Pizza lovers often flock to New York and Chicago — but one Midwest city is carving out its own place on the map as it gains national attention for its unique pizza style.

Ohio’s state capital, Columbus, is home to a distinct type of pizza known as Columbus-style pizza.

The regional specialty features a thin crust, a slightly sweet tomato sauce and loads of cheese — provolone-and-mozzarella or just provolone.

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The pizza is also packed with edge-to-edge toppings, often pepperoni — and is baked into a round pie with little to no exposed crust.

Columbus-style pizza is cut tavern style, into squares and rectangles rather than slices, making it easy to share and popular in group settings.

It’s somewhat similar to St. Louis-style pizza, though Gateway City pizza has a cracker-like crust and signature Provel cheese that sets it apart.

The Columbus favorite dates back to the mid-20th century, as the style began to take shape in local restaurants, according to CBUS Today.

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The local outlet credited brothers Dan and Jimmy Massucci, who opened Romeo’s Italian Restaurant and Massey’s Pizza in 1949, with helping to shape the style and popularize it across Columbus.

A distinct characteristic of Columbus-style pizza is that it doesn’t have a “dough ring,” said Kevin King, the CEO and president of Donatos Pizza in Columbus.

“We make sure the sauce, cheese and toppings cover the entire surface of the pizza,” he told Fox News Digital. 

“We are even known for putting 100 pieces of pepperoni on our large pizzas.”

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Donatos was founded in 1963 and has helped “grow and popularize Columbus-style pizza,” the CEO noted. It’s become one of the city’s most recognizable pizza brands.

The brand uses smoked Wisconsin-made provolone to give it a “sharper flavor profile” that distinguishes it from other regional styles.

The pizza’s unique characteristics are helping Columbus to gain national recognition as “one of the best pizza destinations,” King said, as the city continues to build its reputation among food lovers.

King cited a recent study that found Columbus was the fourth most pizza-obsessed city in the world, ahead of Chicago and Rome. Publications such as USA Today and Eater have said Columbus is one of the best pizza cities in the country.

“Donatos Pizza hopes to spread the word across the country by providing consistently high-quality pizza in all our locations across 28 states,” he said.

The executive also credited the pizza’s enduring popularity to tradition and consistency in preparation.

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“Our founder, Jim Grote, is an innovator at heart,” he noted. “He set out to create pizza equipment that would always provide customers with a consistent pizza experience.”

For example, Donatos has created machines that provide “the right amount of sauce and the optimal sliced pepperoni,” to help the pizzas stay consistent, he said.

If pepperoni doesn’t interest some customers, King said Columbus-style goes beyond traditional toppings with more experimental options.

“You can find a plethora of different combinations of toppings — and even sauces — on Columbus-style pizza,” he said.

“Donatos recently released a line of white sauce pizzas with the creamy parm sauce as the base … [and the] hot honey trend on pizza has been proliferated with Columbus-style pizzas as well.”

Country star Annie Bosko is speaking out about the criticism that she has faced after releasing her new song “Goodbye California” earlier this year.

During an interview with Fox News Digital, the 40-year-old singer explained that the bittersweet country ballad has resonated with the majority of listeners but struck a nerve with others, who have tried to frame the song as political, which she insists was not her intention.  

“I have gotten some backlash on the song, and I’m OK with it,” Bosko shared ahead of her March 5 concert at the famed West Hollywood music venue the Troubadour. 

“I think anytime you put yourself out there to make a statement and to say something, people will take any shot at turning something political,” she continued.

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“I don’t believe in getting involved in politics — I care about the state that I grew up in,” Bosko added. “I love California. So that’s where I stand on things. And there comes a point where right is right and wrong is wrong, and it feels like there’s too much wrong going on.” 

“So, you know what, if 1% of people are upset with me, then so be it, right?” Bosko added. “You can’t please them all.”

“So therefore you’re forced to leave,” she continued. “Not because you want to leave, but because you feel like you don’t have any other option. And I feel like a lot of people, and myself included, have felt that way in both love relationships and geographically in locations. I think most people would say ‘Why would you want to leave here?’ Like look at the weather, look at everything. I mean it’s beautiful, right? You got everything: the desert, mountains, ocean, farm, ranch, everything.’ I just think sometimes people, for financial reasons or other reasons, feel like they’ve been forced to leave.”

The “Levitating” singer explained that many people she knows in the entertainment industry have also moved on to other states due to a sharp decline in projects filming in Los Angeles. 

“This was the epicenter of all entertainment,” Bosko said. “And I feel like so many people have left because the jobs aren’t here. And so I feel like — I wouldn’t say there’s a specific moment in time — I just feel like, gradually over the years, every time I’ve come back, it feels like little things have kind of been chipped away.”

“It just feels like so much of that dynamic and community has changed,” she continued. “So many of my actor friends are leaving. And that’s what makes LA and Hollywood so special are the artists. Without the artists, this town is not the same. You need artists. And so I feel like it’s kind of been a combination honestly of all those things.”

WATCH: COUNTRY STAR ANNIE BOSKO DEFENDS ‘GOODBYE CALIFORNIA’ AFTER CRITICS SPEAK OUT

Bosko told Fox News Digital that she has spent a lot of time in Nashville, Tennessee in recent years and believes that it would make the most sense for her to relocate to Music City. 

“So much of the music industry is there,” she said. “And so many of my collaborators and business partners are there. So that would kind of be the obvious answer.” 

“But I feel like California’s my heart and soul,” she continued. “I’d like to end up here just because I love it and this is my home.”

Bosko shared that she remains optimistic California could one day return to the state she remembers from earlier years.

“I’m hopeful that there’s a bright future,” she said. “The world always changes, but I almost feel as though people have to get so fed up that everyone wants a change. And I do feel as though so many people across the board — doesn’t matter where you are on the political spectrum — I think so many people across the board are fed up with just the way things have been and that there’s a better way to lead this state.”

The singer explained that California holds a special meaning for her because her grandparents were able to build successful lives in the state after emigrating from Croatia. 

WATCH: COUNTRY STAR ANNIE BOSKO SAYS ‘99%’ OF PEOPLE RESONATE WITH HER SONG ‘GOODBYE CALIFORNIA’ DESPITE BACKLASH

“I guess that’s why I feel so passionately about California, in particular, because my family did come here and live the American Dream,” she said. “They were able to come here, start a farm, build a business, buy homes. And I think about this next generation and I don’t know that they’re in the same position.” 

“It’s like to buy a home here, right? It’s just everything is difficult,” Bosko continued. “I think families are paying astronomical money in taxes to not feel safe walking their own kids outside in a stroller on the road. And at some point, it’s just not fair anymore.”

“This next generation will be impacted the most,” she added. “I think I read a statistic that more kids now than ever in their 30s are living with their parents just because they can’t afford to start a new life here. And so I really hope that that changes. And I’m hopeful it could change, but like I said, people have got to be so upset and be aggravated by it to make that change.”

Bosko recalled that her grandmother sold her only car so her husband could buy a Ford tractor and start a small farm, which later grew into her family’s successful Boskovich Farms.

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“Kudos to my grandmother, that’s what you call blind faith,” she said. “I don’t know that I would have been that hopeful in any guy.”

“But she had faith in him, and she knew that he worked really hard, and he was relentless, and he started a farm on four acres of land himself,” Bosko said. “And then his sons ended up helping him grow the company. It was a smart move.”

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COUNTRY STAR ANNIE BOSKO SAYS PEOPLE ARE ‘FED UP’ WITH CURRENT STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Bosko shared that she was concerned since she had seen many farmers — particularly small farmers — were facing major challenges due to water shortages.

“This doesn’t so much impact the large farming companies,” she said. “But multi-generational farmers are struggling big time right now. And California grows, I think, nearly 75% of the nation’s produce, so that’s huge. It’s really important. I think we need to protect farmers, protect farmland, make sure they’re getting adequate water supply and that we do everything we can to help.”

“Goodbye California” is available to stream HERE and the official visualizer can be watched HERE. 

In her new bestselling book, “Nothing Is Impossible with God,” Fox News anchor, attorney and author Shannon Bream tells the story of 11 heroes of the Bible, including two of everyone’s favorites: Joseph and Moses.

But she begins the book with a story of her own, overcoming, at the age of 39, severe, persistent eye pain that was causing her to become quite depressed. With her hope petering out, message boards led her to seek out one last cornea specialist, Dr. Thomas Clinch of Eye Doctors of Washington.

The fact that she only got in to see him right away because he had a cancellation was another sign from God. Indeed, Clinch was himself one of God’s messengers, as he diagnosed her with a condition other doctors had missed: map-dot-fingerprint dystrophy, also known as Cogan’s dystrophy. This condition involves tiny erosive scratches on the surface of the cornea. The outer cornea sticks to the lower layers and begins to rub off, especially during deep sleep. Clinch’s treatment was Muro 128 ointment to use at night, eye drops, and tear duct plugs to help her eyes retain moisture.

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Shannon Bream is one of the kindest, most sincere, humble yet intelligent anchors, authors and lawyers you could ever meet. Her gratitude to God for her reclaimed life following her successful treatment is palpable. It also leads directly to the stories of this important book, where her strong faith motivates her to seek and explore the biblical heroes who inspire her the most.

She has an important take on Moses, a story that began “with a bold, brave mother who defied the law of the day requiring all Hebrew male babies to be thrown into the Nile River — a certain death.”

Of course, Moses’s mother and the midwives didn’t comply. He was hidden and then placed in a basket, which Pharaoh’s daughter famously found, and he went on to become her adopted son. But as Bream points out, he never lost the link to his own people, killing an Egyptian for beating a Hebrew.

When Pharaoh learned of this, he tried to kill Moses, who became a fugitive. Shannon’s analysis of Moses’s life is filled with insight: “Moses was faithful, working for his father-in-law as a shepherd. We see no grumbling about how great life used to be at the palace, no daydreaming about going back to the life of a prince — just the methodical work of a dutiful man. God can and will show up whenever you are laboring, whether or not you think anyone else is aware of your diligence.”

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Here, Bream is referring to the burning bush, and as she does throughout the book, she quotes from the Bible: “God called to him from within the bush, ‘Moses! Moses!’ And Moses said, ‘Here I am.’” (Exodus 3:1-4)

“I am nearly 100 percent certain I would not have had such a calm reaction,” Bream writes, combining her personal irony with a reverence for scripture, as she does throughout the book. She does it again with the Exodus itself, writing: “But the Lord had a plan that wouldn’t look like any other rebellion in history. It would start with what any strategist would tell you is a terrible mistake — letting your enemy know you’re coming.”

Indeed, as God told Moses: “So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” (Exodus 3:10)

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When it comes to her chapter on Joseph in Genesis, Bream again personalizes a section of the Bible. When his brothers (who kidnapped him and sold him into slavery) came to visit Egypt to get grain in the legendary famine, they didn’t recognize him.

Bream describes Joseph’s weeping because he understood what his brothers were saying in Hebrew, of course, despite his show of using an interpreter and speaking Egyptian as his primary language to preserve his disguise. And despite Joseph’s mistrust and hurt, he still treated them with hesed (loving kindness). But their own guilty consciences made Joseph’s kindness seem sinister to them.

And quoting Genesis 42:28 — “Their hearts sank, and they turned to each other, trembling, and said, ‘What is this that God has done to us?’”

Above all, Shannon Bream preserves the sense of the Bible as the great narrative it is, filled with inspirational heroes, leaders and prophets.

Her own life of overcoming makes her the perfect person to write this compelling book.

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