Inner Circle Pizza: Perfect SLICE

by: Mark Smesko and Mike Vallas

Our monthly commute for a gratis meal was relatively short as we headed to Ironwood Boulevard, near the intersection of Raccoon Road and U.S. route 224 in Canfield.

Longtime residents of Canfield may recall when this property was a large field, with a driving range for golfers. Coincidentally, this is the very range that one of us first learned how to drive a golf ball consistently 165 yards forward leading into a sharp turn to the right.

Mike Naffah, owner of the Canfield Inner Circle, notes that this property has been in his family since the 1930s. The driving range was operated with hopes of earning enough money to cover the property taxes. Now this land hosts a number of businesses, with Inner Circle serving as a community anchor.

Naffah opened Inner Circle Pizza up in 2008 with the intent of providing the Canfield area with a place to watch sporting events around a spacious bar, or sit at a table with family and friends for a casual dinner.

On our visit we were left in the capable hands of Dave Piersante, our server, and Mike Capezzuto, manager of the restaurant. These gentlemen guided us through the ample menu to select some of the more popular and signature dishes.

We started off with one of Inner Circle’s most popular appetizers, Hot Chips with house made French onion dip. Thinly sliced potatoes are deep fried until crispy and served with the creamy dip. Always a solid starter and a favorite of our respective families.

Next, we were guided to try a few of their signature pizzas, the dough for which is made fresh daily. We opted for the Stuffed Hot Pepper pizza and the Circle Deluxe.

The Stuffed Hot Pepper Pizza is basically a deconstructed version of the Italian Classic on a pizza. It’s a white pizza topped with crumbled sausage, sliced hot Hungarian wax peppers sourced locally when available from Angiuli’s Farm, tomatoes, and cheddar and mozzarella cheeses. The crust was crispy yet a little chewy. There was only a slight spice and the two cheeses worked well. Quite delicious.

The Circle Deluxe pizza was a red sauce pizza topped with pepperoni, sausage, green peppers, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. The sauce was nice and tangy and the meats were salty in a good way. The crust was cooked perfectly with some caramelization of the cheese. Very satisfying.

Next up was the Mediterranean flat bread with a wheat crust. The thin crust is topped with diced chicken breast, spinach, hot peppers, mozzarella and provolone cheeses and Zaatar spice, a Middle Eastern spice mix. The wheat crust was crispy and had a nice flavor that complemented the subtle flavor of the toppings. The provolone cheese added a little different taste that worked well.

While looking over the menu, we couldn’thelp but notice all the sandwich options. One particularly caught our eye, Fried Bologna. Both of us grew up in Youngstown and fried bologna was a staple in our homes.

Inner Circle takes thinly sliced bologna and fries it until the edges are crispy. This is topped with provolone cheese and hot peppers and placed between two thick slices of house made Italian bread that have been buttered generously and toasted. The saltiness of the meat, the light heat from the peppers, the crunch of the bread and the richness of the butter made for a wonderful sandwich.

We couldn’t leave Inner Circle without trying some of their signature wings. There are 10 different options available but you can mix sauces to create different flavor combinations. We opted for hot garlic and hot ranch. The wings come to the table hot and crispy and are large and meaty. Mark opted to tackle the drummies, while Mike favored the flats. The sauces were hot but not overpowering with a slight accent flavor from the ranch and the garlic.

We ended our meal with the Cinnamon Dippers. This is a take on what many of us grew up with, fried dough. They take pizza dough, fry it until crispy and top it with cinnamon sugar, then serve it with vanilla frosting for dipping. We washed it down with a glass of Frostop root beer from the tap. Comforting food that brings back another set of fond childhood memories.

From our experience, Canfield Inner Circle is a place for friends and family to gather, enjoy good food, a few drinks, and talk about their day or the game on the big screen. Whether you are craving chicken wings or a perfect slice of pizza, stop by and give them a try.