What's The Difference Between A Wedgie And A Calzone?

Pizzerias offer a wealth of delicious dishes for those who are willing to look beyond your standard slice (which is admittedly no easy feat, because it's hard to beat pizza). From Italian-American pepperoni rolls to crispy fried panzerotto (the O.G. hot pocket), the category of pizza-adjacent dishes is surprisingly rich and varied. Calzones and wedgies are two popular non-pizza slice specialties that often get mixed up.

If you're not quite sure what a wedgie is, don't worry. Calzones have a far longer and more established history than wedgies and are certainly the more widely recognized of the two doughy dishes. However, wedgies are a delightful regional specialty that is quickly growing in popularity and is well worth getting to know. Both calzones and wedgies are crescent-shaped treats that combine the crucial elements of pizza with sandwiches, which is likely where the confusion arises. However, some key differences set these hearty plates apart, including how they're cooked and served. Here's everything you need to know about the distinction between a calzone and a wedgie.

Let's get this out of the way: The wedgies we're discussing have nothing to do with the age-old bullying move. In the context of food, wedgies are a regional delicacy popular across the Northeastern area of the United States, particularly in Pennsylvania. At the most basic level, a wedgie is a deli-style sandwich with pizza crust as the bread. Who invented the wedgie (and, perhaps more critically, who named it) is up for debate, but some credit the creation to Pittsburgh-based Fox's Pizza Den. What's pretty clear is that the pizza-sandwich combo originated in the Pittsburgh area in the second half of the 20th century.

The most essential — and dare we say genius — element of a wedgie is the substitution of pizza crust for bread. According to local lore, the wedgie came about because pizzeria owners wanted to offer customers a less bready sandwich option. The wedgie offers all the handheld convenience of a sandwich combined with all the crispy, chewy, savoriness of pizza dough. Unsurprisingly, it quickly became a beloved regional favorite and is now available in slice shops across the Keystone State and beyond.

Calzones originated as a street food in 18th-century Naples and are now a staple item at pizzerias across the world. Although plenty of variations have developed over their 200-plus years of history, modern calzones typically consist of pizza-like dough stuffed with various meat, cheese, and veggie fillings and oven-baked. The final oozing, golden, cheesy, product is often served with dipping sauce on the side.

The most critical difference between wedgies and calzones is the construction. Wedgies are typically prepared by folding or cutting a pre-cooked pizza crust in half, stuffing it with delicious fillings, and slicing it into wedges, hence the name wedgie. Calzones, in contrast, are made by baking the fillings inside the dough, which means they're actually closer to turnovers than sandwiches (although the exact definition of a sandwich remains ambiguous). Both calzones and wedgies resemble a folded-over pizza at first glance, but calzones are usually sealed shut with dough on all sides, while the edges of wedgies almost always remain open. 

Another important difference between calzones and wedgies is the fillings themselves. While there's always room for creative interpretations, calzones typically contain cheese and pizza-associated fillings like pepperoni, spinach, and sausage. Wedgies, on the other hand, are more often stuffed with sandwich-like fillings such as deli meat, raw lettuce and tomato, and even mayo. No matter how you slice it, calzones and wedgies deserve to be savored as the unique pizza-adjacent treats that they are.