St. Louis, MOSt. Louis Style Pizza

Ed and Margie Imo opened their first pizzeria at Thurman and Shaw in 1964. Their thin-crust, square-cut pies with Provel spread to nearly 100 stores. Provel blends Swiss, provolone and cheddar for a creamy, smoky tang. The Hampton Avenue location near Forest Park is the one listed here; order a pie to taste that cheese blend.

Betty and Lou Farotto opened this Rock Hill pizzeria in 1956 with three tables and carhop service. Additions grew it to roughly 6,000 square feet; the pizza pickup area was the original space. Their nephew Jeff Parrott now runs it on the same recipes. St. Louis-style pizza shares the menu with fish, chicken, pasta and a meatball sandwich.

The Petrillo family opened Monte Bello in 1950. Owner Tom Nix found the handwritten original recipes and returned to a thin crust, barely sweet tomato sauce and a Provel-free cheese blend. In the basement room, square pies arrive on metal sheet pans amid checked tablecloths and faded murals. Try Tom's Special or the house Italian sausage.

Frank LaFata opened Pizza-A-Go-Go on Grand Avenue in 1967. His son Paul now runs it on Scanlan Avenue in Lindenwood Park, keeping the recipes. The hand-tossed dough is moderately thick with straightforward toppings. Order a pie and a soda.

Jay Jaworski and Rick Puckett began working at Pirrone's in 1980 as teenagers and bought it at 21. The dough, sauce, sausage, meatball and hamburger recipes go back to its first St. Louis-style pie in 1976. Jerry's Special has an oiled ultra-thin crust, slightly sweet Sicilian-style sauce with crushed red pepper, pepperoni and crisp bacon under the local cheese blend.