A few months ago, I sampled the pizza offerings at several Pennsylvania gas station/convenience store chains. I walked away from the experience underwhelmed, bestowing my highest praise on Wawa’s pizza by saying that it didn’t necessarily “look or taste like a pizza that’s been made at an establishment where you can also put air in your tires and purchase both loose bananas and condoms.”
Following that story, a handful of Pizzavania subscribers urged me to check out the pizza at another gas station/convenience store, Scranton’s Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill. Several NEPA-reared friends confirmed that the two-and-a-half hour trip would be worth my while; “for the accents alone,” one of them said.
They were absolutely right, about both the quality of the pizza and the accents. But I wouldn’t dare put this stuff in the gas station/convenience store pizza category. Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill serves excellent Old Forge-style pizza that just happens to be available at an establishment where you can also gas up your car, and purchase lottery tickets and a newspaper—along with that NEPA lunchtime staple, Texas Weiners.
Green Ridge News and Mini Mart starts serving breakfast pizza with ham, egg, and cheese at 6 a.m. each day, and it’s usually gone by 7 a.m., co-owner Bryanna Colosimo told me. Bryanna has been a fixture there since she was two weeks old, according to her mother, Kathy, who opened the shop with her parents more than 40 years ago.
On a typical day, they’ll make 60 to 70 trays of pizza (using Colarusso’s shells and a house-made sauce from a secret family recipe) and sell them by the cut at the counter in as many as 10 varieties, including chicken bacon ranch, potato, sausage, and a Whopper-style with ground beef, lettuce, tomato, onion, and sauce. You can also order entire trays, with whatever toppings you’d like.
During my visit I had a cut of pepperoni with hot honey and a double-crust three cheese (mozzarella, American, and provolone). Both were as good as anything I’ve ever had in Old Forge. The crust was golden brown and crunchy, the sauce on the pepperoni had just the right balance of sweetness and acidity, and the cheese blend on the double-crust was nice and gooey.
If I were a local, I’d probably be among those who regularly line up inside the cozy convenience store at lunchtime to grab a couple-few cuts. It’s understandable why the pizza draws such a crowd each day. Not only is it really good stuff available in different varieties, but the price is right, ranging from $1.50 for a plain cut to $3.25 for a double crust. A plain tray will only set you back $11, with a pepperoni tray going for just $13, and a double crust $18.50.
Beyond the pizza, Green Ridge News Mini Mart and Grill is an experience, especially for the uninitiated (Bryanna said she’s met people who have driven from as far as New York City for the pizza). Many customers seemed like they knew one another, and several of the regulars had no reservations about chatting up a stranger who’d driven two-and-a-half-hours to get there, and inquire with said stranger about the pizza scene in Philadelphia once they heard his accent.
A regular named Ron, who told me he’s been eating Green Ridge’s pizza for more than 20 years, peppered me with a barrage of dad jokes. When I told another regular seated at the window counter that a friend had recommended I try Andy’s Pizza in Peckville, she shook her head and said, “I’d go to Tony’s instead.”
Who knew Peckville had such a thriving pizza scene?
Green Ridge News: Come for the great Old Forge-style pizza, stay for the NEPA pizza intel. And dad jokes.
