Living in Old Forge, PA — The Pizza Capital of the World

Five miles southwest of Scranton, Old Forge is a borough of about 8,500 people with an outsized reputation. It calls itself the Pizza Capital of the World, and the claim is earned the hard way: here you order a tray, not a pie, and you get cuts, not slices. Red is a single crust under sauce and cheese on a thick, pan-baked base. White is double-crusted, sauceless, packed with cheese and usually finished with rosemary. The style traces to the 1920s, when Filomena “Nonna” Ghigiarelli baked pizza in rectangular pans for the coal miners drinking at her husband’s bar.

That heritage runs deep. Old Forge was built by Italian immigrants who came to work the anthracite mines, and the borough still keeps a sister-city relationship with Felitto, Italy. The iron forge that gave the town its name was built here in 1789; the borough incorporated in 1899.

Food & Drink

This is the main event — a borough of 8,500 supports roughly a dozen pizzerias, a density that works out to about one for every 1,300 residents.

• Arcaro & Genell — the Arcaro and Genell families took over in 1962, and they now ship trays nationwide through Goldbelly.
• Revello’s Pizza — a South Main Street fixture; Hillary Clinton stopped in during the 2008 Pennsylvania primary.
• Augustine’s Club 17 — founded in 1952 by Leo and Tillie Augustine, family-operated for more than seventy years.
• Café Rinaldi — house-made pasta and pizza from a family making it since the early 1900s.
• Anthony’s Restaurant — started by Anthony Arcaro in the 1970s, run by Pat and Phyllis Mischello since 1999.
• Cusumano — modern Italian and Old Forge trays, dinner Wednesday through Sunday.
• Salerno’s Cafe, Mary Lou’s Pizza and Bobo’s Pizza round out the trail.
• Ficco’s Coffee — opened on South Main in October 2025: handcrafted drinks, matcha, pastries from Minooka Pastry Shop, and a vinyl-and-board-game front room.
• Picc’s Ice Cream — scooping since 2014, with 50-plus flavors, Italian ice, nitro cold brew and a full drive-thru.
• Rossi’s Market is the Italian deli and butcher shop, Agostini Bakery wholesales its pizza shells to restaurants across the area, and Electric City Ciderworks pours small-batch hard cider — no kitchen, so people bring food in from up the street.

Things to Do

The Felittese Italian Festival takes over Third Street every September — free admission, homemade gnocchi, soffritto, porketta, cavatelli and broccoli, pizza fritta, and a pizza-eating contest. In December, Snow Forge turns South Main into a free Christmas village with crafts, Santa photos, a parade and horse-drawn sleigh rides; it has run since 2014. Old Forge also anchors the countywide Lackawanna County Pizza Trail. Steamtown National Historic Site, Montage Mountain and PNC Field are all a short drive.

Outdoors & Parks

The borough runs Marion Street Park, Anthony Pero Park, Pagnotti Park and Miles Street Park, plus a municipal summer camp. The Lackawanna River runs through town, and Old Forge sits on the southernmost stretch of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail, part of a 30-plus-mile system linking Pittston, Duryea, Old Forge and Taylor. Lackawanna State Park — 1,445 acres around a 198-acre lake — is up I-81 at Exit 199.

Gyms & Fitness

Fitnesse Studio offers personal and small-group training with a Fit3D body scanner and Peloton equipment. LBA Fitness on Moosic Road is a women’s group-fitness studio running aerobics, Jazzercise, kickboxing and dance classes.

Schools

Old Forge has its own school district — a rarity for a borough this size — with Old Forge Elementary (K–6) and Old Forge Junior/Senior High (7–12). District enrollment is about 966 with a 13:1 student-teacher ratio, and the graduation rate is 95% or higher; math proficiency is 25% and reading 49%, against Pennsylvania averages of 38% and 56% (PublicSchoolReview, 2022–23 assessment data). The NAMM Foundation has named the district a Best Community for Music Education. Teams play as the Blue Devils. Lackawanna College is about five miles away, with the University of Scranton, Marywood, Johnson College and Penn State Scranton (Dunmore) all close.

School Performance

State assessment results for the high school serving Old Forge, from the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25 school year:

• Old Forge Junior/Senior High School — Keystone Literature 57.6% proficient or advanced (statewide 49.9%) · Keystone Algebra I 34.3% (statewide 41.7%) · four-year graduation rate 94.4% (statewide 88.0%)

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Education, Future Ready PA Index, 2024–25. We publish these same three measures, from this same source, on every community page in this guide.

Everyday Essentials

Rossi’s Market, Agostini Bakery, Bella Faccias chocolates and Ficco’s are all on Main Street. Gerrity’s in Moosic handles full grocery runs. The Shoppes at Montage and Viewmont Mall cover retail. Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton is the only Level II trauma center in Lackawanna County.

The Homes

Old Forge is a dense 3.4-square-mile borough whose population once topped 14,000 during the mining boom — which means an older, tightly built housing stock on a walkable grid, about two-thirds owner-occupied. New construction inside the borough is very limited; this is essentially a resale market, and it’s priced like one.