I finally tried Marion's 'Dayton-style' pizza, here's how it stacks up vs. LaRosa's

Keith Pandolfi, Cincinnati Enquirer
·4 min read
An onion and banana pepper pizza from Marion's Piazza, in Dayton.
An onion and banana pepper pizza from Marion's Piazza, in Dayton.

Have you ever tried Marion's pizza? For the uninitiated, Marion's is basically the LaRosa’s of Dayton, a beloved local institution that, like our own homegrown slice, is often the first pizza a native Daytonian tastes and hence, grows to unconditionally love.

Founder Marion Glass opened his first Marion's restaurant (known as Marion's Piazza) in 1965, though the “Dayton-style” pies he served had long been popular at Cassano’s, Dayton’s first pizza parlor, which was opened by Vic Cassano and his mother-in-law, Caroline Donisi, in 1953. In fact, Glass owned a couple of Cassano’s franchises before heading off on his own and using a similar recipe.

There are now quite a few Dayton-style pizzerias in the Gem City, but along with Marion's, the big three include Cassano’s and Ron's, which was opened by another Cassano's franchise owner in Miamisburg in 1964. Just as LaRosa's eventually overtook Cincinnati's first two pizzerias, Capri Pizza and Pasquale's, in terms of popularity, so too did Marion's with Cassano's. The restaurant chain is a frequent winner of the Dayton Daily News' Best Pizza Restaurant and Best Square-Cut Pizza contests.

The unofficial fourth big name in Dayton-style pizza is Donato’s, which has been serving it since 1964. But since it’s headquartered in Columbus, Donato's is often referred to as, you guessed it, Columbus-style pizza. (Note: When it comes to pizza styles, there's no end to the arguments over what constitutes Dayton-style vs. Columbus-style vs. St. Louis Style vs. Chicago thin crust style, etc. So before you start writing the hate mail, know that I understand the controversies and will hopefully deal with them at a later time.)

I first tried Marion’s in the late 1990s when I was working as an editor in Dayton. More than the pizza, I remember the restaurant itself: an enormous space that sat around 500 in its multiple dining areas, all of which were set up to look like Italian piazzas (hence the restaurant's official name) with archways, streetlights and frescos of the Italian countryside on the wall. One thing’s for sure, Marion’s beat Olive Garden to the punch when it comes to creating an American fantasy of what Italy must be like.

A banana pepper and onion pizza from Marion's Piazza, in Mason.
A banana pepper and onion pizza from Marion's Piazza, in Mason.

I hadn't been back to Marion's since. But after visiting an amazing Sichuan restaurant in Mason that I'll be writing about later, I passed by Marion's only Greater Cincinnati location and decided to give it another try. Here's what I thought:

  1. I love the space itself, which is still set up like a piazza with seating for a hundred or so diners. I can imagine how downright enchanting it would be to come here with your parents as a kid, so I get why Daytonians love Marion’s the same way I once loved the dark, red checkerboard, tableclothed LaRosa’s restaurants of my own childhood.

  2. They have a really good craft beer selection. And that beer is served in frosted mugs, which always earns extra points in my book. The only downside is that those frosted mugs are made of plastic, which made me sad for about a half second before I got over it. For those who would prefer not to imbibe in beer, Marion's offers root beer in frosted mugs and, in my opinion, drinking root beer out of a frosted mug at a pizza parlor is one of America's great pleasures.

  3. Let’s talk about the pizza itself. Based on what I know, this is the real deal when it comes to Dayton-style pies. It has a thin, semi-crispy crust that is tasked with supporting the disproportionately heavy amount of sauce, cheese and toppings that cover the pizza from edge to edge. Perhaps to prevent collapse, the pizza is cut into small squares. Since those squares are so delicious and easy to eat, it's almost impossible not to finish a whole pie in one sitting.

  4. I ordered my pizza with banana peppers and onions because that’s how I roll. I was later informed by several Dayton natives that I'd ordered wrong and that Marion's pellet-like sausage, made by Clayton, Ohio-based Landes Fresh Meats, is the way to go. Some even recommended their tuna and green olive pizza, which I'm totally down with.

Long story short: I get why Marion's is so popular. It's a solid pie that lives up to its Dayton-style heritage. Now, compared to LaRosa's, I thought it lacked the unique (albeit polarizing) character of our hometown pizza. Then again, if Marion's was the pizza of my youth, I might feel differently.

If you've never tried Dayton-style pizza at Marion's, it's worth a trip to Mason (or even Dayton). My suggestion is to grab your family or a group of friends so you can try several different pizzas all at once (they also offer hoagies, salads and pasta). No matter what you think of the pizza, eating and drinking frosty beers like a Daytonian in a faux Roman courtyard in the 'burbs is an experience well worth having.

Marion's Piazza, 6176 Soundwave Blvd., Mason; 513-398-9998. More locations can be found in Dayton.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Marion's Piazza defines 'Dayton-style' pizza. Here's my review of it