PENNSYLVANIA'S MOST
CONTROVERSIAL PIZZA?
A thick Sicilian-style square topped with salami, a green pepper ring, and a blanket of yellow American cheese went viral as a 'pizza crime' — and plenty of Altoona hadn't heard of it either.
THE SHORT ANSWER
A thick Sicilian-style square topped with salami, a green pepper ring, and a blanket of yellow American cheese went viral as a 'pizza crime' — and plenty of Altoona hadn't heard of it either.
THE STORY IN BRIEF
Most pizza gets famous slowly. A neighborhood. Then a city. Then the country. Altoona skipped the line. In May of 2020, one photo went viral, and the internet reached a verdict in about an afternoon: a crime against pizza.
Meet Altoona-style pizza, also called Altoona Hotel pizza or Altoona Sicilian: a thick Sicilian-style square with sweet sauce, deli salami, a ring of green pepper, and a blanket of yellow American cheese on top. We go back to the Altoona Hotel at 38th and Fifth, the 2013 fire that destroyed it, the people who kept the recipe alive, and why nobody can agree who invented it.
WHAT'S PROVEN, WHAT'S LEGEND
DOCUMENTED
The Altoona Hotel stood at 38th Street and Fifth Avenue in Altoona's Knickerbocker neighborhood. It was built in the early 1900s to house South Altoona Foundry supervisors, gutted by a fire in 1967 (rebuilt smaller), and destroyed by fire in January 2013 at about 110 years old. Local sources differ on small details such as the exact date of the first fire; we use 1967.
LEGEND
Who invented Altoona-style pizza, and when, is not documented. Wikipedia and PA Bucket List say the 1950s; the shop owner and the Pittsburgh City Paper say the 1960s or 1970s; the Philadelphia Inquirer calls the 1950s date local legend. 1950s hotel ads called the pizza only "home made".
DOCUMENTED
The original cheese being Velveeta is reported from a shop owner's account. The "Hotel pizza" nickname and the debate over how thin the peppers were come from local readers' recollections, not formal reporting.
DOCUMENTED
The viral moment was May 2020, after a photo of Altoona-style squares spread on Twitter and the Pittsburgh City Paper reported on it. National coverage came mostly from food sites such as The Takeout, Tasting Table, Mashed and Chowhound.
DOCUMENTED
After the fire, about a dozen local restaurants picked up the style (a 2020 estimate). Steve Corklic of 29th Street Pizza, Subs & More worked out his version with help from a former hotel employee; the surname is also spelled Cokrlic in some coverage (Sorry, Steve, if we misspelled or mispronounced your name!). The shop was sold in July 2025 and still bakes Altoona-style pizza.
DOCUMENTED
The Altoona Curve, the Double-A affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates, played as the Altoona Pizzas for a week, August 8 to 13, 2023.
DOCUMENTED
Altoona was founded by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1849 as a shop and maintenance town.
CHAPTERS
0:00One photo, one verdict0:22What the jury saw0:43The yellow cheese was the crime0:57Mind the name, and a railroad town1:13The Altoona Hotel1:29Friday nights and squares after the game1:40The legend check: who invented it?2:07The 2013 fire and the town that kept the recipe2:29The photo, the outrage, the Altoona Pizzas2:39Pittsburgh's cold-cheese square2:51A crime scene or Friday night on Fifth Avenue?
SOURCES
- Pittsburgh City Paper — Altoona Hotel Pizza: the slice with yellow cheese from Central Pa. you've never heard of
- The Takeout — "Altoona-style pizza" baffles the nation, including Altoona itself
- Altoona Mirror — Hotel blaze hits home (editorial, 2013)
- Altoona Mirror — 110-year-old building a total loss (2013)
- Tribune-Democrat — Altoona Hotel destroyed in early-morning blaze
- Philadelphia Inquirer — Pennsylvania's quirky Altoona pizza tastes better than it looks (2024)
- Spotlight PA — A purist's guide to Pennsylvania's misfit pizzas
- Wikipedia — Altoona-style pizza
- Uncovering PA — Altoona-Style Pizza
- PA Bucket List — Altoona-Style Pizza: The Pizza That Broke the Internet
- SportsLogos.Net — Altoona Curve to play as Pizzas (2023)
- Wikipedia — Altoona, Pennsylvania
- National Park Service — History of the Altoona Railroad Shops
- Dexerto — YouTuber Sir Yacht drives hours to try Altoona-style pizza (2026)
- Pittsburgh Pizza (Substack) — The Goblin of Pizza: Altoona Hotel Pizza
- Chowhound — This Pennsylvania pizza style is the most controversial one yet
- Tasting Table — What makes Altoona-style pizza so unique?
- Mashed — Everything you need to know about Altoona-style pizza
- Narcity — Reddit reaction to Altoona-style pizza
- Paste Magazine — the pizza-photo Twitter account
Spot something we got wrong? Tell us in the comments. Locals always know best.
SHORTS FROM THIS STORY
MORE STORIES TO TASTE
ALL STORIES →
ALSO MID-ATLANTICOLD FORGE, PA
Pizza Capital of the World?
ANOTHER GREAT ARGUMENTCHICAGO, IL
Pizza City, USA?
← CHICAGONEXT STORY: NEW YORK CITY (PART 1), NOVEMBER 15, 2026