Jim Ellison - Columbus Pizza: A Slice of History

Published by American Palate

A Division of The History Press

Charleston, SC

www.historypress.com

Copyright 2020 by Jim Ellison

All rights reserved

All photos from authors collection, unless otherwise noted.

First published 2020

e-book edition 2020

ISBN 978.1.43967.135.1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020944527

print edition ISBN 978.1.46714.376.9

Notice: The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. It is offered without guarantee on the part of the author or The History Press. The author and The History Press disclaim all liability in connection with the use of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever without prior written permission from the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

At a time when many mom-and-pop restaurants have fallen by the wayside in favor of national chains, author Jim Ellison takes us on a journey through the history and foundation of all the great pizza shops to ever call central Ohio home. What follows is a meticulously researched look back on how several industrious immigrant families, many from the same region in Italy, began, in mid-twentieth-century America, to create a new style of pizza all their own. Their efforts have, in large part, made Columbus, Ohio, the standard bearer and test market for American-style pizza. While other larger cities rightly claim specific styles of pizza their own, such as Chicago, New York and Detroit, Columbus has been recognized for decades as the home of classic pizza in the country.

Jim brings real enthusiasm and attention to detail throughout many interconnected tales, as told by the descendants of the founding families. Through serious research and dozens of interviews, he has stitched together a family tree of Columbus pizza, with stories of fathers, mothers, sons and daughters, who despite being competitors, created a mutual support system in the mostly Italian community. The book begins by connecting the dots, tracing the development of Columbus pizza from the earliest days in an area known then as Flytown, just south of todays Victorian Village, successively to Franklinton, Italian Village, Grandview and Arlington, with a few outliers on the East and South sides. From there, he explores techniques and inventions and recipes that originated in Columbus and went on to be adopted by the industry on a national level.

More than anything, this book harkens back to an earlier, less corporate time, when families still worked shoulder to shoulder in shop, often from a very young age. It transports us back to a time before economies of scale allowed large regional and national chains to eclipse the smaller shops and neighborhood favorites. As we venture further down this new path, this compendium of tales reminds us of the value of local purveyors. This book should encourage all to support and cherish them through our patronage.

Richard G. Terapak, WOSU Chefs in the City

Richard B. Terapak, WOSU Chefs in the City

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

There are too many people to list to thank everyone for their help with this book. And there are a few who cannot be thanked enough. First and foremost, my wife, Jamie. I dedicate this book to her.

Father Massuci, who returned an odd (maybe desperate) call from a kid who went to Watterson when the father was a hardcore Hartley devotee. The insights and information he provided on his father, Jimmy Massey, were incredibly helpful. Laura Sirij was a great source of information on Romeos and her father, Romeo Sirij. It turns out that I went to high school with two of her sons. She lived in a house that I had passed by thousands of times in my lifetime. It was also impressive to find someone who even I thought was a zealot about Columbus Pizza history. The DiPaolo and Mizer families from RDP have been huge cheerleaders and were generous with their time and knowledge. The Baldini Brothers, Ray Eal and Nick Ray, at RDP are my idols and helped connect some dots when needed. Jimmy Corrova at TAT was gracious with his time and fed me well. A big thank you to The History Press editor John Rodrigue for his patience and enthusiasm as this one-year project became a bit of an odyssey and took much longer than expected. When I had some unplanned free time to crank out the manuscript in early 2020, he helped me get the book rolling ahead of my much-revised schedule. Last but not least, thank you for buying this book.

On a final note, a disclaimer. Memories can be faulty or selective, and the record-keeping of businesses and information about them prior to 1970 is spotty at best. On occasion, if I was presented with conflicting memories of key events in Columbus Pizza history, I went with the most probable story. If I missed something important to you or our history, I apologize.

If you want to share your story about pizza, send an email to .

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@CbusPizzaHistory

INTRODUCTION

Does Columbus have an iconic food? The initial answer is typically no. As has been the nature of Columbus residents for generations, the next impulse is to think of big cities and compare what they have to offer in contrast to our city. There are many foods synonymous with American cities: Philadelphia cheesesteaks, Buffalo wings, Seattle coffee, Boston clam chowder, New Orleans beignets, Baltimore crab cakes and so many more. Pizza in the form of highly defined styles is intertwined with the identities of Chicago, New York, New Haven, Detroit and a handful of other cities. Add to that list Columbus. There is no food that is more infused in the character of our city than pizza. Over the course of a century, it has become a definitive American food, and since the 1950s, Columbus pizza has had a national influence on an expanding pizza industry while pleasing our palates and feeding the families in our fair city.

The first pizza in Columbus was served at the original Flytown location of TAT Ristorante as early as 1934. This ties TAT with what some have listed as the first pizzeria in the state, Pizzi Caf in Conneaut. The first pizzeria in Columbus was Romeos, which opened in December 1950. The early tagline in its ads was 1950, the year Columbus discovered Pizza. The growth of pizza in Columbus from the 1950s to the beginning of the twenty-first century would best be described as meteoric. Along the way, a very specific style of pizza developed here, starting in the mid-1950s and continuing to this day, guided by the experiences and culinary interpretations of a handful of people, including Jimmy Massey, Romeo Sirij, Tommy Iacono, Joe Gatto, Cosmo Leonardo, Pat Orecchio, Reuben Cohen, Guido Casa and Richie DiPaolo.

Columbus pizza culture has led innovation in the pizza business and, at its peak, rightfully earned Columbus the title of Pizza Capital of the United States from Pizza Today Magazine for several years. Columbus has been a place of innovation for the industry as a whole. Spinoff businesses from Jim Grote, the founder of Donatos, have grown technology that has transformed pizza shops and the frozen pizza industry. Now a local supplier to pizza shops and all types of food businesses, the former DiPaolo Foods, now RDP, has shaped the industry by advocating for new products and supporting the local pizza industry in countless ways since the dawn of pizzerias in the 1950s. The Ezzo Sausage Company, working with local shop owners to find new and more efficient versions of pepperoni, has risen from a small family business to a cutting-edge industry leader known across the world. While residents of Columbus might not know how important the city is to pizza, the industry continues to look to Columbus for trends and innovations.