Pizza lore would have you believe Grandma-style pies were named for the square pizzas grandmothers in Italy have been baking up for generations. In the United States, however, the pizzas baked in cookie sheets are synonymous with Umberto: king of the Long Island pie.

Much like Italians brought pizza to the United States, so has Grandma-style pizza expanded its reach beyond those locations accessible via the Long Island Railroad. And with every iteration, pizza makers stamp their own touches on the style. When John Rodas sampled his first Grandma-style pizza during a trip to Long Island, he immediately wanted to add the square pies to his menu at Old Dominion Pizza Co. in Virginia. Completing the task, however, took some time.

“We had to play around with a lot. And we are always kind of tweaking it to get it exactly the way we want it,” Rodas tells Pizza Today. “We’ve had it for about six years at Arlington; we opened up our Fairfax location two years ago, and people love it.”

Grandma-style Pizza On Both Coasts

Much like Rodas, Sal’s Pizzeria owner Matthew Darienzo tried his first Grandma-style pizza and wanted to eat it again and again. Only in Darienzo’s case, the recipe was all in the family. His father-in-law, Salvatore Collica, immigrated to the United States from Sicily as a child and would make square pizzas with sauce on top for special occasions and family get-togethers. Not content with having what he learned was Grandma-style pizza so infrequently, Darienzo bought a pizzeria that made New York-style slices and enlisted Sal to add Grandma pizza to the menu.

Darienzo says Sal’s Pizzeria was able to double revenue in the first year, thanks to its renovations and a revamped menu that included the original New York-style slices in addition to Grandma pizzas. When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered restaurants, he purchased two other pizzerias to create a three-store chain.

“We bought it, we renovated the whole place, we created the Sal’s menu and we highlighted the Grandma pizza,” Darienzo says of the first Sal’s Pizzeria, which opened in April 2019 in Orange County, California. “To this day in California, nobody knows what Grandma pizza is. … But it’s always been my go-to and favorite, so it’s a huge part of our business.”

Collica – or “Sal,” as he is called by locals – works at the pizzerias several days a week making fresh mozzarella and ensuring the pizzas are up to snuff. Unlike most Grandma-style pies, Sal’s Grandmas are baked in 12-inch and 16-inch Grandma-style pizza pans. Mozzarella is added, followed by homemade sauce that Darienzo believes is less acidic since it is cooked once on the stovetop and again atop the pizza in an oven heated to 600 F.

While store managers initially worried customers would balk at ordering a pizza without traditional toppings, Darienzo says the sauce is heavy, so the only Grandma pizza option with toppings is a recipe Collica brought over from Italy: the Breadcrumbs & Onions pizza.

Grandma of the Eastern Seaboard

Back at Old Dominion Pizza Co., Rodas offers Grandma-style pizzas in 8-inch-square and 10-by-14-inch sizes. He says the team recently cut back on dough weights for the larger size to make the crust a bit thinner. The result is a crispy edge with a fluffy interior.

Rodas says people are surprised by how light the crust is on his Grandma-style pizzas, which are topped with a heartier sauce than the New York pies also sold at the two locations. “We do add a couple of other items. There’s a little bit of diced onion in there – a very small amount – a little bit more garlic, more crushed tomatoes. It’s a chunkier sauce,” Rodas says.

Unlike Sal’s Pizzeria, Old Dominion puts mozzarella on top of the pizza sauce and sprinkles a bit of Parmesan pre-bake as well. Rodas says about 35 percent of total sales come from the Grandma-style pies, which are delivered in boxes stamped “Grandma” in large, cursive letters.

He explains that after originally ordering 10-by-14-inch boxes for the larger size Grandma pizzas, staff found it difficult to cut pies in the box. Now, they are delivered in 14-inch-square boxes.

“It took a lot of research and development,” Rodas says of incorporating Grandma-style into the pizza kitchen. “It’s the kind your grandma used to make, but everybody’s got a different grandma. … You can put your own unique spin on it.”

KATE LAVIN is Senior Editor of Pizza Today.

See Tony Gemignani’s recipe for Grandma-style pizza!

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Who are this year’s Rising Stars in the Pizza Industry? We profile six up-and-comers who are making their mark on pizza. Discover why the Grandma style pizza is spreading across the country. See why your pizza could benefit from whole-grain flour. Brush up on inventory management best practices. Learn how to take your products to the retail market. Go to the July Issue.