A New Favorite Pie in Philly

It was nearly a year ago that I posted about Pizzeria Salvy, one of Philly’s top new pizza purveyors and part of the restaurant empire of Marc Vetri, who has long been the city’s most renowned creator of Italian culinary delights. 

At that time, Salvy was serving only traditional Neapolitan pies. But Vetri – mad food scientist that he is – has been busy working on a thinner and crispier alternative and posting about the process online as he goes. His efforts have come to fruition with the addition of a “New York Style Cheese” pizza to the menu. 

My friend, Nancy, and I – eager to try the new offering and compare it to the old one – revisited Pizzeria Salvy for lunch last week. It’s situated below ground in Pennsylvania’s tallest building – the Comcast Technology Center.

To make an informed judgment, we ordered both a Neapolitan-style Margherita pie, which we enjoyed on our last visit, and one of the New York-style pizzas. 

The Margherita – with pepperoni on half – arrived first, and I quickly began snapping photos.

Before we had a chance to dig into that pie, the New York-style pizza – with sausage on half – arrived, and holy cow, did it look good! Nancy and I started to swoon at just the sight of it and couldn’t resist grabbing slices from that pie before giving the Margherita its due.

Vetri’s new crust is divine. It’s thin and very crispy, but it also has a bit of a chew to it. Or as I like to say, it meets at the intersection of crispy and chewy, which is where all of the best pizza crusts that I’ve tried over the years hang out. 

The tomato sauce was as flavorful as I’d expect at a Marc Vetri-owned restaurant, with just a touch of sweetness.

Then there was the cheese. This pie features three different kinds according to the menu. I’m sure one is Mozzarella and another is almost certainly Parmigiano Reggiano, which added a wonderful layer of flavor – and aroma – to the pie. I’m not sure what the third kind of cheese on there was, but it definitely worked. 

The sausage was also fantastic, but the plain slices were so good that I may get it without toppings next time.

I don’t want to gloss over the Margherita pie. It was good enough for me to be confident that Neapolitan pizza lovers in the Philly area should definitely try it and are very unlikely to be disappointed. But I’ve always preferred the thinner and crispier crust of New York and New Haven style pizza and will be sticking with that whenever I visit Pizzeria Salvi in the future. 

Since first trying and posting on it in early 2022, my favorite pizza in the Philadelphia region has been served at Joey’s Pizza in Thorndale, PA. The New York-style pie at Pizzeria Salvy is at least in that same class. The flavor of the cheeses and sauce combined with that tremendous crust is something to behold. 

It’s been a while since I’ve visited Joey’s, so it’s hard for me to say one is better than the other. For now, I’ll just go with Salvy serving my top pizza in Philadelphia*, while Joey’s is number one in the burbs. 

---

Pizza is one of my two favorite sources of Vitamin D. The other is ice cream. As I care about my health, I decided to stop on my way home at the Prospect Park, PA, outlet of Richman’s, which I’ve posted about once or twice before, to indulge my sweet tooth with some creamy goodness.

They make very high quality soft serve that is both flavorful and dense. I ordered a ‘small’ serving of vanilla in a waffle cone with chocolate sprinkles (jimmies for those of you in the Philly area). Man, did that hit the spot.

---

*Now that I’ve proclaimed the New York Style pie from Pizzeria Salvy my favorite in the city, if anyone is wondering whether I’ve been to Pizzeria Beddia – arguably Philadelphia’s most acclaimed house of pizza – I once waited in line and took out a pie from their original location, but have not been to the current spot. As Joe Beddia made every pie there from start to finish, I think it’s unlikely that what is being served at the larger restaurant now is superior to what I had on that occasion. But I hope to visit and post on the current Pizzeria Beddia location at some point to put the issue to rest.

**There is also a mini chain of restaurants called Pizzeria Vetri with several locations in the Philadelphia region. They used to belong to Marc Vetri, but he sold them in 2015 and is no longer involved with their operation.