Green Ridge Pizza: A Throwback to Childhood Pizza Days

A look at the pizza at Green Ridge Pizza in Scranton.

I first had Green Ridge Pizza way back in the 90’s when my friend and I would go to Green Ridge Lanes to hang out while his parents bowled.  Where I vaguely remember what the bowling alley looks like, I do have a keen memory of what the pizza looked and tasted like from the snack bar there.  Since establishing this blog a couple decades later, I have tried several times to call or visit Green Ridge Pizza in an effort to review the pizza and see how it compared to my childhood memories.  Each time over the years when I tried, the place was closed so I started to believe that it may have been closed for good, until members of the NEPA Nation began pointing out that I still hadn’t reviewed the historic pizza spot that is beloved by many.  After seeing some recent photos of their pizzas posted on social media, I confirmed that they were in fact open for business.

Green Ridge Pizza uses a very creamy cheese to top off their Old Forge Pizza.

From the point of calling in to the point of picking up the pizza and sitting down to eat it, I learned that Green Ridge Pizza is just about the pizza.  It’s a straight forward, no frills, cash only, what you see is what you get type of place that the hungry people I watched come in and out appeared to enjoy.  Service was fast on a Friday night as I called in during the dinner rush and was told 20 minutes for pickup, which was pretty amazing I thought!

The Green Ridge Pizza crust is very light and airy while also being consistent and uniform throughout.

The pizza came out cooked perfectly with what looked and tasted like a creamy yellow american cheese on top.  The crust was browned up nicely and the deep red sauce, which reminded me of a spaghetti sauce with a smoother texture, poked out around the edged.  The sauce was quite savory and full bodied with a hint of sweetness.  Shell was thin and super consistent all the way through with a small and uniform sponge bubble pattern.  I wasn’t sure if it was a fresh shell or prefab because it was so uniform, but if I had to guess it was prefab.  Either way it was cooked flawlessly with a fantastically even brown bottom and a nice crunch while being a little chewy in the center.  As I said, the cheese seemed to be an american cheese and I think I caught a little romano-type cheese underneath to give it some sharpness.

A look at the hearty and flavorful sauce peeking through the creamy cheese.

Overall, this was a solid tray of Old Forge style pizza with a bit of a unique flavor because of the sauce.  I can see why so many people love it.  It’s so light that I probably could have destroyed an entire 12 cut tray myself.  My favorite thing about this pizza was that it tasted exactly like I remembered it probably 25 years earlier!  Have you ever been to Green Ridge Pizza?  Do you have memories to share?  Please leave them in the comments below!

The Ratings

Restaurant: Green Ridge Pizza
Location: Scranton, PA
Date: September 2019
Eat In/Take Out: Eat In

Pizza Ordered: Square (Old Forge) Pizza
Price: $15.00
Crust: 7.1
Sauce: 6.9
Cheese: 6.8
Overall Taste: 7.0
Crispy/Cooked Properly: 8.5
Overall Value: 6.5
OVERALL RATING: 7.1
Similar to: Cafe Ferri’s Pizza, Lou’s Pizza,