When it comes to pizza, few names in Northeastern Pennsylvania (NEPA) are as recognized as Jim Mirabelli, the creator of NEPA Pizza Review and a widely respected voice in the pizza community. Known for supporting small businesses, preserving local pizza culture, and teaching through the Virtual Pizza Academy, Jim has turned his lifelong passion for pizza into a career of influence and community impact.
From his early days as a dishwasher in a local pizzeria to becoming a nationally recognized pizza reviewer, Jim shares his story, insights, and advice in this exclusive 20-question interview. Whether you’re a pizza lover, restaurant owner, or an aspiring content creator, you’ll discover lessons on passion, authenticity, and entrepreneurship.
1. Who is Jim Mirabelli, and how did you become the pizza influencer you are today?
First and foremost, I’m a father of 2 great kids, Layla and Jack, and a husband to my wonderful wife Jaimie. I made pizza in a local shop throughout high school and college, and even on the weekends for a few years when I had my first jobs in accounting and finance. When the time came that I didn’t have the time to continue to work in pizzerias, I decided to start a pizza blog back in 2012 as sort of a personal pizza diary that I published online anonymously. I never really set out for anyone to read it, I was just doing it as a creative outlet to talk about the food I loved – pizza! Fast forward 13+ years, and I’ve gotten comfortable being on camera, using social media, and learning every day to keep growing and getting my positive minded, small business supporting message out!
2. What was your very first pizza job, and what did you learn from it?
My first job as a dishwasher in a local pizzeria. I was fascinated by watching the pizza guys throw the pizza dough around and make pizza and begged my manager to teach me to make pizza like them. Learning how to make pizza was a great skill, but I learned so much more in the pizzeria. I was always an introverted dork, and still am today, but the people I worked with brought me out of my shell, taught me what it means to have each others back, and some important life lessons I’ll never forget. Humility, communication, and hard work were also lifeline lessons I took with me from that job. That first job had a profound impact on who I am as a person!
3. Growing up in the NEPA pizza scene, what makes it truly unique compared to New York or Philly?
The beauty of pizza in Northeastern Pennsylvania is that it’s incredibly diverse, quirky, and largely all made by independent mom and pop shops. We have several regional styles that you’ll only find in NEPA like Old Forge Pizza, Pan Fried Sicilian Pizza, Double Crust White, and even the famous east coast Grotto Pizza chain was started here in NEPA. Although we do have some really great versions of pizzas like you would find in New York or Philly, overall NEPA really doesn’t compare to either city. The pizza scene here sort of stands on its own because it’s so different. We don’t try to be like any other city or region. Locals just like sweet sauces, American cheese on pizza, lightly baked trays, and crusts fried in peanut oil. They generally don’t worry about what other cities are doing. I myself keep tabs on pizza around the country and try to influence locals to adopt some of the cooler things going on like cup n char pepperoni and hot honey. NEPA is usually a 5-10 years behind everyone else in adopting new things related to pizza, but that’s ok because we have strong traditions and pizza culture here.
4. Old Forge pizza is polarizing — how do you explain it to outsiders?
Old Forge Pizza is polarizing for 2 things: premade pizza shells and American cheese. There is a broad over-generalization that outsiders love to define Old Forge pizza as being made from store bought pizza shells and made with only American cheese. Do some places make their pizza this way? I’m sure they do. But most of the kitchens that I’ve been invited back into show me how they make fresh dough and tell me a little about their cheese blends. Overwhelmingly – most Old Forge pizzas are made with a blend of cheeses, and some don’t include American cheese at all.
I explain Old Forge pizza this way: Old Forge Pizza is a pan pizza with a medium thickness crust (about 1” thick) that is light, tender, and crisp on the bottom and has a tight crumb. Sauces are usually sweeter with notes of sweet onion and are more akin to a cooked Sunday sauce than a raw New York style sauce. The cheese blend is all over the place and include a range usually of 1-4 different types of cheese on top. If the cheese sticks to the roof of your mouth, you’ll know you likely bit into some American or Cooper cheese!
5. Pan-Fried Sicilian is another NEPA specialty — what sets it apart from Detroit-style?
I get this question so often that I actually wrote a comprehensive article and created an infographic to help people understand the differences: Pan-Fried Sicilian Pizza vs Detroit-Style Pizza
Although the pizzas do share plenty of similarities, there are some important differences to point out. As someone who teaches both styles of pizza in the Virtual Pizza Academy, these pizzas share some roots like being baked in the same pan, but preparation methods and order of operation (sauce on top of Detroit vs under the cheese on Pan Fried Sicilian). Check out the article for all the details!
6. What motivated you to start NEPA Pizza Review back in 2012?
When I had to give up making pizzas due to my full-time job and family commitments, I needed something to continue to fulfill my creative side and passion for pizza. I was in grad school and the professor assigned us to create a blog post. I took the assignment to heart and actually launched a blog and kept with it. Blogging wasn’t a sexy thing to do in NEPA back then, but driving around, trying new pizzas, and writing about them just invigorated me and I continue to have that same drive to continue writing and creating pizza content more than ever!
7. Early days of the blog — did you think anyone would actually care or read it?
Simply put – no. I didn’t write it for anyone else. I was writing it for myself as a digital pizza journal. I didn’t even tell my friends or family about the blog. It wasn’t until one of my close friends called to tell me he heard about this guy was driving around eating pizza and writing about it online. He recommended that I go check out the website. I told him I know who runs that website – me!
8. How do you balance a full-time admin career with pizza reviewing, videos, and community events?
Honestly, my patient and supportive wife who has been with me on this pizza journey since day 1 is the real reason. I’m the type of person that just enjoys being busy. I love my day job. I love spending time with my family and friends, and I also love doing all things pizza. I’ve made pizza a lifestyle, but how do I get it all done? I do almost everything off my cellphone. I’m not a perfectionist, so I have no problem just being my authentic self and posting content knowing I mispronounced a word or stuttered. That helps me get the content out much faster. I’m not perfect, nor is my content. I also leverage a lot of software and AI to speed up my workflow. But it’s a struggle to find balance. It’s also a challenge to stay present. I’m often guilty of being on my phone during dinner and I have to improve on that.
9. On average, how many new pizzerias do you visit in a typical month?
I actually keep a daily slice log since January 2014. I typically average right around 1 slice per day, although I do try to strive to cap it at 20 slices a month. It’s just difficult when I’m around pizza when reviewing and then when I’m making pizza for the Virtual Pizza Academy I have to try a slice!
10. Can you recall a time when your review directly saved or boosted a pizzeria’s sales?
I don’t talk about it publicly often, but when owners reach out after a review to tell me they just had the busiest weekend in years, I’m often moved to tears. Since those are private conversations between myself and the owner, I don’t really talk about the specifics.
I can usually tell when a review video is going to do well before I post it. If the pizza looks good, the owners are great people, and there’s a compelling story to tell – I know the pizzeria is going to get busy fast. Having that impact is profoundly humbling to me and it makes me want to keep doing more.
11. You choose not to publish negative reviews — why take this approach?
This is probably one of the questions most frequently asked of me. I get criticized often for this. Look, I know negativity and being controversial can earn me more likes, comments, followers, and probably some money too. My parents raised me that if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all. It’s those values combined with all that the pizza industry did for a dorky 14 year old kid just looking for a dishwasher job that make me refrain from trashing places.
That doesn’t mean that if I don’t like a pizza I’ll say it’s good. If I don’t like a pizza, I simply don’t post about it. Just this year alone, I’ve reviewed 3 pizzas that I just didn’t have anything nice to say about. Those pizzas ended up in the garbage and I wasted my time, money, and gas. Some places just have bad days, and I’m sensitive to that. But consistently bad pizza and poor service weeds itself out of the market. They don’t need me to bash them and make a bad situation worse. Also, I just don’t understand the concept of telling people where not to go. It just doesn’t make sense to me.
12. How do you actually rate pizzas — what’s your evaluation system?
I try to be really specific and meticulous about my rating system. I rate each pizza in 6 different categories: crust, sauce, cheese, taste, crispy/cooked properly, and value to come up with an overall score. Unlike many pizza reviewers who render an instant score on camera, I don’t. I like to reflect on the pizza, let a little time pass to eliminate any emotional bias I may have felt in the moment, compare the pizza to other similar pizzas that I scored previously, and really think about each component before rendering a score. It’s really more of a pizza report card!
13. What do you think restaurant owners misunderstand most about customer perception?
Locally, I think a lot of more seasoned owners misunderstand how to attract new (younger customers). Being current on social media, having authentic images of your food online, a current menu that is easily accessible, online/app ordering, and updated hours of operation are all frequent complaints customers have locally. I think a high percentage of restaurant owners believe that what worked 20 years ago will still work today. Some of the established businesses prove to be correct with the old school mentality as they do a great business, but there are many that have an online business that doesn’t meet younger generations where they are in terms of marketing and communicating important information.
14. If you had to give pizzeria owners one piece of digital marketing advice, what would it be?
Start with updating your menu, hours of operation, and commit to posting once a week with actual pictures of the food that you’re best known for. I know if I’m considering trying a new restaurant and they haven’t posted in 2 years, I’m assuming they are closed. You don’t have to hire an expensive social media person, but I think by now, most people know how to post on Facebook. It’s free and easy.
15. What’s the most common mistake you see pizza shops making online?
Aside from failing to update restaurant information, I sometimes see restaurants posting stock photos of food as a representation of their own food. With the latest smartphones and a free app, even a non-photographer can take a realistic photo of a pizza!
16. What’s one essential tool or accessory for reviewing or photographing pizza properly?
Being a mobile creator I have a treasure trove of tools like tripods, lighting, cameras, microphones and more. But really the most important tool is my iPhone. I’m an android guy and actually carry 2 cell phones, but Apple phones have the best workflow and sync to my laptop and iPad far better than Android does. The iPhone also takes great photos and videos, so really anyone can start being a content creator as long as they have a smartphone!
17. Who would be your dream collaboration in the pizza world?
My dream collaboration would be to record a pizza making class with my partner in the Virtual Pizza Academy, Jim Henry, and my 3 biggest pizza mentors who have been the most influential on my pizza journey – Tony Gemignani, Tony Cerimele, and Gregorio Fiero.
18. Which NEPA pizza style do you think deserves national recognition next?
Pan Fried Sicilian Pizza. I have been working my tail off to try to make this happen. Old Forge pizza is nationally recognized to some extent, but Pan Fried Sicilian has taken much longer despite is being around since the 1950’s. I have been working to get people educated on what Pan Fried Sicilian is, use the same common name for this style of pizza, teaching people how to make it, and talking about it in national publications like PMQ Pizza Magazine. I hope I can continue to raise awareness about this awesome local style of pizza for years to come.
19. You’ve reviewed over 600 pies — how do you avoid burnout and keep things fresh?
I’ll never get tired of pizza. The secret to avoiding burnout is always listening to my audience. They tell me what’s new and delicious, and interesting to create content about. When I go to a pizzeria, I stopped automatically ordering the default plain cheese and started opting for the pizza that the pizzerias is best known for. This makes for much more compelling content and gives people something new to check out and keeps me trying new things too.
20. What legacy do you want your kids, Layla and Jack, to remember about this pizza journey?
If I’m being honest my fear is that my kids will look back and feel that Dad spent too much time on pizza. I’ve always tried to involve my kids as they are very good on camera and much more entertaining than me. That time doing videos and making pizza together and learning side by side how to create content is something I’ll always cherish. I hope when it’s all said and done the legacy of NEPA Pizza Review will be one of looking out for the little guy, keeping it positive, community building, and following your passion wherever it leads. The journey has unlocked so many doors and created so many opportunities and I hope this foundation will one day open doors for my kids as well.
Jim Mirabelli’s pizza journey is a reminder that passion, positivity, and authenticity can build both community and opportunity. From his blogging beginnings to becoming a trusted voice in pizza culture, his story reflects not just love for food but love for people.
Discover more of Jim’s work and pizza adventures at NEPA Pizza Review. 🍕
