Antica Pizzeria at Port’Alba in Naples, Italy, is generally considered the world’s oldest pizzeria. It was established in 1738 as a snack stall for street merchants. The actual pizzeria was opened in 1830 in the town center at Via Port’Alba, replacing the street vendors who would make pizza in wood-fired ovens and bring it onto the street, keeping it warm in small tin stoves, called stufas, that they balanced on their head. These pizzas were generally simple pies with toppings such as oil and garlic.
Lombardi’s in New York City is recognized as the first pizzeria in the United States. Opened in 1897 as a grocery store, Lombardi’s started selling pizza in 1905, which would also make it the oldest pizzeria in the U.S. However, Papa’s Tomato Pies pizzeria in New Jersey recently laid claim to the “oldest pizzeria” title, since Lombardi’s closed for 10 years before reopening in 1994. Papa’s has run continuously since 1912.
While these two pizzerias may be the first and oldest, pizza didn’t become popular in the U.S. until the mid 1940s, when American G.I.‘s brought back a taste for pizza from their tours of duty in Italy.
Along with the rising popularity of pizza in the 1950s came the first pizza chain restaurants, like Shakey’s in 1954 and Pizza Hut in 1958. Frozen pizza soon followed, with brands like Celentano Brothers and the still well-known Totino’s. Still, Americans loved fresh pizza and would sometimes get take-out pies from their favorite pizzeria. Traditionally, take-out pies were placed on a cardboard plate and stuffed in a bag.
Given the stacking limitations of “bagged” pizza, delivery wouldn’t become popular until the early 1960s, when a former Marine named Tom Monaghan saw an opportunity for mass delivery. Monaghan helped pioneer the invention of the corrugated pizza box, and pizza delivery as we know it was born. Most pizza places today still use this 50-year-old technology in one form or another.
