I never knew anything about pizza until I moved to the Youngstown area around 1999. I thought it was just crust with sauce & cheese & some meat or vegetables. Or I thought it was one of the wild concoctions my dad used to put together at home. (He would pile on toppings up to and including sliced hot dogs, green olives, and poultry seasoning. Those pizzas were usually better the next day after the flavors mellowed a little.)
When I got to Youngstown, marrying into a Youngstown family, I learned that there's more to pizza than I ever knew. It turns out that chain pizza, which I had been eating my whole life, is pretty terrible. Dominos, Papa John's, Pizza Hut--woof. Barely fit to eat. You have to sample the classic Youngstown spots--Cornersburg, Wedgewood, Belleria--and then you find the good stuff.
As a way to excuse my pizza ignorance, my father-in-law once said, "Well, he's a country boy--he doesn't know about pizza." To which my lovey wife said, "Country boy? More like suburb boy." But same difference--I grew up in a pizza wilderness, either way.
When I got to Youngstown, marrying into a Youngstown family, I learned that there's more to pizza than I ever knew. It turns out that chain pizza, which I had been eating my whole life, is pretty terrible. Dominos, Papa John's, Pizza Hut--woof. Barely fit to eat. You have to sample the classic Youngstown spots--Cornersburg, Wedgewood, Belleria--and then you find the good stuff.
As a way to excuse my pizza ignorance, my father-in-law once said, "Well, he's a country boy--he doesn't know about pizza." To which my lovey wife said, "Country boy? More like suburb boy." But same difference--I grew up in a pizza wilderness, either way.
