WILKES-BARRE, Pa. — There's a family-friendly rivalry that's practically baked into the recipe in Wilkes-Barre.
Of course, we're talking about the competition between Angelo's, Gerry's, and Ricci's pizzerias.
"The wife says that there's a difference in the sweet sauce, but she chooses Gerry's over Angelo's, so here I am," Anthony Dennis said while waiting for his pie outside of Gerry's.
It all started with legendary pizza owner Angelo Ricci.
He opened Angelo's on Hazle Street in the 1960s.
From there, his sons went on to open shops of their own, Ricci's on Park Avenue and Gerry's on Carey Avenue.
The pizza shops use the same family recipe, but some people say they can still taste a difference.
"It is the exact same recipe. It's just basically, you know, one hand making it might be a little heavier on something, and you got another hand making it might be a little lighter on something, but it's the same general recipe," Gerry's manager Christis Stair said.
Pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy of Barstool even had to give it a taste. He stopped by Gerry's and Angelo's last summer.
"He gave both of us an 8.1; He said they were the same, both us and Gerry's," Angelo's owner William Ricci said.
If one pizzeria can't pump out pies fast enough, employees encourage callers to try one of the other family pizza shops.
"If it's busy here, they go to Gerry's. They go to Ricci's. If it's crazy there, they come here. They all try all of us all the time," Ricci's said.
While Wilkes-Barre will never agree on a favorite, there is one thing that's for sure, Angelo's is the creator of the sweet sauce recipe.
