There is no doubt in my mind that moving away from my all too familiar hometown was the best decision I have ever made. There are a lot of things that I don’t miss about Scranton, Pennsylvania. I don’t miss the weather. I don’t miss the way the sky correlates perfectly with the depressing buildings. There are people that I don’t miss and situations I am glad to be far away from. But amidst the aura of a bleak existence, there are a few rays of sunshine that peek through the clouds constantly hanging over Scranton.

I could get really cheesy and write a lengthy narrative about how I miss my friends and family that still live in Scranton. Every word of it would be true. But a good amount of the people reading this don’t know my friends or family, so it is enough for me to say that I miss them as any normal person who moves 1200 miles away would, and we can leave it at that. But there is one aspect of Scranton that I miss possibly more than anything. It is the hidden gem in a cave infested by snakes and scavengers. The one thing that gets me excited to go home to Scranton is the food. Yes, you read that right. Scranton lives up to the small town expectation of good, homemade, family recipe food.

There are a few staples that are a must whenever I’m in town. But there are two Scranton delicacies that my palate constantly craves. The first and most important being Maroni’s pizza. For those of you who think you have had pizza, you are mistaken. You haven’t had good pizza until you’ve tried Maroni’s. For all my southerners, I love you, but we have terrible pizza down here in Florida. Let me take you up north and show you what pizza was meant to taste like. Maroni’s is a true Scranton special. It is owned by the sweetest Italian family. It is not a chain. It is one restaurant tucked in between the houses on St. Ann Street in West Scranton (a few streets over from where I grew up). When you walk in and the owners recognize you and they take cash only, you know your taste buds are in for a heavenly pizza journey.

The other Scranton delicacy is our chicken wings. There are few places that know how to do wings right. None of them are in Florida. All of them are in Scranton, PA. Nina’s, Haggerty’s and Grande are popular gathering places for a lunch date, a reunion with old friends, or for your spread for NFL Sundays. Each place has a variety of delectable sauces that have their own taste. For example, the mild sauce at Grande tastes completely different from the mild sauce at Nina’s. However, both are delicious. Personally, I prefer boneless wings. You get a good amount of meat without the mess of having to eat around bone. But no matter what your preference, boneless or regular, you are sure to find a favorite wing joint in the Scranton area.

I know I talk a big game about hating Scranton, but I do miss it sometimes. When I want to experience all the comforts of home during the holidays, I curl up on my parents’ couch with my to-go order of Nina’s mild boneless wings. The rest of my family that also lives out of state knows that when we all get together, we have to have Maroni’s for dinner at least once. It’s true when they say that good food brings people together. So if you ever find yourself in Northeastern PA one day, I hope you get to experience the great food and the good times that come with it.

Side note: If you were wondering the whole time if this place that I’m talking about is the Scranton, PA that “The Office” is set in, it is.