By Eva Booth

Ledo Pizza has returned to College Park after nearly a year of renovations. 

Robert Beall and Thomas Marcos opened the first Ledo Pizza on University Boulevard in Adelphi in 1955. The chain’s signature cornered pizzas originated from the rectangular pans the pair could access in the 1950s. Its website boasts, “Ledo Pizza is square because we don’t cut corners.” 

Its famously thick pepperoni also comes from tradition. When Beall and Marcos first opened the restaurant, the cooks would cut the pepperoni by hand into thick slices because it was more time efficient. Today, Ledo Pizza prides itself on making its pizza the same way it did when the restaurant first opened. Since then, Ledo Pizza has opened over 100 restaurants in seven different states. 

Ledo Pizza closed its Knox Road location Nov. 22, 2020, to renovate and reopen under different ownership. It reopened its only College Park store on Oct. 8. Renovations include adding a bar in the dining room and a counter at the entrance. 

“[We’ll] continue the tradition of being a game day gathering place for alumni and students alike,” CEO Jamie Beall said after the reopening.

Today, Ledo Pizza is known as the official pizza of the Maryland Terrapins football team and is a proud partner of the Baltimore Ravens.

Photos from the restaurant’s history line the walls, including photos of the original Ledo Pizza, photos of former UMD athletes who frequented the restaurant and pictures of the original Ledo Pizza menu. One room is dedicated to Joe F. Blair, a former sports information director at the University of Maryland and loyal Ledo customer.

Ledo Pizza is now open during different hours. The location is open Sunday to Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Thursday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.. 

With Ledo Pizza back open in College Park, the University of Maryland community has gotten back its old shine. Matt Weil, one of the restaurant directors, said the reopening has brought in thousands of customers.

“We’re back in College Park because that is where Ledo belongs,” he said. “That is where it was founded in 1955, and we’re proud and excited to still be here in 2021.”
   

With so many streaming into the new location, the location has also seen plenty of returning customers, including Jim Sakers, a 50-year resident of College Park who knew the original Ledo Pizza on University Boulevard.

“It’s good because a lot of people came here, plus a lot of people remember the old one.”

The reopening even made Jared Scott, who has been in and out of the Bay Area for 33 years, nostalgic.

“I was right outside in my work van going nuts because I pulled up and saw it was open,” Scott said.

Featured image: A cashier stands at Ledo’s cash register on Oct. 18. Photo by Emily Condon.