Joe & Georgia DiPietro. West Tuscarawas. 1956.
It started with a small carry-out on West Tuscarawas Street and one guiding principle: if you make food that's genuinely good and price it so any family can afford it, you'll never run out of customers.
Joe and Georgia DiPietro weren't trying to build a restaurant empire. They were trying to feed their community — and they were really, really good at it. Canton showed up. Word spread. And the carry-out on West Tuscarawas became the beginning of something that would define Stark County's dinner table for seven decades.
The original location is still open today. Same address. Same recipes. Same commitment to doing it right.
Seventy Years, One Chapter at a Time
A Carry-Out on West Tuscarawas
Joe and Georgia DiPietro opened a small carry-out on West Tuscarawas Street in Canton with a simple belief: make great food, price it fairly, and treat every customer like family. The menu was tight — pizza, broasted chicken, pepperoni rolls — and every bite was made from scratch. Canton noticed immediately.
The Recipe Gets Locked In
Through the early years, the DiPietros refined what would become Pizza Oven's signature style: rectangle-cut pizza with a perfectly balanced house sauce, broasted chicken pressure-cooked to that crispy-yet-juicy finish, and soft pepperoni rolls that became a Stark County staple. No shortcuts. No compromises.
Stark County Grows With Us
As Stark County's families grew, so did Pizza Oven. New locations opened across Canton, bringing the same made-from-scratch recipes closer to more neighborhoods. Friday night pizza became a ritual. Party barrels of broasted chicken showed up at every graduation, game night, and block party.
Three Generations, One Standard
The second and third generations of the DiPietro family stepped in — not to change what worked, but to protect it. No franchising. No corporate playbook. Every decision still made by the family. The recipes stayed exactly as Joe and Georgia wrote them, and the commitment to value never wavered.
Nine Locations. One Mission.
With nine locations spread across Stark County — from West Tuscarawas to Navarre, Alliance, Massillon, and beyond — Pizza Oven became the county's go-to for real family meals. The Canton Repository and Stark County Community recognized what the community already knew: Best of the Best, multiple years running.
Papa Bear's Opens Its Doors
The family expanded the legacy with Papa Bear's Italian Restaurant in North Canton — a full sit-down dining experience built on the same Pizza Oven foundation. Full pasta menu, Italian-American classics, elevated plating, and the same family warmth that's been there since 1956.
Seventy Years and Counting
In 2026, Pizza Oven turns 70. Seven decades of feeding Stark County — from the first carry-out order on West Tuscarawas to nine locations and counting. The DiPietro family is celebrating with monthly giveaways, anniversary specials, and a whole lot of gratitude. Stark County, this one's for you.
Three Dishes That Defined Stark County
Rectangle-Cut Pizza, Built Different
Fresh dough stretched daily. House-made sauce. Toppings layered generously — never skimped. Our signature rectangle cut has been the shape of dinner in Stark County since 1956. Joe DiPietro didn't invent the rectangle — he just perfected it.
Available at all nine locations in small, medium, and large. Classic red, white, or specialty — built your way.
The Crunch You Can't Get Anywhere Else
Broasting isn't frying. It's pressure-cooking seasoned chicken until the outside is impossibly crispy and the inside locks in every bit of juice. The result is unlike anything you'll get from a bucket — or anywhere else.
Snack sizes, dinners, king size, and party barrels. Feed two people or twenty — broasted chicken is always the answer.
A Stark County Staple Since Day One
Soft, warm dough. Thick-cut pepperoni baked inside. Four to a pack. Gone before they hit the table. If you've never had one, you're not from around here. If you have, you already know exactly what we're talking about.
Pepperoni rolls started as a simple side. They became the thing people drive across Stark County for.
The Principles That Haven't Changed in 70 Years
Made From Scratch, Every Day
Dough stretched fresh. Sauce made in-house. No frozen shortcuts, no reheated product. Every item that leaves our kitchens was made that day.
Family First. Always.
Three generations of DiPietros running the same operation. No investors. No corporate mandates. The family makes every call because they're the ones who care most.
Value Without Compromise
Great food shouldn't cost a fortune. It never has at Pizza Oven. Our specials are built to feed whole families — without punishing anyone's wallet.
Stark County, Through and Through
We're not a chain that showed up. We were born here in 1956 and we've never left. Stark County's communities are our communities.
Award-Winning, Community-Voted
Four-time Best of the Best winner — voted by the people of Stark County through the Canton Repository. Not a marketing claim. A community verdict.
Nine Locations, One Standard
Same recipes. Same portions. Same commitment. Whether you're at the original West Tuscarawas location or Navarre — it's the same Pizza Oven.
Four-Time Best of the Best. Voted by You.
The Canton Repository's Community Choice Awards are voted on entirely by the people of Stark County. We've won Best of the Best four times — not because of advertising, but because the community keeps choosing us.
Papa Bear's Italian Restaurant
In 2015, the DiPietro family opened Papa Bear's Italian Restaurant in North Canton — a full sit-down dining experience built on the same foundation as Pizza Oven. Same family. Same commitment to quality. Elevated for a full table experience.
Full Italian-American menu — from hand-rolled pasta and chicken feta to classic baked ziti and New York cheesecake. Dine-in, carry-out, and a full bar. If Pizza Oven feeds the family on a Tuesday, Papa Bear's is where the family gathers on a Saturday.
Still the Same. Still Scratch-Made. Still Yours.
Seven decades of the same recipes. Nine locations across Stark County. One family that still makes everything from scratch because they know you can taste the difference. Come find us — we'll be here.