DiCarlo's Pizza makes its Pittsburgh comeback
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DiCarlo's Pizza is back in Brookline after nearly a decade-long absence. Photo: Courtesy of Anna Samuels
The pizzeria that invented Ohio Valley-style pizza is returning to its roots with a new shop in Pittsburgh.
Why it matters: Ohio Valley pizza — served in square slices with cheese added after baking — is polarizing, but it's undeniably a part of Pittsburgh history.
What they're saying: Co-owner Anna DiCarlo says the DiCarlo family never wanted to leave their former shop on Saw Mill Run Boulevard, but a dispute with the building's property owner pushed them out sometime in the late 2010s.
- "We are just thrilled to be back. We feel like we are back home. We love Pittsburgh," she says.
Flashback: The DiCarlo family invented Ohio Valley-style pizza in the late 1940s, when the family bakery in Steubenville, Ohio, started using its beloved bread recipe as a pizza crust at the advice of Primo DiCarlo.
- Anna, Primo's niece, says not baking with cheese wasn't intentional at first — the cheese would burn before the dough was fully cooked, so they just added it on after.
- It was one of the first pizza shops in Steubenville, and it became immensely popular.
Catch up quick: DiCarlo's opened its second location in Wheeling, West Virginia, in 1949.
- In 1952, a third location opened in Pittsburgh's Saw Mill Run Boulevard that operated for about 65 years.
- Today, they have eight locations in Ohio, West Virginia and Tennessee.
Zoom in: DiCarlo's will soon open a shop in Brookline, Anna tells Axios, hoping to open by December as they await final permits.
- It will be a takeout-only operation, like most DiCarlo's locations, selling pizza by the slice.
- There's a small parking lot for about half a dozen cars at the shop, and on-street parking is available.
State of play: The new Pittsburgh location will be run directly by the DiCarlo family. Nick Drakos, Primo's great-nephew, will operate the Brookline shop.
My thought bubble: Some locals don't believe Ohio Valley is a Pittsburgh style, and while it wasn't invented in the city, it was integral to the region's pizza legacy and it should be celebrated.
Case in point: DiCarlo's has spawned several imitators and shops doing a similar style, some close to Pittsburgh — like Beto's in Banksville, Della Sala's in Penn Hills, and DiSalla's in Munhall — and others farther out, like Police Station Pizza in Ambridge and Osso's in Washington County.
The bottom line: Anna says she just hopes Pittsburghers remember the DiCarlo name and encourages people new to the Ohio Valley style to give it a try.
If you go: 1200 Brookline Blvd., Brookline
- Anna says hours are not yet set, but the shop will be open seven days a week, likely between 11am-9pm.