DAY TWO: MAXIE'S PIZZA

TODAY WE VISITED MAXIE'S PIZZA FAMILY RESTAURANT LOCATED AT 320 SOUTH KEYSER AVE OLD FORGE, PA 18518, JUST ABOUT WHERE OLD FORGE MEETS TAYLOR NEAR THE PA TURNPIKE INTERCHANGE. MAXIE'S HAS BEEN OPEN ABOUT 20 YEARS, it is run by Willie and Maxie and their parents. Maxie's has plenty of free off street parking on the side of their restaurant which looks alot like someones house very inviting. You enter the dining room thru the side door or enter the bar thru the front door. Either way you are greeted by a clean well lit restaurant. Last night the bar was half filled with couples and friends hanging out and enjoying a few beverages and food. We choose the dining room which has about ten booths and some free standing tables which seats about sixty people.
WE ORDERED BOTH RED AND WHITE PIZZA. THE RED PIZZA WAS TASTY, THIN CRUST WITH GOLDEN BROWN BOTTOM, A RED SAUCE WITH A HINT OF PEPPER AND LOTS OF MELTED CHEESE ON TOP(NEXT TIME I HAVE TO FIND OUT WHAT KIND CHEESES ARE USED ON THEIR PIZZA.) JUST THE RIGHT TEXTURE CRISPY BOTTOM AND CHEWY TOP AND NOT TO GREASY.
THE WHITE PIZZA WAS DOUBLE CRUSTED STUFFED WITH CHEESE THAT JUST KEPT ROLLING OUT OF THE PIZZA AND ALMOST COVERED THE TRAY IT WAS SERVED ON. A MEMORABLE QUOTE FROM THE TABLE WAS "THIS PIZZA LOOKS GREAT AND I'M SURE A HEART ATTACK IS NOT FAR OFF" THE TOP OF THE PIZZA HAD A LIGHT COAT OF OLIVE OIL AND LOTS OF ITALIAN SPICES BAKED TO A GOLDEN BROWN COLOR.
Maxie's also has a great selection of reasonably priced dinners, wings and deserts.
I personally had two red cuts and two white cuts and i was stuffed. I think the hardest part of this Pizza Challenge is going to be getting enough will power to stop eating when i'm full and to get in the excerise to be able to lose the weight for the challenge.

Challenge Ranking 4 cuts. Scale reading no change 184

DAY 1 SNOW CHANGES SCHEDULE

SOMETIMES PLANS CHANGE AND YESTERDAY WAS ONE OF THOSE DAYS, WE HAD PLANS TO GO TO MAXIE'S IN OLD FORGE AT 5:30PM BUT A SNOW SQUALL COATED THE ROADS AND MADE THEM ICY. SO WE DECIDED TO DELAY OUR VISIT TO 9PM AFTER OTHER COMMITMENTS WERE TAKEN CARE OF BUT WHEN WE CALLED MAXIES AT 9PM WE WERE TOLD THE KITCHEN WAS CLOSED ALREADY(WE ASSUME DUE TO THE SNOW)
BUT SOME QUICK THINKING RESULTED IN A VISIT TO BROWNIES PIZZA IN WEST SCRANTON. BROWNIES WAS TO BE OUR SECOND VISIT ANYWAY SO WE WILL GO TO MAXIES ON THURSDAY.
WE SHOWED UP AT BROWNIES AND WERE GREETING BY THE OWNER BILLY BEEPER SALERNO WITH HIS TRADEMARK SMILE. THE DINING ROOM WAS NOT CROWDED BUT THE TWO DELIVERY PERSONS WERE BUSY RUNNING IN AND OUT WITH LATE NIGHT DELIVERIES
THIS SEEMS TO BE THE BIGGEST PART OF THEIR BUSINESS TAKEOUT AND DELIVERY.

BROWNIES AT ONE TIME HAD A SECOND LOCATION IN OLD FORGE ACROSS FROM THE OLD FORGE BANK. BROWNIES HAS BEEN A FAMILY OWNED PIZZERIA FOR OVER 50 YEARS. ACCORDING TO BILL THE PIZZERIA WAS STARTED BY HIS MOM AND DAD BOTH OF THEM WORKED WITH TOMMY FERRI OF FERRI'S PIZZA AT THE SAME RESTAURANT AND BOTH TOM AND BROWNIE STARTED THEIR OWN PIZZERIA AT ABOUT THE SAME TIME IN THE 1950'S. BROWNIES HAS MANY BEST PIZZA AWARDS HANGING ON THE WALLS AND THE ONE TITLE THAT STANDS OUT IS THE TITLE OF BEST PIZZA 1985 GIVEN OUT BY THE AMERICAN DAIRY ASSOCIATION FOR A NATIONAL CONTEST.
WELL THE RED PIZZA WE HAD LAST NIGHT WAS A WINNER. THE CRUST WAS GOLDEN BROWN ON THE BOTTOM, THE CRUST WAS ALSO THIN AND CRISPY THE CHEESE MIX WAS OLD FORGE EXCELLENT AND THE PIZZA SAUCE HAD A NICE ONION TANGY FLAVOR. OVERALL WE ENJOYED IT ALOT. I PERSONALLY DOVE IN FOR FOUR CUTS EVEN AFTER IS PROMISED MYSELF I WOULD STOP AT TWO. I GUESS THAT MEANS ANOTHER MILE OF WALKING TODAY. WE TOOK SOME PICTURES AND WILL ADD TO POST LATER.

BESIDES PIZZA, BROWNIES ALSO SERVES WINGS, STROMBOLI, SALADS, SUBS AND A VARIETY OF DINNERS ALL UNDER $10 BUCKS. OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK TILL 11PM

SO STOP IN AND VISIT BILL SALERNO AT BROWNIES. HE IS A TOF (TYPICAL OLD FORGER) COMPLETE WITH FRIENDLY SERVICE AND LOTS OF FUNNY STORIES.

OLD FORGE PIZZA CHALLENGE RANKING IS THREE CUTS.

FAT TUESDAY: CHALLENGE STARTS TOMORROW

THE OLD FORGE PIZZA CHALLENGE STARTS TOMORROW,

CAN WE EAT OLD FORGE PIZZA EVERYDAY DURING LENT?

DURING THE OLD FORGE PIZZA CHALLENGE WE CAN ONLY VISIT A RESTAURANT ONCE. SO EVERYDAY WE WILL HAVE A NEW REPORT TO SHARE WITH YOU

SOME FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS HAVE EXPRESSED A CONCERN THAT EATING THAT MUCH DELICIOUS OLD FORGE PIZZA WILL ADD A FEW POUNDS TO AN ALREADY SPREADING MID-SECTION. SO WE HAVE ADDED ANOTHER PIECE TO THE OLD FORGE PIZZA CHALLENGE, WE ALSO ARE SETTING A GOAL OF LOSING 20LBS OR ABOUT 3 LBS A WEEK APPROX THE WIEGHT OF A 12 CUT OLD FORGE PIZZA.

SO HERE IS THE FIRST WEEK'S SCHEDULED VISITS

FEB 17 ASH WEDNESDAY MAXIES PIZZA KEYSER AVE OLD FORGE
FEB 18 THURSDAY BROWNIE'S PIZZA WEST SCRANTON
FEB 19 FRIDAY MARY LOU'S PIZZA DUNN AVE OLD FORGE
FEB 20 SATURDAY COLARUSSO'S CAFE CLARKS SUMMIT
FEB 21 SUNDAY ALFREDO'S PIZZA SOUTH SCRANTON
FEB 22 MONDAY GENOTTI'S PIZZA MOOSIC
FEB 23 TUESDAY FERRI'S PIZZA SCRANTON

IF ANYONE WOULD LIKE TO COME ALONG FOR A VISIT JUST DROP US A NOTE?

WE ARE NOT LOOKING FOR ANYONE TO COME TO ALL THE RESTAURANTS BUT WE ARE HOPING FOR DIFFERENT GUESTS TO COME WHEN WE VISIT YOUR AREA OR YOUR FAVORITE OLD FORGE PIZZA RESTAURANT.

TODAYS SCALE READING 184

MAPPING OUT THE RESTAURANTS FOR THE CHALLENGE

HERE'S A LIST OF SOME POSSIBLE OLD FORGE PIZZA RESTAURANTS THAT ARE NOT LOCATED IN OLD FORGE BUT SERVE OLD FORGE STYLE PIZZA.

MARSICO'S TAYLOR,PA
CASTALDI'S WEST SCRANTON
ALFREDO'S SOUTH SCRANTON
PIZZA LOVEN WYOMING
PIZZA PERFECT TRUCKSVILLE
COLARUSSO'S CAFE AVOCA
COLARUSSO'S JESSUP
COLARUSSO'S CLARKS SUMMIT
COLARUSSO'S HANOVER PA
JIGGY'S PIZZA HARRISBURG
FERRI'S PIZZA KEYSER AVE
GENOTTI'S MOOSIC

SOON WE WILL POST THE COMPLETE LIST BY DATE IN CASE ANYONE WANTS TO JOIN US

FORTY DAYS OF OLD FORGE PIZZA

A CHALLENGE HAS BEEN ISSUED:

CAN WE EAT OLD FORGE PIZZA EVERYDAY DURING LENT?
BUT WE CAN ONLY VISIT EACH PIZZA RESTAURANT ONCE DURING OUR CHALLENGE.

WE KNOW OLD FORGE HAS AT LEAST 12 RESTAUTANTS , AND I KNOW OF PROBABLY 12 OTHERS IN LACKAWANNA AND LUZERENE COUNTY BUT DOES ANYONE HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR PIZZA RESTAURANTS THAT SERVE OLD FORGE STYLE PIZZA THAT ARE WITHIN A TWO HOUR DRIVE OF OLD FORGE

IF WE TAKE ON THIS CHALLENGE WE WILL POST EACH DAY OUR RESULTS

SEND US SOME SUGGESTIONS AND MAYBE WE CAN MEET YOU THERE DURING THE CHALLENGE.

Revello's Pizza

Over the Thanksgiving weekend I had my fill of turkey and turkey leftovers, so on Sunday night when we going to visit some out of town relatives (former TOFs) Old Forge pizza was a natural choice. On Sunday nights in Old Forge the choices are limited but Revello's Pizza on South Main st has started to open up from 11am to 11pm. Revello's is a great Old Forge tradition, we had both the red pizza and the double crust white. the red pizza was excellent. I love the cheese mix at Revello's on the red pizza. You take one bite and a few seconds later your taking another and before you know it the cut is gone. then you start to limit yourself to 3 cuts and before you know it your eating your 4th or 5th cut.
Revello's has been around a long time since the 70's. Pat Revello and his mom run the place with the help of Andy Sopp (check out Andy's picture on their website). Before it was Revello's it was Pelosi's, that is the reason for the P in the bricks on the second floor exterior front of the building.
just recently during the presidental election primaries, Revello's was visited by Hillary Clinton and alot of visiting press. there are many utube video of the visit.

Check out Revello's website see the link on our blog.

A CHALLENGE TO OLD FORGE PIZZA LOVERS BESIDES HILLARY CLINTON WHAT OTHER FAMOUS PEOPLE HAVE VISITED OLD FORGE TO SAMPLE OLD FORGE PIZZA.
NAME THE PIZZA PLACE AND THE FAMOUS PERSONS NAME AND DETAILS OF THE VISIT WOULD BE NICE.

I have heard stories of Babe Ruth at the shift and shanty, and alot of Music acts that played at Pep O'Briens used to go to Salerno's. Lets share the stories.

OLD FORGE PIZZA IN HANOVER TOWNSHIP

TRAVEL TODAY TOOK ME TO HANOVER TOWNSHIP (JUST SOUTH OF WILKES BARRE). MY STOP TODAY WAS DAVE COLARUSSO'S PIZZA AND PASTA. THIS COLARUSSO'S IS FROM THE SAME FAMILY THAT HAS COLARUSSO'S CAFE IN AVOCA PA. THE PIZZA WAS GREAT! CRISPY BOTTOM, LIGHTLY RAISED DOUGH, SWEET AND TANGY SAUCE AND A GREAT MIX OF CHEESES THAT I COULD NOT INDENTIFY. NEXT TIME I'LL ASK ABOUT THE CHEESES.
THE COLARUSSO'S HAVE ROOTS IN OLD FORGE. I THINK MOOSIC ROAD WAS THE HOMESTEAD.
DAVE COLARUSSO IS THE OWNER OF THE HANOVER SHOP WHICH AS ABOUT A DOZEN TABLES AND DOES A BIG TAKEOUT BUSINESS.
HIS DAD AND MOM RUN THE COLARUSSO'S IN AVOCA (THEIR CATCH PHARSE ON THE MENU IS "THE PLACE WHERE OLD FORGER'S GO FOR PIZZA")
BROTHER CHUCK (OLD FORGE HIGH BASKETBALL AND FOOTBALL STAR IN THE EARLY 70'S) HAS A COLARUSSO'S IN JESSUP, PA
BROTHER JOE (OF HIGH FOOTBALL '74) HAS A NICE RESTAURANT IN COLARUSSO'S CAFE OF CLARK SUMMIT PA
JOE'S SON HAS THE COLARUSSO'S EXPRESS IN WEST SCRANTON
AND I THINK THE COLARUSSO FAMILY HAS OPENED A DINING ROOM FOR LARGE PARTIES IN MOOSIC PA.

SO IF YOU ARE IN HANOVER TOWNSHIP STOP BY DAVE COLARUSSO'S LOCATED IN THE WEST END PLAZA 105 WEST END ROAD 570-822-0181

THESE RESTAURANTS SERVE GREAT OLD FORGE STYLE PIZZA. DOES ANYONE ELSE KNOW OF GOOD OLD FORGE STYLE PIZZA OUTSIDE OF OLD FORGE PA?

LUNCH AT SALERNO'S CAFE

IT'S BEEN AWHILE SINCE I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GO TO SALERNO'S CAFE FOR LUNCH . IF YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN TO SALERNO'S IT IS WORTH THE TRIP. NOT ONLY IS THE FOOD GOOD , THE PRICE REASONABLE AND THE REGULARS AT THE BAR MAKE THE TRIP A MUST DO WHEN YOU ARE IN OLD FORGE. YOU CAN'T PAY FOR THIS TYPE OF ENTERTAINMENT.
THEIR WAS A NEW FACE BEHIND THE BAR, SKI WAS MIA, HIS NAME WAS DOC. AND DOC IS A TOF EVEN THOUGH HE IS FROM DOWN THE LINE.

SPEAKING OF SALERNO'S I HEAR A GATHERING IS BEING SCHEDULED FOR DEC. 6 AT SALERNO'S WHEN SOME OF THE GUYS FROM THE WEST COAST AND NEW JERSEY WILL BE STOPPING IN TO THE PIZZA CAPITAL. COME JOIN US AND HAVE SOME GREAT SALERNO'S PIZZA.

T-shirts now available

NEED A CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR AN OLD FORGE PIZZA LOVER, HERE IT IS!

THE BACK OF THE SHIRTS LOOKS LIKE THE GAME BOARD. CHECK OUT THE DETAILS

ALL OLD FORGE PIZZA RESTAURANTS ARE ON THE GAME BOARD.

CHECK OUT THE PEPPERONI FOREST, MEATBALL FOREST, AND THE GOOEY CHEESE SWAMP.

IS YOUR PART OF OLD FORGE (SIBLEY, AUSTIN HEIGHTS OR GOOSE ALLEY) LISTED ON THE ARROWS?

DON'T STOP ON THE OVEN SQUARE (IF YOU DO YOU LOSE A TURN BECAUSE THE PIZZA IS STILL IN OVEN)

SHIRTS ARE $10.00 AND ARE AVAILABLE AT ROSSI'S MARKET, GERRITY'S MARKET IN MOOSIC, ARACARO AND GENELL, CAFE RINALDI, CLUB 17 .

Mancuso's Pizza Moving

Stopped by Mancuso's pizza on Oak st last night to pick up a tray of red pizza. the owner Jimmy, told me that the shop is moving later this month. The new location will be next to Blockbuster video in the former La Dolice Vita location. This location was also the original location of Cafe Rinaldi. the Mancuso's are looking forward to the dining area and the great parking.
Ps the red pizza was great. The Mancuso's owners are now making their own dough for their pizza, having recently purchased a large scale mixer. Good Luck in your new location.
we will post when the move is made.