Many of the settlers who came to Cleveland in the past were from the island of Sicily. Yes, it is an Italian territory, but it has a distinct culture all of its own and that includes the way Sicilians prepare pizza. Sicilian-style pizza is very different to a typical Italian pizza or even adapted variations that are popular all over the States like New York or Chicago-style. With a bready base that's usually at least an inch thick, when you get a slice of Sicilian-style pie, you'll know you've got it and you'd better be a fan of tomato too. These rectangular, tray-baked pies come smothered with sauce. If there's any cheese it'll be hiding under the sauce which is traditionally sprinkled with a liberal dose of fragrant herbs like oregano and basil. Sicilian-style pizza is a big bite and if you can manage more than a slice or two, you're a pizza-eating champion in the making.

Best delivery pizza in Cleveland

There's nothing worse than ordering a pizza then sitting around totally famished waiting for it to turn up. It can be extremely frustrating particularly when your stomach is rumbling with hunger pangs or you're on a tight lunch schedule because you've got a meeting to attend. You'll find the best delivery pizza in Cleveland comes from Don Gi's Pizzeria on Broadway Road. They don't mess about when it comes to using quality ingredients or getting your pizza to you as fast as they possibly can. They're a family-run business with a lot of pizza know-how. There's nothing flash about Don Gi's establishment apart from the service and the pies. In fact, you'd be hard put to see inside the pizzeria from the sidewalk for all the stickers covering the windows. They're delivery pizza-oriented and all about getting you fed with a great pizza in the shortest possible time.

Best takeout pizza in Cleveland

When you want a take-out pizza, you want it to be fresh. It's no good getting one that's been sitting on a buffet counter before being packed in a box. If you've been at the Cleveland Aquarium or shopping in the West Side Market and fancy spending time by the lakefront in Edgewater Park, try Citizen Pie. Citizen Pie offers a great service for take-outs. There's no picking up an hour-old pizza from them. At Citizen Pie they don't start cooking until you walk in and make your order. If you're in a rush, you can order online and they'll have your pizza waiting when you walk in the door. Don't take too long though. The pizza oven at Citizen Pie is as hot as Vesuvius and cooks a pie in roughly ninety seconds. Even if you wait to order until you get there, at that speed, you won't be hanging around for long.

Best pizza near Cleveland, Ohio

Lakewood

Lakewood is an Ohio city less than ten miles west of Cleveland that's all about moving forward with the times. It's a city that, unlike San Francisco, retired its streetcars from service in the early 1950s and moved on to more modern methods of transport including becoming bicycle-friendly. Getting around in Lakewood is easy and so is finding a good pizzeria. Drop into award-winning Angelo's Pizza on Madison Avenue and you'll find change doesn't come overnight. It takes time and perseverance.

Euclid

Euclid is one of those strange places you'd probably struggle to find a reason to go to unless you had a specific reason or actually lived there. It's quite possible that even the Greek mathematician the city was named after wouldn't find inspiration in the city's one-hundred and forty-plus miles of geometrically aligned streets. He may well have enjoyed the angular cut of Congin's pizza al taglio though. It's hip to be square in Euclid.

Northfield

Northfield is an Ohio city less than twenty miles from Cleveland but one that borders a fantastic national park. The Cuyahoga Valley National Park is acres and acres of terrain that contain an immense variety of wildlife as well as natural wonders like waterfalls. If you pick up a pizza from Spennato's make sure you eat it all before you go. There are bears in the woods who will be only too happy to share.