Louie’s Pizza in Newark Ohio is currently celebrating 65 years in the pizza business!  Louie’s Pizza was established on June 6, 1960; it is Newark’s oldest pizza shop.  The dough with nice consistency and tasty pizza sauce are made at the pizza shop.  We recently ordered a pizza with everything on it and needed to pick it up and pay for it with cash since “cash only” is accepted at Louie’s and they do not deliver.  It seems the old-fashioned ways of doing business have not hurt this family business.  We found the crust to be thin, rolled out by hand, and baked on a stone hearth oven and the toppings fresh.  We will continue to pick up pizzas at Louie’s Pizza as long as they are in business. 

We took a spur of the moment weeknight shopping trip to Tanger Outlets in Sunbury, Ohio and we were hungry for pizza on the way home. After a quick online search for a pizza restaurant, Branch Pizza nearby on the Sunbury downtown courthouse square had a high rating and the reviewer comments were steller, so that’s where we chose to eat dinner. The server was quick to approach us and friendly.

A crowd of locals appeared to be gathering to celebrate a birthday, so they were having fun and we could tell that they felt at home, which added to this small town eating experience, as we were not local guests. We selected the 14” Chicago Classic Pie (crust on the bottom and the top, which reminded us of the texture of a stromboli): olive oil and garlic, mozzarella, broccoli, spinach and grated Romano cheese. We decided to add pepperoni and a side of sauce; we thought it was delicious! “Sauce & Dough made from scratch Daily” was advertised on the menu.

The owner wrapped up our meal experience and in talking with her, we learned that the original recipes for everything are still used; the restaurant originally opened in 1977 and has changed ownership through the years, but the recipes have been passed onward and all of the owners have been locals. We love to learn about food legacies in small towns like this! Trying a different pizza or pie is the plan for our next visit.