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Ohio may be one of the few states where pizza changes town by town. Columbus-style square cuts have drawn national attention lately, but Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Wooster still have their own institutions that locals defend hard. This ranking is editorial, built around longevity, regional pull, official accolades, menu identity and customer feedback. Because most shops do not publish item-by-item sales numbers, the “must-order” pick below is the signature or most talked-about pie for each stop.
- Donatos Pizza, Columbus
Donatos makes the list because it helped carry Columbus-style pizza far beyond central Ohio. The company was founded in Columbus in 1963 and still leans on its Edge to Edge® identity. The best-known order is the Founder’s Favorite — family-recipe pepperoni and sausage, shaved ham and banana peppers — while the classic Donatos pepperoni stays a staple because it loads crispy heritage pepperoni and smoked provolone across the whole pie. Travelers’ Choice recognition on Tripadvisor helps explain why it still has staying power even after becoming a much larger brand. - Coccia House, Wooster
Coccia House belongs on the list because it is one of Ohio’s durable old-school pizza rooms. The restaurant traces back to 1958 and still describes its pizza as homemade Italian, Abruzzi style. The move here is the Deluxe or Works pie, the kind of thickly topped red-sauce pizza that fits the place’s mid-century identity. Tripadvisor’s long review history and strong Wooster ranking suggest the loyalty here is not nostalgia alone. - Dewey’s Pizza, Cincinnati
Dewey’s earns a spot because it pushed gourmet pizza into Ohio’s mainstream without losing its neighborhood feel. Founder Andrew DeWitt opened the first Dewey’s in 1998, and the company’s own history still centers the original idea: serious pies, open kitchens and strong hospitality. The signature order is Socrates’ Revenge, built with olive oil, garlic, mozzarella, fontina, spinach, black and green olives, feta, red onions and tomatoes. Tripadvisor reviewers keep giving the Clifton location high marks, often pairing the pizza praise with comments about the atmosphere and service. - Adriatico’s, Cincinnati
Adriatico’s makes this list because few Ohio pizza shops are more tied to one campus and one oversized order. Its site says it has been serving pizza for 38 years, and its menu still pushes the massive Bearcat pizza, an 18-by-24-inch pie cut into 30 slices and sized for 10 to 12 people. The other strong order is the Supremo, loaded with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers and onions. Reviewers on Tripadvisor still rate it highly, and the Bearcat’s legend got another boost when Travis Kelce talked publicly about once finishing one himself. - Geraci’s, Cleveland area
Geraci’s lands here because Cleveland still treats it like a family heirloom. The restaurant opened on July 2, 1956 and remains in family hands. The must-order pie now is the Honey Pie, topped with pepperoni, sausage, hot habanero honey, mozzarella and Romano, although the classic pepperoni still carries a lot of weight with regulars. What separates Geraci’s is that it feels like a red-sauce institution that has found just enough range to stay current. On its own reviews page, customers call it a top-tier pie and one of the East Side’s enduring standards. - Tommy’s Pizza, Columbus
Tommy’s ranks this high because it is one of the pillars of Columbus pizza history. Founder Thomas Iacono opened the first shop in 1952, and the company still says the crust comes from Tommy’s own recipe, giving it that flaky, cracker-like finish with a crisp bottom. The best-known order is the All-the-Way Pizza, which bundles the five toppings the shop itself says are most popular: pepperoni, mushroom, sausage, green pepper and onion. Reviewers keep coming back to the texture of the crust, which is usually the first thing mentioned when people explain why Tommy’s stands out. - Massey’s Pizza, Columbus
Massey’s is here because it is one of the roots of modern central Ohio pizza culture. The business dates to 1949 and says its pies are still baked directly on the hearth with specially ground cornmeal, old-world tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, aged provolone and house-made sausage. That combination is why a plain pepperoni thin crust is usually the safest order; it shows off the crust, the bake and the topping load without distraction. Massey’s also leans hard on its awards history, and reviewers still mention the sauce, the crisp crust and the generous pepperoni. - Marion’s Piazza, Dayton
Marion’s reaches the top three because Dayton pizza would not look the same without it. The shop has been around since 1965, its site calls it “Dayton’s Favorite Pizza,” and it says it has won forty local newspaper and magazine surveys while building a signature around thin-crust, square-cut Dayton-style pies. The best-known order is Marion’s Deluxe, stacked with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers, though the Super Cheese and even the Ham and Sauerkraut keep their own following. Marion’s own customer comments page is full of old-school praise, and that is really the point of the place. - Terita’s Pizza, Columbus
Terita’s comes in at No. 2 because it still feels like Columbus pizza at its most personal. Founded in 1959, the shop remains family-owned, and the site makes a point of saying Tom Iannarino still makes the restaurant’s homemade Italian sausage with no fillers. That makes a sausage pie the obvious order, although a straight pepperoni still works if you want the full old-school effect. Terita’s has collected multiple “Pizza of the Year” honors from Pizza Connoisseurs of Columbus, says customers drive in from all over Ohio, and carries a very strong Tripadvisor score. - Rubino’s Pizza, Bexley
Rubino’s takes the top spot because it may be the cleanest expression of old-school Ohio pizza still running at full strength. The Bexley shop has been there since 1954, still sells crunchy thin-crust pies in a stripped-down room, and still leans into a no-nonsense identity so hard that it remains cash-only. The best-known order is either a straight pepperoni or the Combo No Mushroom, both of which fit the shop’s thin, crisp, square-cut style. Experience Columbus calls it a must for ultra-thin-crust fans, and recent Columbus-area coverage placed Rubino’s at No. 1 in a statewide pizza survey.
Taken together, the list says less about one “best” pizza and more about how Ohio built several pizza cultures at once. Columbus still dominates the conversation, but Dayton, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Wooster each keep a shop that feels like a local argument waiting to happen.
