Cold, boxed pizza is a mainstay in southern Luzerne County, but a seemingly foreign concept outside of the Hazleton area.

Area bakeries sell square cuts from large sheet pans out of their cases or from 12-cut boxes tied with string or kept closed with a well-placed piece of tape.

Among the well-known bakery names in Hazleton over the years are Senape’s, Carmen’s and Longo’s.

Andrew Baranko, a Schuylkill County native, grew up eating all of them, and now sells his family’s own version of deli-style boxed pizza in the Hazleton area, and now also in Jim Thorpe.

Baranko, along with his sisters, who started Baranko’s Pizza in August 2021, didn’t set out to compete with the local bakeries and pizzerias.

“What we were trying to do was make a combination of our favorites growing up,” Baranko said. “We took things we liked from Senape’s, Longo’s, Carmen’s and even Corroppolese (Norristown) to help come up with our final product.”

The siblings, who were spread out across three states, launched their brand in Nashville, Tennessee, a good market for food vendors and the state Baranko’s sister, Monica, called home.

But people down south were first confused by cold pizza until they sampled the boxed square cuts that have been a lunch, snack, tailgate and party staple in a pocket of Pennsylvania’s Coal Region for decades.

The taste quickly won people over, but folks back home wanted a taste, too.

And soon, Baranko’s Pizza was licensed in Pennsylvania, where boxes were first sold through online orders with pickup locations, but then moved into retail locations.

The boxed, deli-style pizza is now sold exclusively at retail locations throughout Greater Hazleton.

But it’s also finding a following in Carbon County thanks to Baranko’s mother, who began bringing samples for co-workers.

She works at the Carbon County Courthouse in Jim Thorpe, where less than 20 miles away from its base of operations most people were as unfamiliar with cold pizza as those 670 miles away in Nashville.

“I never realized that it was just Hazleton,” Laura Baranko said, noting that she had the same reaction from people when she worked in neighboring Schuylkill County.

The proud mom, who helps her son washing pans or boxing fresh-made pizza in the early morning hours before her full-time job, often brings samples to different courthouse offices or personnel.

Laura Baranko soon found herself getting slips of paper with orders for two, three or five boxes of pizza from different people, and has toted as many 20 boxes to the historic courthouse in Jim Thorpe.

She also gets requests for boxes with more crusts or corner pieces from the large sheet pans the pizza is made in, or all centers. Customers all have their favorites, she said.

One of those customers is Joe Berke, who works in the county probation office, but he wasn’t a stranger to cold, boxed pizza, he said.

A friend from Hazleton used to bring boxes of pizza to their fantasy football drafts, where a few other kinds of drafts went hand-in-hand with the pizza, he said.

Berke has tried them all over the years, but Baranko’s is unique, he said.

“It’s a good product. It’s great fresh,” Berke said. “It’s supposed to be eaten fresh.”

But Baranko’s holds up even after a day or two, he said.

That’s when Berke likes to place it in a toaster oven to warm it slightly and crisp the bottom crust, which is not the traditional way to eat it.

Berke admits he’s a Baranko’s fan, but said so are numerous other people who work for the county, pointing to other departments, such as domestic relations and juvenile probation.

“They really like it,” he said.

With Baranko’s Pizza catching on in Carbon County, someone suggested placing it in the Jim Thorpe Market, Laura Baranko said.

The manager at the store liked the product, she said, and Baranko’s is now available at the store on Tuesdays and Fridays.

The market started with six boxes each day, but quickly sold out, Andrew Baranko said. So, he doubled the amount placed to keep up, he said.

“Even after increasing the amount, it’s still moving quickly,” he said, and he’s gotten messages to deliver more.

Vendors also relay orders from customers, who want a certain number of boxes or special order for an event, Andrew Baranko said. He asks for at least a day’s notice, as all of the pizza is made fresh daily.

Baranko’s makes a traditional with salty cheese and tomato sauce, a Philly-style tomato pie, and a hot and honey, which is a nod to Nashville.

The tomato pie and hot and honey, which has pepperoni, are special ordered through vendors only and made in limited quantities, he said.

“In our business journey, our constant aim is to ensure that each box is better than next,” Andrew Baranko said, noting that they’ve learned to expect and appreciate the daily challenges.

“Continuous learning and improvement are at the core of our operations, and we’re excited about the growth prospects for this year,” he said.

A list of other vendors and delivery days is available on Baranko’s Pizza’s Facebook page, and website at barankospizza.com.