Di Ferro’s in Dallas, PA: New Ownership, New Haven Style Apizza Comes to NEPA, and a Pizza Princess Falls In Love

I walked in, ordered, paid the bill, and reviewed the pizza like every other customer. No heads-up. No comps.

If you’ve been following NEPA pizza over the last year or so, you’ve probably noticed something exciting brewing in the region — New Haven Style Apizza is arriving in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Three shops came to market with it almost simultaneously: Di Ferro’s in Dallas, Cafe Apizza in Forty Fort, and Gio’s Pizza Co in Clarks Summit and Dickson City. Three different operations, three different neighborhoods, three different takes on one of the most iconic regional pizza styles in America. And Di Ferro’s was the first restaurant in NEPA to offer it.

That fact alone earned Di Ferro’s a spot high on my to-review list — but the story here is bigger than just being first. Di Ferro’s is the new evolution of the former Hogan’s Heroes and Pizza at 2587 Memorial Highway in Dallas, PA. Same building, same address, brand-new energy under a new owner — and I want to walk through exactly what that transition has looked like from the pizza review seat, because there’s a really good story here about what happens when a smart, curious, ambitious operator takes over a beloved local pizza spot.

I brought the Pizza Princess along for this review, which was a first for me on a New Haven Style Apizza visit. And I’ll be honest — I wasn’t sure how she’d react. Well done, deeply-baked pizza isn’t her usual lane. What happened next is one of my favorite recent moments in the NEPA Pizza Review universe. But I’ll save that for a minute.

From Hogan’s Heroes to Di Ferro’s: A Passionate New Owner Takes the Reins

Here’s the context that matters most before we get into the pizza.

The last time I reviewed 2587 Memorial Highway, it was still operating as Hogan’s Heroes and Pizza — my November 2024 review, right at the tail end of that era, put the OG Hogan Cheese Pizza at 7.7 overall and the Hot Wing Pizza at 8.7 overall, calling it out as one of the best value pizza spots in Dallas. It was a solid neighborhood pizza operation with a great crust program and honest pricing. I called it NEPA Pizza Review Approved.

Since then, a new owner has taken over and reintroduced the location as Di Ferro’s — and rather than throw out the recipes that were working, the new owner did the smart thing. He carried over the pizzas customers loved and started refining them into improved versions of the originals. That’s a really important detail, because it means the classic Hogan’s-era round pizza and hot wing pizza are still very much alive at Di Ferro’s — you can still get the pizzas I reviewed in 2024, and if anything, they’ve gotten better.

In a couple of conversations I’ve had with the new owner, one thing came through loud and clear: he’s genuinely passionate about pizza craft. He’s a younger guy with his finger on the pulse of what’s trending in the broader pizza world. He’s constantly learning, experimenting, and trying to develop new pies that his customers might love — and he’s not just following trends, he’s paying attention to what’s happening in the national pizza conversation and asking whether it belongs in Dallas, PA.

That mindset is exactly how Di Ferro’s became the first restaurant in NEPA to offer New Haven Style Apizza.

New Haven Style Apizza Comes to NEPA: The Three-Shop Movement

Let me set the broader stage, because this is a really cool moment for the NEPA pizza scene.

New Haven Style Apizza (pronounced “ah-BEETZ”) is one of the most iconic regional pizza styles in America — thin, crispy, tomato-forward, generously charred, and traditionally cooked in extremely high-heat coal ovens at the legendary New Haven shops like Sally’s Apizza, Frank Pepe’s Pizzeria Napoletana, Modern Apizza, and Zuppardi’s. It’s a style with fierce defenders, strong opinions, and an almost religious following in Connecticut. And until recently, if you wanted to eat it, you basically had to drive to New Haven.

Then three NEPA shops brought it home almost simultaneously:

• Di Ferro’s in Dallas — the first to offer New Haven Style Apizza in NEPA
• Cafe Apizza in Forty Fort — coming to market right around the same time (I reviewed them in August 2025)
• Gio’s Pizza Co in Clarks Summit and Dickson City — the third shop in the wave, whose New Haven apizza went viral in the region (Dickson City review)

All three shops make a delicious version of the style, and each brings its own personality to the pie. But — and here’s the honest reality of any regional style expansion — the New Haven apizza purists love to hate on any version made outside New Haven. Anything not baked in a coal oven at 900+ degrees, anything not aggressively charred to the point of looking “burnt” to the uninitiated eye, anything not made by a specific family — you’ll find someone online who wants to tell you it isn’t real.

Meanwhile, on the other side, the NEPA pizza faithful have their own opinion. Many NEPA fans have grown up on a lighter-brown crust as the norm, and anything darker than that gets called “burnt” no matter how expertly it’s baked. Both camps have their voices raised.

But for the people in the middle — the folks who love a thin, crispy, tomato-forward, thoughtfully-baked pizza that brings something new to the region — this is a fantastic moment for NEPA pizza. And Di Ferro’s is right at the front of it.

Atmosphere: Same Building, New Energy

Di Ferro’s occupies the same location the community has known for years at 2587 Memorial Highway in Dallas. The physical space is familiar, but the atmosphere has been refreshed under the new ownership. The energy inside feels invested. The menu feels curious. There’s a sense that the operation is actively evolving — trying new pies, tightening up recipes, learning from every service.

The Pizza Princess Test

Now here’s the moment I want to share with all of you.

I brought the Pizza Princess along for this Di Ferro’s visit, and I was genuinely uncertain going in. She doesn’t typically love a well-done pizza. She likes her crust lighter and has recently been more into Old Forge style trays — very much in the traditional NEPA pizza tradition she grew up eating.

When the New Haven Style Apizza landed on the table, you could see the hesitation. Watch the video review and you can literally see her face register that this looks different from what she’s used to. She didn’t appear impressed by the first look. I braced myself for a polite “it’s okay, Dad.”

Then she took the first bite.

Everything changed.

She liked that it wasn’t greasy. She liked that the crust was crispy. She loved that the sauce was bursting with flavor. By the end of her first slice, she was already talking about coming back — and then she said the line that made me smile the whole drive home:

“I think this might be my go-to pizza spot when I’m at Misericordia.”

That, right there, is exactly the point. A pizza that can flip a skeptical Pizza Princess into a genuine fan on the first bite is doing something real. Di Ferro’s earned that reaction, and the New Haven Style Apizza deserves every ounce of the reception.

The New Haven Style Apizza Tasting Notes

Here’s what I loved most about Di Ferro’s New Haven Style Apizza, in the order it hit me:

• Vibrant, fresh tomatoes are the star. The sauce on this pie is lively, fresh-tasting, applied generously, and seasoned well. I wouldn’t quite call it an “extra sauce” application, but it’s noticeably more generous than what you’d get on a typical New York style pizza around NEPA. That tomato-forward personality is one of the defining characteristics of the New Haven style, and Di Ferro’s absolutely commits to it. This is a pizza that lets tomato take the lead, and the tomatoes are worthy of the spotlight.
• High-quality mozzarella cheese, applied thoughtfully. The mozzarella was flavorful and just the right amount for me to really allow the sauce to shine. A quick and honest note for the NEPA cheese lovers reading: my faithful audience generally enjoys a heavy dose of cheese, and the traditional New Haven style leans lighter on cheese than most NEPA pizza. If you like a heavy cheese application, consider ordering extra cheese. Personally I wouldn’t — I loved the balance as served — but this is worth flagging for the cheese-forward crowd.
• Crust baked to a deep golden brown. This is where I want to be honest and specific about the char question. Is it fully charred like a coal-oven pie from Sally’s or Pepe’s in New Haven? No, it isn’t — and I don’t think that was the intention here. Di Ferro’s is baking in gas or electric deck ovens, not a 900-degree coal oven, and pushing the char to full New Haven levels in a market where much of the audience already calls medium-brown crust “burnt” would be a business decision, not just a culinary one. I think what Di Ferro’s has done is exactly the right crossover play for the NEPA demographic: a deeply-baked, crispy, thin, tomato-forward pie with real New Haven bones and a slightly friendlier char level. Although I personally enjoy heavy char, I think this specific execution is smart, thoughtful, and going to convert far more first-time apizza eaters than a hard-charred version would.
• Overall: excellent. This is a delicious pizza. Full stop.

Is It Authentic? A Complicated Question

Let me address the authenticity question head-on, because it always comes up with New Haven style outside of New Haven.

New Haven Style Apizza isn’t as clearly defined as some of the purists want to suggest. If “authentic” means Sally’s or Pepe’s specifically, then no — Di Ferro’s isn’t identical to those pizzas, and I don’t think that was the intention. But look at Zuppardi’s, Modern Apizza, and several other well-established New Haven shops in the city and you’ll find plenty of pies that look quite a bit like Di Ferro’s. New Haven itself is not a monolith. The style spans a real range even within its home city.

I honestly don’t get hung up on authenticity debates. What I care about is whether the pizza is delicious, whether it’s thoughtfully executed, and whether it brings something distinctive to the market. Di Ferro’s New Haven Style Apizza checks every one of those boxes. It’s a delicious pizza with clear New Haven elements that brings something different to NEPA. It’s thoughtfully made. And I’d happily drive 45 minutes to eat it.

Pizzaiolo’s Notes 🍕

A few things from the pizzaiolo seat looking at the full Di Ferro’s picture:

• The new owner’s curiosity is the whole story. Passionate operators who are constantly learning and paying attention to national pizza trends are the ones who move regional pizza forward. Di Ferro’s being the first NEPA shop to bring New Haven Style Apizza to market is a direct result of that curiosity.
• The tomato-forward sauce is the standout element. A 9.2 Sauce score on the New Haven pie is the highest single-category score I gave on this visit, and it’s the flavor that lingers after every bite.
• The crossover-play crust decision is smart business. Meeting the NEPA market where it is on char level while still delivering an authentically thin, crispy, tomato-forward pizza is a nuanced call, and the new owner made the right one.
• The Hogan’s-era pizzas are still on the menu in improved form. For anyone worried the new ownership meant the loss of the OG cheese pizza or the hot wing pizza, the answer is no — those pies carried over, and the owner has been refining them. My November 2024 scores for those pies (7.7 on the round cheese, 8.7 on the hot wing) are still relevant reference points for the current Di Ferro’s menu.
• This is a 45-minute-drive-worthy pizza spot. I don’t say that lightly. There’s exciting pizza happening in the Back Mountain and it’s worth the trip.

What I’d Order Next Time

I want to come back and put the updated Di Ferro’s version of the OG cheese pizza and the hot wing pizza on the rubric, since the new owner has been refining both since taking over. I also want to try whatever specialty New Haven pie they’re running that week — one of the great things about a curious, experimental operator is the menu never stops evolving. And obviously the Pizza Princess is coming back for more New Haven apizza on future Misericordia trips — that’s already on the schedule.

Final Thoughts: A Big Moment for NEPA Pizza — And Di Ferro’s Is Leading

Di Ferro’s Pizza in Dallas is doing something important for the NEPA pizza scene, and I want to give it the credit it deserves. Being the first restaurant in NEPA to offer New Haven Style Apizza is not a small thing — it takes real conviction to introduce a new regional style to a market that has its own strong pizza traditions and opinions. The new owner has done it thoughtfully, with a clear respect for both the New Haven style and the NEPA palate, and the result is a pizza that’s honestly excellent.

If you love thin, crispy, tomato-forward pizza, or you’re New Haven apizza curious, or you’ve watched the recent viral NEPA New Haven pizza moment and wondered whether it lives up to the hype — the answer is yes. Head to Dallas. Order the New Haven Style Apizza. And bring an open mind, because you’re eating something new for our region and it’s really good.

My Takeaways

• 🍕 Di Ferro’s is the first restaurant in NEPA to offer New Haven Style Apizza — worth the 45-minute drive
• 🍅 The tomato-forward sauce is the star — vibrant, fresh, and generously applied
• 🧀 Mozzarella is high quality and thoughtfully portioned — cheese lovers can add extra
• 🥦 A smart crossover-play on char level for the NEPA market without losing the New Haven personality
• 🍕 The new owner is passionate, curious, and constantly refining — Hogan’s-era classics are still on the menu in improved form
• 🍕 The Pizza Princess found a potential go-to Misericordia University pizza spot in the process

Have you tried New Haven Style Apizza at Di Ferro’s yet? Are you a purist who thinks apizza can only be made in New Haven, a fan of the new NEPA scene, or someone who’s still curious? Drop your thoughts in the comments. And if you’ve done the tour of all three NEPA apizza shops — Di Ferro’s, Cafe Apizza, and Gio’s — tell me your rankings.

Pizza is Similar to:

• The fellow NEPA New Haven Style Apizza wave at Cafe Apizza in Forty Fort
• The viral New Haven pizza moment at Gio’s Pizza Co in Dickson City
• The original New Haven apizza tradition at Modern Apizza in New Haven and BAR in New Haven

Rating Tables

A quick note before the table: the descriptions above are my gut read — the in-the-moment flavor experience of the visit. The scorecard below is my technical scoring on the standard six-category NEPA Pizza Review rubric — Crust, Sauce, Cheese, Taste, Crispy/Cooked Properly, and Value. Both are honest. I stand by my gut take of what I enjoyed most in the moment, and I stand by the technical scores I locked in after careful reflection.

The Hogan’s-era pizzas (round cheese and hot wing) carry over as improved versions under Di Ferro’s ownership, so I’m including my most recent scores for those pies in the same table for continuity.

Rank	Pizza Ordered	Visit	Crust	Sauce	Cheese	Taste	Crispy/Cooked	Value	Overall
1	New Haven Style Apizza	July 2026	8.5	9.2	8.2	8.8	8.6	7.0	8.7
2	Hot Wing Pizza (Hogan’s-era, still on menu)	Nov 2024	8.7	8.1	8.2	9.7	8.8	7.0	8.7
3	OG Round Cheese Pizza (Hogan’s-era, still on menu)	Nov 2024	8.2	7.7	6.8	7.3	8.2	7.9	7.7
4	Gluten Free Pizza	July 2026	6.6	7.2	7.0	7.1	6.5	6.2	6.6

Updated scorecards for the current Di Ferro’s versions of the round cheese and hot wing pizzas coming on a return visit — the new owner has been refining both since taking over.

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Di Ferro’s
2587 Memorial Highway, Dallas, PA 18612
Website: diferros.com
Formerly Hogan’s Heroes and Pizza · New ownership · First New Haven Style Apizza in NEPA

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Speaking of sauce — if you’re curious how Di Ferro’s tomato-forward New Haven sauce stacks up against the rest of the NEPA sauce field, check out our NEPA Pizza Sauce Rankings for the running leaderboard. And if you make pizza at home and want the gear I actually use, our Amazon affiliate picks are linked on the site — every click helps keep NEPA Pizza Review independent and ad-light.