A Different Kind of Pizza Perfection

Since moving from Center City to the suburbs a little over a decade ago, our dining out habits have changed considerably. For instance, we used to walk to most of the restaurants we ate at and generally picked some hot spot in town for special occasions like birthdays. Now we drive to meals and will go virtually anywhere in the Philadelphia region – especially when one of us celebrates a birthday, as I did last week. I’m also a lot more likely to choose a roadfood outing than a fine dining establishment or anything the least bit trendy for such occasions nowadays.

After opting for an old-school Chinese lunch and fantastic soft-serve ice cream in South Jersey and northern Delaware in ’22, I had pizza in mind for this year. My initial plan was to try one of the more renowned pizzerias in Philly. But after deciding to also make a visit to my favorite local frozen custard purveyor, I changed course on the pizza to a spot that is out in the same direction as our ice cream destination.

I’ve already posted about the Collegeville Italian Bakery twice and raved about their Norristown Red Top Pie both times. It’s a unique style of pizza that I absolutely love but only get to eat occasionally because of how far we live from Collegeville in addition to there being so many other places I need to get to. Whatever the obstacles, I decided the year it’s been since the last time I had one was long enough. My wife and I – joined by my mother – set out for Collegeville Saturday afternoon.

The Bakery is a large place that expanded from one to three distinct rooms at some point. I’ve always sat in the original one, where orders are placed at the counter and the food is brought out to your table by friendly young servers.

I had tentatively planned to get a small steak stromboli to go along with the pizza. But then the Bakery posted a photo of one of their other types of pizza – a Stella Margherita Pie – on Facebook, and it looked good enough for me to change my mind and order one of those instead of the stromboli. 

The Norristown Red Top Pie Came out first.

Its super-thin, crisp and unbendable crust was topped with White Cheddar cheese and swirls of what may be the sweetest tomato sauce I’ve ever tasted. I don’t know how much sugar or honey they pour into it, but they certainly don’t skimp. It is tailor-made for my sweet tooth.

The three main ingredients – crust, cheese and sauce – came together to create a different type of pizza perfection than I’ve experienced anywhere else. It’s so irresistible to me that I ran downstairs and grabbed the two leftover slices out of our refrigerator after writing the previous paragraph. I’m currently stuffed and happy.

Unfortunately, the Stella Margherita Pie fell somewhere short of perfection. It had its strong points, including a very nice outer crust that both tasted good and had an appealing texture that was somewhere between crispy and soft. In fact, the entire pizza had a nice flavor and we all enjoyed the six Ricotta-stuffed crust points.

The one glaring problem with this pie was that it was totally limp within that outer ring of crust. When I picked up my slice, it flopped straight down and the cheese slid off onto my plate. The only way to eat it was to fold it up.

After finishing that one slice, I returned to eating the Norristown Pie, which was more than good enough to make up for any shortcomings with the Stella Margherita. 

When we had enjoyed our fill of pizza, we hopped into the car and headed back east, in the direction of our next stop – Zwahlen’s Ice Cream and Chocolate Co. of Audubon, PA. My last visit there was in late 2021 following my first meal at the Collegeville Bakery. But my wife and I have been there a handful of times over the years. They don’t refer to their ice cream as frozen custard, but that’s what it is,  and it’s some of the best I’ve had.

Zwahlen’s also has a beautiful display of chocolate covered apples and plenty of great-looking chocolates. But our minds were set on custard.

As is the case with most frozen custard shops, they only offer vanilla, chocolate and a flavor of the day – Heavenly Hash when we were there. My mother opted for a scoop of vanilla with caramel topping, while my wife went for chocolate with cherries on top. As usual, the traditionalist in me won out and I ordered the classic Midwestern frozen custard treat – a turtle sundae, which Zwahlen’s calls the Tubby Turtle. 

My mother and I both commented on how rich the custard and house-made toppings were. I was reminded of the sundae I had in Buffalo in 2019 at one of that city’s many great ice cream parlors that also makes its own toppings. If you eat this type of concoction too quickly, you’re likely to regret it. 

My wife’s chocolate custard also looked fantastic. I ordered it once as part of a sundae with marshmallow topping and nuts. 

The only complaint with regard to my Tubby Turtle was that it featured chopped pecans instead of the sort of whole roasted and salted ones that are usually found in a classic turtle sundae. But the vanilla custard, hot fudge and caramel were just fantastic. 

That should satisfy any frozen custard desires for a while.

I’m very thankful that this year’s birthday roadfood outing turned out to be a great one and that my wife and mother were able to share it with me. Both the Norristown Red Top Pie and turtle sundae met my lofty expectations and each of these places are dear enough to my heart to virtually guarantee more return visits.