Pizza is a favorite food for folks observing Lent, which is why the pizza capital of the world sees a lot of customers this time of year.
OLD FORGE, Pa. — It’s usually busy on a Friday night in the Pizza Capital of the World.
“Usually every Friday in Old Forge, it’s a tradition, Main Street’s like Las Vegas,” said Bill Nocera, the owner of Bobo’s Pizza.
But on the first Friday of Lent, some say Main Street’s like Manhattan.
“Pizza places in Old Forge are already generally busy on a Friday anyway; they’re always packed. But during Lent, you get double the business for every pizza place in Old Forge,” said Nocera.
The first Friday of Lent is a day pizza places prepare for all week.
“Staying later, coming in earlier, prepping the cheese, the sauce, the dough, making sure we’re stocked with beer, liquor, everything we need,” said Stephen Seliga, a bartender at Revello’s Pizza.
“You got to be ready, you got to be ready. All of the ovens are on, we got three people alone making just pizzas tonight, to make sure that it goes out perfect for people,” said Jeff Adomiak, the owner of Salerno’s Café.
And on this particular Friday, there are plenty of people pining for pizza.
“Fridays during Lent, it’s kind of crazy because of the no meat, it gets pretty busy,” said Seliga.
“We’re going to be doing over 230 trays of pizza today since 12:00 p.m.,” said Nocera.
“We’ll see probably close to 80 people, probably tonight just in the dining room tonight, probably more than 40 tonight just in takeout orders, a lot of takeout orders,” said Adomiak.
Even folks who don’t practice Lent as much still come to Old Forge for pizza on the first Friday.
“I don’t practice Lent as much as I used to, but I am getting the eggplant and the white pie, I’m not eating meat today in honor of my grandmother,” said Robert DeFlice from Scranton.
“You could go everywhere in Old Forge tonight, and everything’s pizza tonight. Pizza Capital of the World,” said Louis Stassi of Old Forge.