Photo by Alan Olson Owner Paula Robb has put in the work to keep Pizza Express in Warwood for decades, offering everything from pizza, pasta and calzones to burgers, wings and salads.

WHEELING — Pizza Express has seen other pizza places come and go in its lifetime, and is the last one standing in Warwood after 30 years.

In her time as a restauranteur, owner Paula Robb said she’s seen Manini’s Pizza House, DiCarlo’s and Domino’s come and go, leaving Pizza Express to stand alone in Warwood.

Robb said Pizza Express’ pizza was her favorite thing on the menu, and that says something with the restaurant offering not just standard alternatives like calzones, wings and subs, but also salads, burgers, pizza rolls and spaghetti.

“We have the best hamburger you’ll ever find in a pizza shop, or most restaurants, for that matter, unless it’s a really good hamburger joint,” Robb said. “(The spaghetti) is made here, it’s not a package that we bought that we’re just unthawing. We put the sauce, meatballs, everything together here.

“… We do our stuff fresh every day, made to order, even the salads,” she said.

Also on their menu is a 30-inch party pizza, cauliflower crust, square pizzas — which go up to the “belly buster” 40 squares — and french bread pizza.

This spring, the Warwood restaurant purchased a new oven, with very little variance in internal temperature, ensuring consistent quality.

“The conveyor ovens, normally you fluctuate like 20 degrees. This fluctuates three degrees, so everything coming out is coming out the same every single time, versus how, before, if you put too much in your oven, the oven goes down in temperature, nothing comes out done. This comes out absolutely gorgeous every single time,” Robb said.

Robb said Pizza Express finds itself supporting local efforts with their pizza rolls, which are a powerful motivator for fundraisers, usually Boy Scouts, but other organizations as the need arises.

“One year, we did a big fundraiser for Bridgeport Schools, and they sold 3,300 of them.” she said. “It was a lot of pepperoni rolls. It took us three nights to get them done, 18 hours with a full crew. … We still do pepperoni rolls for St. Clairsville’s football games, too.”

Pizza Express has four locations across the Ohio Valley, with others in Bridgeport, Yorkville and St. Clairsville. The Warwood location services from Beech Bottom to the North Wheeling area.