Stopping for Pizza on the Main Line

There are times when food-opportunity knocks and one came my way early last week when I had to run an errand in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The Main Line town, which was named after Revolutionary War general “Mad Anthony” Wayne, also happens to be the home of a pizzeria that was recently added to my restaurant list after I came across it online and liked the look of their pizza.

Carla’s Pizzeria has a counter with a few stools but is mainly a takeout shop. While I often like to eat on site, that worked out fine for me on this occasion, as I intended to take my order home to share with my wife for lunch. 

They have a nice selection of long-roll sandwiches, including cheesesteaks, but I was only interested in pizza this time around. I’ll return for a steak or cutlet sandwich at a later date. 

Although tempted to order a squared thin Trenton-style pizza, I also wanted to try a white pie and decided that a Trenton pizza on top of that would be too much food for two people. So I opted for a small white pie and a large traditional cheese pizza. 

The pizza smelled fantastic in my car during the ride home from Wayne, which took even longer than the normal half-hour due to traffic delays. Although the desire to open one of the pizza boxes and grab a slice while sitting in a bumper-to-bumper jam on I-476 was strong, I didn’t have any plates or napkins handy and decided to play it safe. 

That aroma worked to enhance my appetite and I wasted no time in opening the two boxes after finally making it home. At first glance, the cheese pizza looked better than the white one. The latter’s crust appeared to be thicker, while I feared the layer of cheese on it was also a bit much for my taste. 

The regular pie was more along the lines of what I was expecting – with a thin crust and a more judicious use of cheese along with an appropriate amount of sauce. 

My initial fears about the white pizza were quickly disabused when I took my first bite. The thickness of the crust took a back seat to the screaming taste of butter and garlic that sprang forth. In fact, it worked fairly well with the pizza’s flavor profile. It was a little like eating good garlic bread topped with a layer of cheese. 

I could enjoy slice after slice of Carla’s white pie, but it would be a mighty hefty meal with all that butter, cheese and crust – and I had a second pizza to get to.

There were no surprises when I got around to trying the cheese pizza. The crust wasn’t well-done, but it had a bit of darkness in a few spots and was strong enough to hold the cheese and sauce without wilting when I picked up a slice. 

The sauce had the touch of sweetness that I always look for and everything was very nicely proportioned. 

If I lived closer, I could see being a regular at Carla’s. Regardless, as I alluded to previously, it’s likely that I’ll be back there anyway – traffic be damned – to try one or more of their long-roll sandwiches at some point in the not-too-distant future. 

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After taking a break from posting due to the death of my father, I decided to ease back into blogging with this pizza review. I’ll return with a cheesesteak post Wednesday.