Something small happened on South Main Street this spring, and if you live here you already know what it is. A hand-lettered sign appeared in a window at 511, a Facebook post went up, and by early summer the side-door takeout window at Ghigiarelli's was selling out most days it opened.
For nine years that building sat quiet. This season, it is the reason the rest of the block feels different too.
The short version of a long story
The ovens at Ghigiarelli's went cold after owner Robert Baron was killed in 2017, and the longtime Main Street restaurant went into a protracted limbo in the "Pizza Capital of the World." Ghigiarelli's is, perhaps, the progenitor of this uniquely Northeastern Pennsylvania brand of pizza, opening in 1926. That is not a small footnote for a town whose identity is stamped on a rectangular tray.
In 2026, after years of closure, Ghigiarelli's quietly reopened for takeout, picking up the recipe right where it left off. No dining room yet. No fanfare. A side window, a phone line, and the same red sauce.
The practical effect on a Friday night in Old Forge: the 2026 reopening is takeout-only, and the community has rewarded the family with sell-outs almost every day they've been open. If you have not been able to get through, that is why. If you drove past at 7 p.m. and saw the lights off, that is also why.
The block, mapped
Most write-ups treat Old Forge pizza as a scavenger hunt for out-of-towners. If you live here, the map is a working document. Here is the current state of the row, addresses and all, so you can plan a walk instead of a drive.
| Shop | Where | What the locals order |
|---|---|---|
| Ghigiarelli's | 511 South Main Street | Red tray, double-crust white with rosemary |
| Revello's | 502 S Main St | Red tray, honey hot pepperoni, cannoli donut |
| Arcaro & Genell | 443 S Main St | Takeout tray, white with double crust |
| Cafe Rinaldi | South Main | House red |
| Anthony's | South Main | Traditional red |
| Salerno's Cafe | South Main | Tray plus soup, sandwich, pasta |
| Mary Lou's | South Main | Cheese cut, no frills |
| Cusumano | South Main | Fresh takes on Italian sides |
You can walk the length of that list in under fifteen minutes. That is the actual density story of Old Forge. There's arguably a pizza shop on every block in this blue-collar town about 120 miles north of Philadelphia, in Lackawanna County. It's a place where presidential hopefuls come for photo opportunities, eating a rectangular "cut" of pizza, not a slice, that's cooked in a "tray," not a pie.
What the reopening is actually doing to the row
Here is the part that surprised me and might surprise you. A new shop opening in a competitive block usually splits the pie. In Old Forge, that is not how this works.
Everyone has their favorites, whether it's Revello's or Arcaro & Genell's, but shop owners see themselves as a collective, not competitors. That collective posture is why Ghigiarelli's coming back does not thin the lines at 502 or 443. It thickens them. People are doing side-by-side tastings again. A tray from Revello's on Friday, a tray from Ghigiarelli's on Saturday, an argument at the kitchen table on Sunday.
If you want the historical stakes explained by someone who does this professionally, the NEPA Pizza Review's return visit put the current Ghigiarelli's red tray at an 8.4, slightly higher than the 2013 score of 8.3, a testament to the family's commitment to keeping the recipe lovingly intact. Their reviewer also called out something residents will recognize immediately: the red tray sauce is the most balanced and developed Old Forge red sauce they've reviewed, in a town with this many red trays competing for the title.
Whether you agree is your business. The point is that the argument is live again.
When to go, if you actually want to eat
A few practical notes for anyone living within a five-minute drive.
For Ghigiarelli's: go early, and go on a weekday if you can. The takeout window has been selling out. The phone number in circulation is (570) 457-2652. There is no dining room and no online ordering system to fall back on.
For Arcaro & Genell: the dining room does not run a full menu right now. The restaurant menu is available for takeout only, and catering services are available in their private on-premise banquet room. If you were planning to sit down for a full Italian dinner, call ahead.
For the rest of the row: most of these are counter-first operations with dining rooms that fill up on weekend nights. If you have out-of-town family coming through, book Anthony's or Salerno's ahead. If it is Wednesday and you want a tray, walk in anywhere.
One thing that trips up newer residents: the pizza is baked on a rectangular metal pan, there are no "slices" but "cuts" instead, and you order it by the "tray" and not the "pie" — ask for a "pie" and you might get an apple or blueberry. That is not a joke the shops are playing on you. It is the actual vocabulary of the order window.
After the tray
You are not eating pizza for three hours. Here is what the block gives you on either side of dinner.
- Picc's Ice Cream for a coffee or a scoop. Picc's offers a choice of 50 ice cream flavors. Locals treat it as the natural back half of a Main Street evening.
- Electric City Ciderworks if you would rather sit with a glass than a cone. Electric City Ciderworks serves locally made hard cider.
- Cafe Rinaldi if you skipped the tray and want the family history in the room. The Rinaldi family has been making pizza in Old Forge since the early 1900s.
- Rossi's Market and Concetta Martino's Italian Bread Shop for the pantry version of what you just ate out. Bread on Sunday morning is its own ritual.
If you have kids or grandkids in tow, Miles Street Community Park is the standard stop for a run-around before or after. The Game Station sits in the same walkable orbit.
What to circle on the calendar
Two dates that matter more than the rest for anyone who actually lives here.
Felittese Italian Festival, September. Every September, the Felittese Italian Festival celebrates the Italian immigrants who came to Old Forge in the 1900s to work in the coal mines, with food, desserts, live entertainment, and the hospitality this small town is known for. This is not a tourist festival with a local veneer. It is the neighborhood's own reunion. Last year's edition ran the 36th annual, and the food operation is a genuine village effort: a variety of homemade foods including porketta, tripe, and 1,500 pounds of gnocchi, with coolers filled with it and freezers everywhere, all going through the weekend. Revello's typically sets up on-site with their traditional red pizza, double-crusted white, pepperoni, honey hot pepperoni, and cannoli donut.
Snow Forge, December. In December, Old Forge becomes Snow Forge as the community turns the town into a Christmas Village, with holiday cheer for families and kids of all ages, plus plenty of vendors for early Christmas shopping. If you have moved here in the last year and have not seen it yet, block a Saturday.
Between those two anchors, the calendar is pizza. That is the honest version of the year in Old Forge.
Why any of this matters if you already live here
You did not need a blog post to tell you that Old Forge is small, walkable, and food-forward. What has changed in 2026 is the shape of the block. A shop that anyone under forty has never actually eaten from is open again. The rest of the row is not losing customers to it. Locals are doing tastings, arguing about sauce, and treating the whole strip as one long counter.
If you have been meaning to introduce a new neighbor to the town, this is the summer to do the walking tour instead of the drive-through. Start at 443, work north, end at Picc's. If the takeout window at 511 happens to have trays left when you get there, buy two.
When Main Street becomes home base
At Luxe Homes Real Estate, we live and work in the same borough footprint as the row on South Main. If a friend or family member is thinking about landing in Old Forge, or you are ready to talk about your own place on one of the side streets off Main, reach out to schedule an investment or property consultation. We know the block, the calendar, and the people who make both work.
