Donatos

“Columbus-style pizza” is a post-war innovation by @masseyspizza. It bears more than a little resemblance to Chicago-thin crust (see @vito_and_nicks) & also Dayton-style (see @cassanospizzaking & @marionspiazza). These pizzas all feature a rolled-thin crust, edge-to-edge toppings, a square/party cut, and traditional mozzarella/provolone blend (as opposed to the quite similar “St Louis style” which deviates by using Provel cheese & unleavened crust, see @imospizza). Founded a generation after the initial post war pizza boom & named after the Latin for “donation”, @donatospizza’s great insight was that their customers seemed to like a lot of toppings. Exemplifying the choice they made to address the market demand for toppings, pictured here is their “Pepp 150” a 14” pizza with 150 pepperoni. I would say the main flavor of this pizza was that pepperoni. Also, covered in a immodest helping of provolone cheese and a spicy red sauce, the crust was a bit overwhelmed. That cornmeal crust is fried on the bottom while a bit soggy towards the middle, as a result of the heavy burden it carries. Perhaps imbalanced, but I’m not going to complain about too much pepperoni - file this one solidly in the guilty pleasure category.