Ohio Valley–style pizza was invented in
Steubenville, Ohio, by Primo DiCarlo when he returned to the United States after serving in
World War II. DiCarlo had eaten pizza in Italy during the war, and attempted to recreate it in the United States. In 1945 he opened the Original DiCarlo's Famous Pizza Shop with his parents Michael and Caroline, Italian immigrants who had opened up bakeries in Ohio and California. Their shop was the first licensed pizza restaurant in Ohio. They opened a second location in
Wheeling, West Virginia, They subsequently opened locations in
Weirton,
Glen Dale, and
Wellsburg, West Virginia. A 1949 article in the
Wheeling News Register described their pizza as "an Italian bread dough base garnished with a sauce of tomatoes, parsley and green peppers that's seasoned with oregano, served with anchovies, cheese, pepperoni or mushrooms." The pizza is known for its distinctive cold toppings which are added after the pizza is cooked. It was nicknamed "The Poor Man's
Cheesecake" in the 1940s. In 2018, DiCarlo said he did not remember why the pizza was originally prepared that way but speculated that it may have been to avoid burning the toppings. However, its method of preparation is polarizing, and it has been negatively compared to
Lunchables. ==Description==