Pizza in Pittsburgh: New York Style or Chicago Style Pizza is most common? (license plates, nicest)

[ForYourLungsOnly]

well you definitely won't find good Chicago style pizza in Pittsburgh... so I guess you would say you'd find more new york styles...although not 100% the same

[h_curtis]

I am just not happy with the pizza in the burgh. I eat pizza like crazy in NYC. There is a place in Brooklyn that I really love out on King's Highway. It is classic NYC pizza and super good! I used to really like Pizza Vesuvio, that was on Carson. They change the name because of copyright crap and it still was good, but then the owner started opening up a bunch of Sola's and as usual the quality suffered greatly. It is nothing special anymore, but still one of my favorites for Pittsburgh. Oh well, I just don't eat pizza much unless I make it at home. Mine is better than most around here.

[jimmyev]

I've never found Chicago-style pizza around here. The Pizzeria Uno franchise so God-awful it doesn't count. Pittsburgh pizza seems real heavy on the cheese, like an inch on top of whatever they're using for a sauce. And sometimes the crusts are strange - like Augustine's spongy crust.

[mike02]

IMO, there's nothing really unique about Pittsburgh pizza. I can't seem to find a "Pittsburgh specialty" that is different from other places; it's sort of a blend. Scranton and NEPA is known for it's square pizza, specifically Old Forge pizza. Being only 2 hours from NYC, the pizzas are totally different! I never really liked square pizza and many restaurants use American cheese. If you ever travel to the northeast corner of the state and are looking for a "local pizza," you have to hit up Old Forge, PA next to Scranton.

[BrianTH]

The classic Pittsburgh pizza is distinguished by a sweet, usually well-seasoned sauce. It also tends to come with a medium-thin and crunchy crust.

[UKyank]

Originally Posted by h_curtis

I am just not happy with the pizza in the burgh. I eat pizza like crazy in NYC. There is a place in Brooklyn that I really love out on King's Highway. It is classic NYC pizza and super good! I used to really like Pizza Vesuvio, that was on Carson. They change the name because of copyright crap and it still was good, but then the owner started opening up a bunch of Sola's and as usual the quality suffered greatly. It is nothing special anymore, but still one of my favorites for Pittsburgh. Oh well, I just don't eat pizza much unless I make it at home. Mine is better than most around here.

The Blue Grotto (i believe is the name) pizza place up from vesivio, across from Nakama makes a decent pizza.

[John Dark]

Re: cold cheese and toppings.

While Beto's is not the only area pizza shop that puts cold cheese on a hot pie (as was claimed upthread) I wouldn't necessarily call it a Pittsburgh style. The shop that I associate this with the most is DiCarlo's, a local chain that has had a location on Saw Mill Run Blvd. since the early 50s.

[PeterRabbit]

Della Sala's in Penn Hills/Rosedale has been around at least 50 years. They have square-cut pizza, kind of thick, and are rated 5 stars. Vincent's in Forest Hills has good thin pizza if you don't mind the grease.

[ForYourLungsOnly]

depending on who is working, Bella Note in the strip is pretty decent

[baconlegs]

Originally Posted by BrianTH

The classic Pittsburgh pizza is distinguished by a sweet, usually well-seasoned sauce. It also tends to come with a medium-thin and crunchy crust.

This + an overabundance of cheese (cold, hot, either way it's a lot).

In terms of known styles, I'd say older Pittsburgh Pizza places most closely emulate the Greek Style of Pizza. This does not refer to toppings (feta, olives etc) like a greek salad, but rather with crust style which accounts for all the oil. This is probably due to the large Greek influence in this area and can also help to explain the popularity of the gyro (almost every pizza place offers gyros, which is unheard of in many other parts of the country.).

Of course there is now a growing pizza culture here, most of the increase has been in Neapolitan and Brooklyn variants, so a style generalization really can't be made.

Having grown up near New Haven, CT, it would be great to have a brick/coal offering in these parts.