Gio's Pizza Co Clarks Summit

Visiting Gio’s After they First Opened and a Year Later!

My First Visit to Gio’s

Gio’s Pizza Co has opened in the Gerrity’s plaza at 100 Old Lackawanna Trail, Clarks Summit, PA in the location that has featured quality pizzerias like Pizza by Pappas, Donio’s Pizza, Fiorillo’s Pizza, and Summit Slice over the years. This location holds a special place in my heart as Donio’s was the place where I worked for a number of years and first learned to make pizza. I was ultra-excited when I learned there were some Donio’s roots in the new ownership team!

I popped in after grabbing some groceries to grab a slice and check the place out. They remodeled the dining room, now featuring a modern decor and a new long galley style table in the dining room. The place looks good, it’s slick, clean, and feels new yet familiar. They offer dine-in, take-out, and delivery services.

Grab and Go Slice

I ordered a cheese slice for the road and observed some of the operation and the owner was gracious enough to take a few minutes to tell me about the place. I watched how he carefully prepared each pizza and it was evident that taking the time to cook everything properly was part of the approach. The 18″ pizzas are baked on screens in the very same ovens that I made pizza in years ago!

Reviewing the NY Slice

The pizza itself looks very good and gave me some flashbacks to the Donio’s days with an updated feel. The pizzas I’ve seen on social and the ones I observed going out the door were all cooked beautifully with a nice dark/golden brown crust and some charring around the edges. They were quite heavy handed on the cheese to a level at which some would call extra cheese so they didn’t jip me on this slice. The high proportion of cheese concealed the flavor of the sauce a bit, but it was a smooth, light, neatly seasoned sauce that many will like. The crust was tender, slightly crisp, and foldable. This pizza fits comfortably into the “party pleaser” category that if you took it to a party, chances are everyone will enjoy it as it offers something for everybody.

My Second Visit to Gio’s

Gio’s in Clarks Summit, PA is coming up on a year in business and they are making a name for themselves for putting their unique spin and premium finishes on every dish. I stopped by to try their New York Style Pizza, Italian Beef Hoagie, and arancini.

The pizza is unlike most in NEPA. They cook the pizza to a deep brown well done. It features an ultra thin crust with a thick, light, and airy cornicione. The edge crust has a lovely eggshell texture that cracked and crunched as I folded it. I’m told the fermentation time is about 3 days and there are some sourdough elements to it.

The sauce was quite unique featuring some type of citrus in it – I think lemon. There was also a richness to it, perhaps from a Romano cheese of some kind. Topped with a quality mozzarella cheese and some fresh basil, this thing was very good. Definitely a memorable pie with character.
 The showstopper was definitely the Italian beef hoagie. It features a house made sesame seed roll with some insane crunch, braised beef, broccoli rabe, charred peppers, and sharp cheese. The flavor was absolutely insane on this one. I highly recommend!

The arancini was also great! Made with Grande Avorio cheese, flavorful rice, and a lightly breaded outer shell, these Sicilian rice balls were a great appetizer.