By 1808Delaware
For more than a quarter-century, Taranto’s Pizzeria has been a familiar name near Polaris. Now, for the first time, the Lewis Center favorite is adding a second location. Taranto’s is preparing to open at 64 Coughlin Lane in Delaware, with an anticipated opening in mid-September. An exact opening date has not yet been announced.
The move represents a significant milestone for a business that has operated from its original Lewis Center location since around 2000. Rather than rapidly multiplying locations, Taranto’s has spent more than two decades building its reputation from a single shop at 1282 E. Powell Road. The Delaware restaurant will be its first expansion.
Home of the Tarantosaurus
For many customers, Taranto’s name is closely associated with one particularly enormous pizza.
The Tarantosaurus is the pizzeria’s supersized party offering, made with a three-cheese blend and capable of feeding as many as 20 people. It requires advance ordering and has attracted attention well beyond the restaurant’s regular customer base.
But size is only part of the Taranto’s identity. The restaurant specializes in Columbus-style pizza, the thin-crust, edge-to-edge, square-cut variety familiar to generations of Central Ohio diners.
Sometimes called tavern-style pizza, the regional favorite is typically served in small squares or rectangles rather than triangular slices. Cheese and toppings extend nearly to the edge of the crust, creating a pizza designed as much for sharing around a table as for individual servings.
A Central Ohio Pizza Tradition
Columbus-style pizza developed into a distinctive local tradition during the middle decades of the 20th century, with early Central Ohio shops helping establish the ultra-thin crust, generous toppings and party-cut presentation. The style has increasingly attracted attention beyond Ohio as diners and food writers explore regional pizza traditions beyond the better-known New York, Chicago and Detroit varieties.
Taranto’s has been part of that Central Ohio tradition since its Polaris-area beginnings. Founded by Debbie Taranto and later sold to Shannon Bowman, the pizzeria developed into a neighborhood gathering place as well as a restaurant, hosting trivia nights, fundraisers and other community events.
From Lewis Center to Delaware
The new Delaware location will bring that formula into a growing community just north of Taranto’s longtime home. The expansion also comes as development continues across southern Delaware County, strengthening connections between Delaware, Lewis Center, Polaris and northern Franklin County.
For Taranto’s, however, the move is something simpler and much more unusual: after approximately 26 years, a one-location pizza shop is becoming a two-location pizza shop. And sometime around the middle of September, Delaware diners should have a new place to find thin crust, square slices and a pizza large enough to feed a small crowd.
Image by Gerardo Guaigua from Pixabay
