OLD FORGE , Pennsylvania ( CNN ) -- My best friend from childhood is Italian-American . Very Italian-American . So when Mary Immaculata Ferrario Rinaldi invites me to visit the Pizza Capital of the World , I do n't ask questions . She knows pizza . Arrive early or make reservations to sample Old Forge 's pizza . We head out of Scranton , Pennsylvania , toward Old Forge , population approximately 10,000 . In about 10 minutes we 're driving down Main Street . I start counting the pizza cafés , as they call them here : Rinaldi 's , Brutico 's , Arcaro & Genell 's , Anthony 's , Ghigiarelli 's -- 11 on this street alone . Within just a few blocks , there are at least nine more . Even the florist on Main Street is called `` Pizzazz . '' Mary said we would need reservations , and she 's right . It 's 4:30 p.m. and Revello 's is packed . The place attracts locals and celebrities . Hillary Clinton was here a couple of weeks ago . Just for fun we ask if we can sit in the booth where she sat . `` No problem , honey , '' the waitress , Dorothy , says . Now , if you are thinking regular pizza , forget it . This is Old Forge pizza and all the cafés here make it . It 's not round , it 's rectangular and it 's `` red '' or `` white . '' Red is made with tomato sauce and cheese ; white is cheese only , double crust , with olive oil and rosemary sprinkled on top , although they recently introduced a new version with broccoli . Old Forge also is famous for `` black '' pizza , my favorite . No tomato sauce . Just cheese , black pepper , olives and anchovies . While Dorothy is getting our sodas , I meet Pat Revello . He 's the co-owner with his mother , Delores . His parents bought the café 41 years ago . I ask him if they have the best pizza in town . Bad question . No one here in town claims to be the best . There 's very little competition . After all , Old Forge , Pat says , is a place `` where everyone knows your name . '' `` Well , it 's really a matter of taste , '' he tells me . The pizza café owners in Old Forge are a loyal bunch . Most of their families originally came from the same town in Italy -- Felitto , near Naples . The owners advertise together . They named their town the `` Pizza Capital of the World . '' No one is `` best , '' they say . They 're all `` the best . '' So , what make the best pizza in the world ? Pat takes me back to the kitchen . Andy Sopp , who has worked here for 40 years , is sprinkling grated cheese on a `` red '' pizza . Next to him is a stack of pizza crusts . He 's the brother of the owner . Of the café 's 25 employees , three-quarters of them are related . I ask Andy for the secret of great pizza . `` It 's the cheese blend , '' he says . `` So what kind do you use ? '' I ask . `` We make our own , '' he says , `` We have to keep our secrets . '' Pat tells me they use only fresh ingredients and grind their own California tomatoes . They still use the original cheese grater from 40 years ago . Local legend has it that Old Forge pizza began 88 years ago with grandmother Ghigiarelli , whose family restaurant , Ghigiarelli 's , still stands on Main Street . Mrs. Ghigiarelli lived below a gentlemen 's club where the clients played cards . They asked her for something to eat . She grabbed a rectangular baking pan and baked a pizza on the old coal stove . The rest is history . Today , some Old Forge cafés ship their pizza across the country and around the world . It 's 5:30 p.m. and the line of customers at Revello 's is out the front door . At the back door there 's a crowd waiting for takeout . Pat tells me his first worker gets in at 5 a.m. to make the dough . `` Once the dough starts rising , the people come in , '' he says . Waitress Dorothy comes by to freshen up our drinks . She 's on the run , trying to keep the customers happy . `` I wish I had another hand instead of a mouth , '' she says . E-mail to a friend .
Pennsylvania , Old Forge , calls itself Revello . Most of the pizza café owners ' relatives came from Old Forge , Pennsylvania . The pizza is rectangular with a thick crust .