Pizza Week 2025: Mario's Pizza in Owego
34 alum and now special pizza correspondent Mike Tanzini is resuming his tour of local pizzerias.
First, Mike takes us out to Owego to learn about a familiar family recipe.
'It's just an ongoing tradition and a family-run business,' said Mario's Owner Jerry Pettinato.
A staple in Owego, Mario's Pizza has been in business for over 45 years. A lot can change in four and a half decades. But if you ask Jerry Pettinato, if something ain't broke, you don't fix it.
'It hasn't been tweaked, it has not been changed, it's been the same recipe,' said Pettinato.
Jerry knows a thing or two about the pizza business. His father and family managed an Italian restaurant in the Scranton area that's been in operation since the 1920s. Meanwhile, Jerry's father-in-law opened Mario's Pizza in the late 1970s. It wasn't long before Jerry jumped into the pizza biz to continue the family tradition.
'Between my wife being in the business, me being familiar with that, it seemed like a natural progression with me to get into this,' said Pettinato.
It's a full family effort as Jerry, Amanda, Vinny, and Gina all work together to make the signature Mario's pizza, which starts with dough made fresh each day using a blend of flour, water, sugar, salt, and a special yeast.
'Fresh yeast is extremely fragile. It can't sit for a long time, or it will lose its potency,' said Pettinato.
The dough will ferment for 24 to 36 hours, which enhances its flavor and makes it light, airy, and easy to work with.
'You go all the way around. Give it a little tug and pull. Let gravity stretch it out. Give it a little tug and a little turn. Unfortunately, it took me a little while to really get the technique. It's not about speed…oh there it goes. I jinxed myself here. Is this fixable? This is the magic of television. When this comes out, you probably won't be able to tell there was a hole in it,' said Pettinato.
Next, it's time to drop down the sauce.
'One scoop of sauce dead center – kind of like target practice here,' said Pettinato.
Mario's utilizes fresh California tomatoes.
'You want the best that you can possibly get. It's been the same brand of tomato for 45 years. That company is strict with their tolerances, and everything is perfect' said Pettinato.
Along with a special blend of Italian seasonings, which packs a punch of fresh flavor.
As with any loyal family business, Jerry isn't budging on revealing the family recipe.
'There are some traditional Italian seasonings. A little bit of TLC, a little bit of love, and we'll… just leave it at that,' said Pettinato.
Now, time for the 100% whole milk, full cream mozzarella cheese that's going to melt beautifully and blanket our pie. After spreading what I'd consider a perfect layer of cheese, I feel like it might be time for a promotion!
'I'm in charge. My first order of business is giving everyone a half day. Jim is going to stay and make pizza with me.'
After several minutes in the oven, we take it out, cut it up, and get ready to enjoy a meal as a family – the same meal that Mario's has been serving to customers, both young and old.
'They've been with us for generations. It's more than 45 years that we've been here. We're on second and third generations now coming up and seeing their kids and grandkids come in and have that same smile on their face when they take that first bite of pizza,' said Pettinato.
I want to thank everybody at Mario's for helping me be a part of the family and for creating their signature Mario's pizza. There are some places out there that say, 'When you're here, you're family.' I can tell you firsthand that when you're down at Mario's, you're part of La Famiglia.
Mario's is located at 51 Fox Street in Owego, which is the only location owned by the Pettinato family.
Next, Mike heads to Vestal to learn about another long-time pizza staple in our community.
Meanwhile, you can vote for your favorite local pie in our pizza poll by clicking here.
Pizza Week 2025: Mario's Pizza in Owego
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