You probably know that West Virginians love pizza. You probably even know that we invented the Pepperoni Roll. But did you know that West Virginia can also lay claim to another unique pizza creation? It’s called Ohio Valley-style pizza, and you can order it at any Original DiCarlo’s Famous Pizza restaurants, including the ones featured in the photographs in this article: Wheeling and Parkersburg/Vienna (there are also locations in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Carolina).
Full disclosure: the pioneer of Ohio Valley-style pizza was from Ohio, not West Virginia.
Primo DiCarlo returned home to Steubenville, Ohio from fighting overseas in World War II and shared with his family that he had discovered a new kind of food. It consisted of freshly baked bread, covered in tomato sauce and topped with cheese. This delicious dish's name? Pizza!
Primo DiCarlo experimented with the simple but tasty idea until he had perfected it.
It was so cheap and so delicious that Primo's taste testers dubbed it "poor man's cheesecake."
Advertisement
He opened his first restaurant featuring his original pizza in Ohio in 1945, but just a few years later, he and his brother opened his second location right here in West Virginia's Ohio Valley (Wheeling)!
The Original DiCarlo's Famous Pizza continued to expand into West Virginia, and now you can order this unique treat at multiple locations around the state.
What makes DiCarlo's original Ohio Valley-style pizza so unusual? As you might know (or have guessed), the toppings are added AFTER the crust is baked, meaning that if you eat it correctly (just after the raw toppings are added) the generous layer of cheese remains unmelted.
The "cold cheese" component of DiCarlo's pizza is what makes it unique; it's also what makes it so controversial. Critics find the idea of unmelted cheese on their pizza repulsive. Some even go so far as to label Ohio Valley-style pizza as the "worst in the nation" because it is "served cold", but they are wrong on both counts.
In fact, we're pretty sure that most of those who rate this type of pizza as the "worst in the world" have never even bothered to try it...because we can promise that the combination of piping hot crust covered with a generous layer of freshly grated provolone cheese is absolutely delicious.
It's definitely something you'll want to try for yourself!
Even if you end up preferring a more traditional pizza style, you can still eat at DiCarlo's: they will melt the cheese on your pizza at your request and they have tons of other delicious Italian food options besides pizza.
But whatever you do, just please don't knock the DiCarlo's Original until you've try it.
To learn more about Original DiCarlo’s Pizza Restaurants and find a location near you, visit their website. Many of the locations have weekly facebook specials as well, so watch for those if you are thinking of visiting!
Have you eaten pizza Ohio Valley style? What did you think, will you be back for more?
