Pizza sits high up on the list of foods with the most regional spins in America — perhaps neck and neck with barbecue.

New York and Chicago have their renowned varieties. But have you ever heard of the avant-garde culinary creation in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that piles deli-cut salami, green bell pepper and yellow American cheese on a slab of Sicilian-style dough? Or, closer to home, have you gotten into a debate over whether Maryland has its own style of pizza?

The quarrel began in D.C.’s Maryland suburbs.

Ledo Pizza opened its original location in Adelphi in 1955 and has since expanded across the East Coast. Its rectangular pies, which are sliced into smaller, bite-size rectangles, distinguished themselves beyond shape with provolone cheese, sweetly tinged marinara sauce and a light pastry crust, and became an instant hit with University of Maryland students and neighbors.

“A Ledo pizza is basically a bunch of mistakes,” Ledo CEO Jamie Beall told The Washington Post in September 2023. Beall’s grandmother Thelma, who co-founded Ledo, died last week at age 101, the company announced Wednesday.

Despite its unusual riffs on a classic, Ledo has vocal fans. Chef Matthew Adler, who runs restaurants including Caruso’s Grocery in North Bethesda, called it his “all-time favorite chain pizza spot” in a Dec. 20 post on X, highlighting Ledo’s saucy blend of zesty and sweet.

While many echoed the stamp of approval, would it surprise you that others online disagreed? One account replied to Adler: “As a native Marylander, I just want to be clear that there is no such thing as Maryland-style pizza. Just no. We have foods that we do better than anywhere else. Pizza is simply not on the list.”

Restaurateur Spencer Smith couldn’t disagree more.

His family co-owns The 4 Corners Pub in Silver Spring and took over operations in 2012. But the bar and its signature pizza were staples in their lives for decades before then.

The neighborhood spot opened in 1967 as The Corner Pub, and Smith, 38, has fond memories of family outings that would often end gathered around a table at The Corner with pizza at the center.

“I always enjoyed eating pizza here. It was always after a ballgame or soccer game,” Smith told The Banner. Months before his family bought the pub in 2012, Smith started dating his now-wife and co-owner, Liz, and their third date was at The Corner over beer and pizza.

As Smith was told by his pub’s previous owners in a generations-old game of telephone, the family that ran Ledo was friends with the family that opened The Corner Pub. Recipes were exchanged and remixed over the years — including by pizza cook Malachi Griffith, who slung pies at the pub for 48 years, Smith said — to create variations on Ledo’s classic at restaurants across the county.

“Yes, Maryland does have its own style of pizza,” Smith said. “If anybody wants to argue, I will easily take them to court for saying there is no Maryland-style pizza because there is a Maryland-style pizza.”

Here’s where you can get a taste of it around Montgomery County and weigh in yourself.

The 4 Corners Pub

10111 Sutherland Road, Silver Spring

The split, brick-walled dining room at 4 Corners welcomes customers of all ages. On one side, families can gather near televisions while polishing off their pizza and other bar food. At the U-shaped wooden bar, patrons can grab a Guinness to accompany their sheet pan pie.

Smith said his family has tweaked the pizza recipe in modest ways. The 4 Corners variety uses an East Coast mozzarella blend, the once-spicier sauce has been mellowed with sweetness, and a thick cupped pepperoni was swapped out for a wider cut that still curls nicely. One thing Smith says won’t change under his watch is how the pizzas are cooked. He’s sticking with pizza stones and sheet trays and won’t adopt a conveyor belt method that he says some others use.

Continental Pizza

10532 Connecticut Ave., Kensington

The low-frills street-front store feels like not much has changed cosmetically since it opened in 1967 — and that’s how customers like it.

A recent late afternoon visit saw customers waiting at the few available seats for their cheesesteak and pizza orders and forking over cash. A sign at the register notes one welcome modernization effort: You can pay by card if you order online.

However you order, a large pizza comes with a paper box with aluminum foil that just fits under the 10-by-14-inch pizza, which on this occasion featured a slightly sweet honey aroma. The crust had a yeasty and crispy chew that held together a gooey cheese and flat pepperoni.

Stained Glass Pub

12510 Layhill Road, Silver Spring

It isn’t just a name. The restaurant near the Glenmont Metro station has panes of stained glass that add a quirky reverence to the neighborhood bar, where you can watch ESPN and keep track of keno numbers. Stained Glass Pub has been open in this location since 1973 and expanded to Elkridge in 2008.

On a recent visit, it was easy to see why they’ve become an institution. The blistering on the mozzarella cheese was exquisite and closely matched by the crackling crust. Bonus points to Stained Glass for providing a wok spatula to slice through their pies and for offering half-off pizzas on Mondays and Tuesdays with the purchase of a beverage.