Pizza is exceptional for many reasons. It’s convenient, easy to-eat, and an entry point to introducing meals to children. Like the best software, eating it requires no teaching or manual. It’s delivers value right out of the box. Moreover, for some like me, just one slice takes me down memory lane.

Without fail, whenever I have pizza, regardless of where I am, I think about Wedgewood Fernando’s Pizza. This diner-style pizzeria in Austintown, Ohio, is a mainstay in Mahoning County restaurant culture. When families order it, it probably means something great happened that day, or only a hearty meal will do.

The battle for pizza supremacy in Youngstown is competitive. There’s Elmton, Belleria in Struthers, Bruno Brothers, Cocca’s Pizza, Cornersburg Pizza, and Uptown on Belmont. Head and shoulders above all of these stands Wedgewood.

Patrons often say that Wedgewood’s service and prices make this place a mainstay in their diet. I think it’s something different than that. Wedgewood packs another punch: nostalgia. Today’s pie is the same that I ate in the late 1980s; exceptional taste, look, feel, and quality. It seems like it’s priced too fairly and in a way that hasn’t kept up with standard inflation. Until recently, it hasn’t changed and that’s what makes it special.

Fernando Riccioni (the Fernando in the pizza shop’s name) died two years ago and recent reviews of the pizza shop have been critical. This often happens when the founder at any startup / small business moves on or passes. Quality drops and the standard falls. Who is there to make sure that the team is looking at the North Star?

It has been a rocky couple of years for the pizza shop and though the waters have been choppy, Wedgewood still takes the belt like Ray Boom-Boom Mancini as the best pizza in Mahoning County. I’m watching to see if this continues into 2025 and beyond.