jim Grote in 1963
• Zamarelli's Pizza Palace, founded by Andy Zamarelli in Grove City in 1963
• Panzera's, founded by Nick and Phillip Panzera at the northern edge of Grandview Heights in 1964

The development and consistency of this style is due, in large part, to the work of local distributor Richie DiPaolo, whose company DiPaolo Food Distributors (now known as RDP Foodservice) has delivered not only supplies to most of the local pizzerias but support, advice, and innovations such as improved forms of pepperoni, pre-sliced pickled banana peppers from Vlasic Pickles (developed at his request), and improved pizza boxes. The prominence of pepperoni in Columbus-style pizza, especially natural-cased, cupping pepperoni that crisps at the edges, can also be credited to the Ezzo Sausage Company, which produces pepperoni in Columbus. This pepperoni is considered to have the highest quality among pizzeria owners in New York and elsewhere.

Columbus had the most pizzerias per capita for decades and was selected as "pizza capital USA" by Pizza Today in 1994. As of 2022 it has the third-most pizzerias per capita among American cities, behind Detroit and Cleveland. To celebrate this unique style of pizza, local nonprofit Experience Columbus launched the Columbus Style Pizza Trail in 2022, which includes some of the above pizzerias, as well as many newer ones in Columbus and its suburbs.

Characteristics

While there are differences among Columbus pizzerias, several shared characteristics distinguish a Columbus-style pizza from other styles, which are also popular in the area.

Components

The crust of a Columbus-style pizza is thin, but it has yeast, unlike some similar styles such as St. Louis–style pizza. Crust recipes and preparation methods vary among pizzerias, so the texture of a crust ranges from slightly bubbly to crispy to dense and crunchy. There is generally no raised ring of bare crust around the edge, as sauce and toppings are loaded as close to the edge as practical. Sauce is placed on the crust before toppings, and the sauce tends to be on the sweeter side compared to other pizza styles. Oregano and garlic feature prominently in pizza sauce, and different sauce flavors are a key differentiator from one Columbus pizzeria to another.

Cheese placed on the sauce tends to be provolone, smoked provolone or a blend of mozzarella and provolone, and, if no additional toppings are used, it covers the pizza completely. If other toppings are used, they are used generously, with pepperoni completely covering the surface, for example. Several Columbus pizzerias grind their own sausage to old family recipes.

Preparation and packaging

Pizzas are usually prepared in shallow, circular pans. For this reason, some pizzerias, such as Massey's, use cornmeal under the crust to prevent sticking to the pan. Most traditional Columbus pizzerias use an electric or gas deck oven, which requires skill, careful observation and a longer baking time than a conveyor oven but allows for higher capacity and more control over the doneness of the bake.

Pizzas are almost always sliced into rectangular pieces. These can be anything from small, bite-size squares to long, thin rectangles. The long rectangle cut style was more popular in the first few decades, but smaller squares later became more popular. Pizzas were originally placed in tented paper bags for takeout, which is still done at Rubino's, but as pizza boxes were introduced and improved, those supplanted the paper bags due to stackability and heat retention.