Sicilian crust, green peppers, and—that’s right—yellow American cheese. Here’s everything you need to know about Altoona-style pizza.
Altoona-style pizza hails, of course, from Central Pennsylvania’s Altoona, a historic railroad town tucked into the Allegheny Mountains and known as the home of the Altoona Curve (both the engineering feat and minor league baseball team). Featuring a surprising medley of ingredients—thick crust, green peppers, deli salami, and American cheese—this unique style of pizza has made (mostly negative) waves across the internet, even though many people in Pennsylvania and even Altoona’s Blair County have likely never heard of it.
That’s because it’s not really Altoona-style pizza—this isn’t the default slice in Altoona. Plenty of pizza shops don’t sell it at all, and no one from Altoona orders pizza elsewhere and wonders why the cheese isn’t yellow. Rather, the pizza originated from one local restaurant and stuck in people’s minds … not unlike a slice of melty American cheese sticking to the roof of your mouth.
The history of Altoona-style pizza
The distinctive pizza was served for decades at the town’s Altoona Hotel, which originally opened in the early 1900s. The pizza was such a strange menu item that it gained a local following—in fact, it’s sometimes (and more correctly) called “Altoona Hotel Pizza.”
As the story goes, the pizza was added to the hotel’s menu as a simple and affordable option likely sometime in the 1950s or 1960s, and while the cheese today is usually your typical American cheese, many people remember it being either Velveeta or a locally made American cheese.
For most of the pizza’s history, the Altoona Hotel was the main place to enjoy it, but the building burned down in 2013. Soon after, a handful of local restaurants famously revived the quirky recipe to ensure it—and the nostalgia of tucking into the unique pie—lived on.
The foundation is a thick, Sicilian-style crust—closer to focaccia than a New York slice—topped with tomato sauce, deli salami, and a ring of green pepper, and finished with a slab of bright yellow American cheese.
According to food writer Danny Palumbo, the way to embrace this strange pizza is to shift out of pizza mode: “It’s like eating a cheeseburger,” he wrote on the topic.
Pizza purists, move on. This article is for people who enjoy quirky regional food items that, despite being covered in American cheese, somehow work.
Besides, the restaurants where you can grab Altoona-style pizza don’t only serve Altoona-style pizza. They’re also known for many other (more familiar) pizzas, with most restaurants also having extensive menus of hoagies, burgers, and other comfort food.
Where to get Altoona-style pizza
29th Street Pizza Subs and More
29th Street Pizza Subs and More calls its version of the American-cheese-topped delicacy “Altoona Sicilian.” It’s one of the most popular spots for locals and foodie road-trippers to order the regional spin on pizza, and the restaurant often appears in articles about it. While the pizza is famous mostly for the American cheese, don’t assume this shop uses cheap ingredients—instead of the American cheese from the plastic package, 29th Street Pizza opts for a high-quality version. And still, a slice of the Altoona Sicilian is only $3 a pop.
The restaurant also serves a variety of other pizzas, stromboli, subs, wings, burgers, and—as the name says—more.
Michael’s Pizzeria
Family-owned Michael’s Pizzeria is a hometown favorite in Altoona, highly recommended by locals for quality Italian food—and by judges who have awarded the restaurant for its wings (of which there are numerous flavors). But it also makes its own rendition of pizza à la the Altoona Hotel, which Michael’s calls its “yellow pizza.” This pizza doesn’t use a thick slab of American cheese; instead, it uses a layer of melty yellow shreds over the traditional toppings. An 8-cut pie costs $24, or you can order by the slice for $3. Keep updated on restaurant specials and goings-on on the pizzeria’s Facebook page.
Jack & Georges
A large American bar and grill with friendly service and a loyal following, Jack & Georges serves much more than pizza, with a long list of sandwiches, hoagies, burgers, dinner plates, salads, and more on its menu. Nevertheless, many people from the area swear by the restaurant’s Altoona-style pizza. Jack & Georges calls its version “yellow pie”—a nod to the yellow American cheese. A whole pizza will run you just $15.75. You can also grab it by the slice for $4 each.
Al’s Tavern
An Altoona staple since 1962, Al’s Tavern has a large menu of drinks and pub eats, including its own rendition of Altoona-style pizza. Al’s calls its version “Nonna’s pizza,” which is just one specialty pie among a number of pizzas with typical (e.g., pepperoni and mozzarella) and not-so-typical (e.g., broccoli and fried potatoes) toppings. The tavern is particularly known for its (award-winning!) wings—but don’t make Nonna sad by not ordering her pizza. Be sure to check Al’s Facebook page for updates on specials.
Dino’s Pizza
Dino’s Pizza is located in Logan Town Center and offers an extensive Italian pizza shop menu—besides pizza, it offers calzones, stromboli, hoagies, burgers, pasta, wraps, cannoli, among other items. But for our purposes, we will zero in on the Altoona-style pizza, which is just one option amid nearly two dozen other pizzas. The “Altoona style” is served as part of a whole pie of nine cuts. An 18” pizza is $24.99.
Cesare Battisti Club
The Cesare Battisti Club is a different option for Altoona-style pizza, mostly because it’s a social club with a restaurant—the Club Grill—and only members can drink alcohol. Non-members, however, can always order food! And on Mondays, a slice of the club’s Altoona-style pizza is on special for just $3.99. Plus, as a social club, the Cesare Battisti often hosts events, like games and holiday parties.
