Iconic Maryland-Style Pizza Joint To Move

Ledo Pizza, the beloved Maryland-style pizza parlor known to generations of University of Maryland students is leaving their Adelphi, MD, shop and relocating to the bottom level of the new parking garage in downtown College Park at Knox Road and Route 1.  Ledo, which has been at their University Boulevard location since 1955, embarked on an aggressive franchise program over the last decade, which has resulted in a Ledo’s Pizza Restaurant on every corner in the DC-Baltimore Corridor region.  But while the franchises are hit-or-miss when it comes to quality, the original has remained a true roadfood classic.  Will the pizza at the brand-spanking new, sanitized location taste as good?  Does it ever?

what exactly is 'maryland-style' pizza, and how is it distinct from other known styles?

Greasy rectangular pie cut into lots of small square pieces, medium-thin flaky/yeasty crust, sweet sauce, lots of cheese, one thick-cut pepperoni on each slice.  Not the greatest pizza you ever tasted, but sized and priced right to feed a dorm room full of hungry guys or your family on Friday night.  Hit the DC area by storm in the 1950s with Ledo's and a number of others: Pizza Oven (a local chain), Italian Inn, Gentleman Jim's, Pizza Pantry etc.  Some had their own variation - Gentleman Jim's, for example, uses a mix of mozz & swiss cheese on their pies. 

Swiss cheese?!

You read it right, swiss cheese.  With the sweet sauce, it works.  As a kid it was many years before I ever ate one of those "weird round pizzas", because to us a piece of pizza meant little square slices from Gentleman Jim's or Pizza Oven. 

My condolences!

Then I went to New York City and learned that great pizza means a burnt crust, apparently, because that's the only distinguishing feature of most NY pizzas I've ever had.

Well done..and crisp and chewy and delicious..

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2008/01/a-list-of-regional-pizza-styles.html

In all seriousness, Di Fara's pizza is the best pizza I ever had, hands down.  After reading about hours-long waits for even a slice, we went there one cold day and the place was almost empty.  It soon filled up, though.  Absolutely delicious.

When I lived in Yonkers in the 1950s and 1960s you could get a superb pizza pie  at any hole in the wall pizzeria or Italian restaurant in Westchester or NYC. 

NYPIzzaNut


When I lived in Yonkers in the 1950s and 1960s you could get a superb pizza pie  at any hole in the wall pizzeria or Italian restaurant in Westchester or NYC. 

This is no longer true.
 
I've always been grumpy when I found my pizza was square cut. God gave us a crust to keep the napkin count down and allow a fold.  The one thing Ledo did right was putting full slices of bacon on the pizza when you ordered bacon.

You failed to mention the primary

ingredient in Ledo's sauce:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The sauce is sweet, no doubt.  The original restaurant in Adelphi is moderately sweet, but some of the franchise joints really pile on the sugar (or corn syrup or whatever sweetener they use).  Definitely a difference between the two.

They are insane.

sounds like another horrible chain in west virginia called decarlos...little squares with toppings thrown on after cooking...funny though years ago I brought some wva folks to nj ( pizza nirvana land) and they did not like what we had there- they were homesick for the little squares! must be something in the genes I guess haha 

..sounds like the Cincinnatians who love LaRosa's - they cut their pizzas up like that too.. and it is probably some of the worst pizza I have ever tasted:

http://slice.seriouseats.com/archives/2009/06/larosas-pizza-cincinnati-ohio-oh-review.html

LaRosa's: A Tradition Cincinnatians Should Not Be Proud Of

Bleck, Ledo is only a small step above that other bland regional pizza place, Pat's.   What is wrong with people today settling for subpar quality food?

Find a nice greek owned pizza joint in your town!   I like their bread-dough style crusts better.

I certainly wouldn't called Ledo maryland style, it's more like ohio-style.   All the real pizza joints around here (from the 50s 60s 70s) all are round, nearly ny style, but softer with a spicy sauce.

NYPIzzaNut

..sounds like the Cincinnatians who love LaRosa's - they cut their pizzas up like that too..

Once again, NYPN is generalizing about Cincinnatians.  Ridiculous.

Most pizza in Cincinnati is cut in slices.  All pizzerias in Cincinnati (as far as I know) will when feasible (not as feasible on a deep dish or stuffed pie) graciously and without a fuss cut a pie into slices or squares as requested.  LaRosa's included.

Further, not all pizza at LaRosas is cut square.  Some is, some isn't.  But hey, facts like this just get in the way when one feels like slamming the area they live in with a completely unnecessary negative comment, you know? 

And then there's New York, where one can easily find both square cuts and slice cuts.  Some (like Spumoni Gardens) are particularly well known specifically for their square cuts.  Why some folks think that cutting a pie in certain ways is odd when the area they purport to come from cuts it several different ways, including the so-called "odd" way is well beyond me.   I guess we can't all be tunnel-visioned pizza geniuses.

Not that the cut impacts the taste of this (or any) pizza - it doesn't, no matter what some narrow-minded folks seem to think

Now, maybe just maybe we can return to the discussion at hand - Maryland pizzas

bwave


Bleck, Ledo is only a small step above that other bland regional pizza place, Pat's.   What is wrong with people today settling for subpar quality food?

Find a nice greek owned pizza joint in your town!   I like their bread-dough style crusts better.

I certainly wouldn't called Ledo maryland style, it's more like ohio-style.   All the real pizza joints around here (from the 50s 60s 70s) all are round, nearly ny style, but softer with a spicy sauce.

 
Maybe DC-style would be a better description, although Western Maryland had similar pies made at Fox's Pizza Den and Hi-Way Pizza.  I never saw Maryland-style pizza on the Eastern Shore until the ubiquitous Ledo's franchises opened up in the last couple of years.  Don't mistake what they produce as being the same as you get at the original location, which I freely admit "isn't the greatest pizza you ever tasted".  It's all about nostalgia and tradition.

bwave

I certainly wouldn't called Ledo maryland style, it's more like ohio-style.

Tho I have admittedly not been to all pizza joints in Ohio - I doubt anyone has - none of the many pizza joints I have been to in Ohio serve pizza like what what the original poster described

so

I don't think "ohio style" is a fit description either