Sadly, this store is now closed]

If you are not from Youngstown, you probably don’t understand why it is a big deal that there is a Wedgewood Pizza store in Columbus. But if you live around Columbus, this means you have the chance to taste some great Youngstown pizza. Growing up on the west side of Youngstown and going to a church in Austintown, a suburb of Youngstown, we often had Wedgewood pizza–it was one of the great places to get good pizza in Youngstown.

Wedgewood Pizza Grove City, Ohio

Most of us transplanted Youngstowners often talk when we meet up about where to find good pizza. In fact, I mentioned in this in my blog post on “Growing Up in Working Class Youngstown — Food” and among the comments, learned that there was a Wedgewood store in Grove City, on the southwest side of Columbus (we already knew about and have eaten at the Belleria in Graceland). And since we were on vacation and had learned of some antique shops, and of course, a bookstore, we decided to make a day trip of exploring Grove City and topped it off with a visit to the Wedgewood Pizza store.

Wedgewood Pizza is actually pretty easy to find, although a little tricky to get into. If you take the west outerbelt (I-270) south to the Route 62 exit, just as you are turning right off the exit to go into Grove City, you can spot the store in the strip plaza across the street. To get there, you have to turn left onto Home Rd., and left again into Turnberry Court and left into the plaza and circle around to the front.

Dominic making our pizza

But it is well worth the trouble! We came in and met Dominic, the owner of the store. We got to talking and learned that he is a retired autoworker from GM Lordstown who grew up in Struthers and lived in Austintown. He was talked into going into the pizza business after retirement by his daughters, one of whom works with him in Grove City. He spent time working with the folks at the original Wedgewood learning how to make pizza the Wedgewood way and decided he liked it enough to take the plunge.

Order counter

Dominic’s store is immaculate and he has something like eight ovens so he can crank out a lot of pizza. He has a nice eat in area with wi-fi and a good flat screen TV (that had World Cup soccer on when we were there). We ordered a 12″ Original Everything (Sauce, Green Peppers, Black Olives, Mushrooms, Sausage, Pepperoni, Salami, and Mozzarella). We got all that for $10.50! And it was heaven on a pizza crust–great thick Youngstown crust, rich sauce, fresh ingredients.

And then Dominic surprised us with a complimentary 8″ Brier Hill pizza (Brier Hill pizzas for the uninitiated have sauce, green peppers, and romano, not mozzarella cheese). I swear this is some of the best Brier Hill pizza I’ve eaten. Needless to say, we left stuffed but satisfied, and delighted to have made a new friend and talk about all the stuff we love about Youngstown (food, Mill Creek Park, more food!).

Brier Hill Pizza

Original Everything

If you are a Youngstowner living in or near Columbus or passing through and didn’t know about this Wedgewood store, you should visit for a slice of home. Dominic says Youngstowners are a BIG part of his business. But if you are from the Columbus area, and want something different from that cardboard thin stuff that some folk think is “pizza”, you have to check out Wedgewood.