Urban & regional pizza styles of North America

Quad Cities Style and custom-made pizza shears – Source: visitquadcities.com

Buffalo Style (1927) –

“Typically a cup-and-char pepperoni pizza, one with a slim, sometimes non-existent crust coastline with ingredients out to and sometimes even over the edges, [and] a thick, airy undercarriage with little to no structural integrity that’s topped by a sweet sauce and enough cheese to nearly always guarantee a cheese pull.” SOURCE: pmq.com

California Style (1982) –

“Toppings are the big tip off with California-style pizzas. The crust is typically hand-tossed, but the toppings can range from barbecue chicken to Thai to lobster—the more “gourmet” the pizza appears, the more you can classify it as Californian.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Chatham, Ontario, Canada/Hawaiian Style (1962) –

“The pineapple-laden pie is the brainchild of retired cook, Sam Panopoulos, who first served pineapple on pizza at Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ont. A classic American-style cheese pizza topped with ham and pineapple. Variations may include bacon in place of or in addition to the ham, but Panopoulos says that his major contribution was simply adding the pineapple.”

SOURCE: foodnetwork.ca

Chatham, Ontario’s Hawaiian Style – Source: theguardian.com

Chicago/Deep Dish Style (1943) –

“Deep dish is a variety of tall pan pizza, loaded with a shameless amount of cheese, then the sauce is ladled on top, then it’s baked off. The sauce varies from place to place, some pizzerias make it smooth, others chunky and rustic. Crust thickness can vary, and so can styles; you can have one with cornmeal baked on the bottom, or bready varieties that get more of their height from dough than cheese. It’s filling, comically big, and because of that, has the added bonus of being entertaining to eat. Make sure you eat it piping hot before the cheese turns into a brick, and using a fork and knife is just fine.” SOURCE: thetakeout.com

Chicago/Stuffed Style (1974) –

“It’s a variant of deep dish: it’s tall, thick, and full of cheese. But there’s a thin layer of dough on top of the cheese and fillings to encase them, and then the sauce is ladled on top. This is the deepest version of deep dish pizza in Chicago. Its cheese pull can span multiple feet if you cut a slice while it’s piping hot.”

SOURCE: thetakeout.com

Colorado Mountain Pie Style (1973 in Idaho Springs, CO) –

“Pizzas listed by weight (one, two, three, or five lbs.), topped with mountains of ingredients and featuring a hand-rolled crust handle that is traditionally dipped in honey for dessert.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Colorado Mountain Pie – Source: tangledupinfood.com

Cuban Style (pre-1960 in Varadero Beach, Cuba) –

“It’s served on thick, doughy crust and topped with an excessive amount of mozzarella and gouda cheese with the toppings baked into the pie.”

SOURCE: matadornetwork.com

Dayton Style (1965) –

“Featuring a thin, salty, cracker-like crust. It’s square cut, like most Midwestern pizzas, except the squares are cut notably smaller; each piece can be eaten in just a couple bites. Dayton-style also goes heavy-handed on toppings.”

SOURCE: thetakeout.com

DC Jumbo Style (1997) –

“Popular with the late-night crowds, slices are cut from pies larger than 30 inches, usually require two plates to transport, and tip the caloric charts at more than 1,000 calories a piece.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Detroit Style (1946) –

“The square pans act like a cast iron skillet to create a super crisp crunch on the crust, and bakers deliberately push the blend of mozzarella and Brick cheese up the deep interior sides of the pans to form an awesome caramelization. The result is a pan pizza on steroids. Traditionalists bake the pizza twice and put the sauce on last to ensure a perfectly crisp crust.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Milwaukee Style (1945) –

“Milwaukee style pie is cut in its signature tavern-cut, square pieces and the crust is unfoldable – it is cracker-thin, 1.25 mm to be exact! The sauce is basic, just enough to cover the crust yet not so thick as to overpower it, and the cheese is a shredded mozzarella.” SOURCE: milwaukeefoodtours.com

Minnesota “Sota” Style (1965?) –

“Thin crust, square cut pizza with a mountain of toppings/cheese.” SOURCE: discoverthecities.com

New England Greek Style (?) –

“Features a round, oiled dough that puffs up in the pan. The sauce is normally heavy on the oregano, and the cheese (a mix of mozzarella and cheddar) is laid on thick.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

New Haven “Apizza” Style (1938) –

“Assisted by oil or coal-fueled ovens reaching temperatures topping 600 degrees, New Haven-style delivers a charred crust reminiscent of a backyard grill. The typically misshapen pies are lightly topped with ingredients such as tomatoes, cheese, and sometimes clams, delivered on wax-covered sheet pans that offer a rewarding crunchy and chewy texture.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

New Haven “Apizza” Style – Source: eater.com

New York Style (1905) –

“Big, wide slices that encourage folding and often result in grease-stained clothing for the uninitiated. Ordered by the slice or whole, these hand-tossed beauties are most often light on the sauce and heavy on the cheese. Baked in coal or deck ovens, the New York version boasts a crunchy, yet pliable crust.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Ohio Valley Style (1945) –

“Toppings are added to square pies after the dough exits the oven, the theory being that the heat from the crust will cook the toppings.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Old Forge (PA) Style (1926) –

“Sicilian-style pizzas in trays. Vernacular requires full pies be called ‘trays,’ and slices ‘cuts.’ The sauce is heavy with onions, and the cheese of choice ranges from mozzarella and cheddar to mozzarella and Parmesan.” SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Omaha Style (1953) –

“Its original, namesake style is a buttery rectangle with just a bit of thin tomato sauce and lots of meat. Topping flaky unyeasted dough with unsweet tomato sauce and either mozzarella or piquant Romano cheese (or possibly both). The bottom of each pizza is grilled in a special gas-heated rotating deck oven to give it that special ‘bakery-style’ crust. The go-to topping combination is a blanket of ground beef dotted with onions and mushrooms.” SOURCE: foodnetwork.com

Philadelphia Tomato Pie Style (1910) –

“A square focaccia-like bread topped with a thick layer of tomato sauce. In this style, the tomatoes are the star, not cheese, as some versions have no cheese whatsoever. Others have a small scattering of Parmesan to finish it off. It’s eaten cold or at room temperature. They are deceptively simple on paper, but a good tomato pie slice at room temp can be absolutely exceptional.” SOURCE: thetakeout.com

Pittsburgh Style (?) –

“The classic Pittsburgh pizza is considered a vessel for cheese. In fact, there is usually so much cheese piled on top of the pizza that the crust has to be very thick so that it can support the weight of the cheese. In some cases, the crust will be as thick as small rolls and have perfect char marks from the baking process in the stone hearth oven. The crust usually comes out of the oven medium crisp, puffy, and chewy — a perfect combination.”

SOURCE: steelcitypizza.com

Providence/Grilled Style (1980) –

“Pizza dough brushed with oil before taking a turn or two on the grill over hot coals. Cheese and toppings are added after the last flip and allowed to melt, finishing off the pizza.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Quad Cities (IA-IL) Style (1955) –

“This pizza dough gets a heavy dose of brewer’s malt, giving it a nutty, sweet taste and a darker appearance. The sauce is thin and spicy; the signature lean pork sausage is heavy on fennel and spices; and the pizza is cut into strips using giant, razor-sharp scissors.” [Actually – custom-made pizza shears] SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Rehoboth Beach (DE)/Boardwalk Style (1960) –

“A Delaware classic that has spread out from its Rehoboth Beach beginnings. Because it’s made with the cheese right on the dough, followed by the twirl of slightly sweet sauce, each bite offers a different experience. A sauce-heavy mouthful is sweeter and tangier, and the cheesier pieces are flakier and buttery, making a slice an ever-changing pizza party for the palate.”

SOURCE: foodnetwork.com

Rehoboth/Boardwalk Style – Source: en.wikipedia.org

Rhode Island/Pizza Strips Style (?) –

“Pizza strips are bakery bread that’s topped with tomato sauce and cut into strips.” SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

St. Louis Style (1974) –

“Cracker thin all the way around, cut into squares (referred to as a party cut), with toppings that stretch all the way to the edge, a sweet sauce, and a regional cheese called Provel (a combination of cheddar, Swiss, provolone and liquid smoke). It’s easy eating—almost like a big plate of cheese and crackers.”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Trenton Tomato Pie Style (1910)-

“A round pie that’s sort of a Neapolitan-style derivative, with one key difference being that the sauce is applied on top of the cheese. Placing the sauce on top not only keeps the dough from getting soggy quickly, but it also dries the sauce out so that it becomes thicker in texture, giving the pizza a more concentrated tomato flavor.” SOURCE: thetakeout.com

Trenton Pie (left ) vs Philly Pie (right) – Source: blog.slicelife.com

Youngstown (OH)/Brier Hill Style (1974) –

“This style began as a fundraising project for St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Youngstown, Ohio. The round pies are cooked in pans and covered with a thick sauce before being topped with bell peppers and Romano cheese (a hot variety and another topped with eggs is also available).”

SOURCE: firstwefeast.com

Source: pmq.com/this-city-is-the-no-1-town-for-pizza-lovers-and-its-not-new-york-or-chicago

Given that greater Detroit is the home to pizza chains like Domino’s, Little Caesar’s, Cottage Inn, Hungry Howie’s, Jet’s and Buddy’s, is it any wonder that the Motor City is the best pizza town in America.

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If you would like to record your pizza adventures, here are a couple of log books to record your tastings, as a well as an encyclopedia on pizza; all of which are available through Amazon.com.*

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*A small commission is earned from purchases that are made using these links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

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