Ohio Valley-Style Pizza at Di Carlo’s Has Toppings Added After Baking

Widely recognized in the sports talk community, Mike Ricordati serves as director of content and image for WBNS, and also hosts The Common Man and T-Bone. Passionate about making and consuming pizza, Mike Ricordati put together a listener-informed, First Annual Top 10 Ohio Pizza Joints ranking. 2021 winners included Columbus favorites such as Hounddog’s and Paulie Gee’s, Cleveland’s Citizen Pie, and Steubenville’s Di Carlo’s Original Pizza Co.

Creating Ohio Valley-style pizza since 1945, Di Carlo’s uses a unique style of cheese, and toppings are added after the square-cut pie is taken out of the oven. This reflects the inspiration of Primo DiCarlo, who returned from service in World War II to work in his family’s Steubenville bakery. He reputedly sought to recreate a unique local treat encountered during his Italian tour of duty. This was the pizza al taglio, a preferred snack on the streets of Rome that is not baked to order, and thus not served hot.

This inspiration led to the creation of a sturdy-crust pizza that spread to nearby Wheeling, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh. Still popular with Ohio Valley locals, the Di Carlo’s pie features a crunchy golden brown crust, tangy tomato sauce, and quality ingredients such as pepperoni and provolone that warm a bit, but never threaten to burn the roof of the mouth.