Checking Out Philly’s Most Acclaimed Pizzeria

It was just a couple months ago that I called the New York-style cheese pizza at Pizzeria Salvy my new favorite pie in Philly. However, at the end of that post I added a proviso pointing out that I needed to try the current location of Pizzeria Beddia before I could be confident of that pronouncement. It’s likely the most acclaimed pizza purveyor in the city and I haven’t had a Beddia pie since they were at their original location, which only had a couple high-top tables for dine-in and usually required those eager for a taste of pizza heaven to put in considerable wait-time in line on the sidewalk outside the shop. 

That happened Saturday when I met up there with three friends and former colleagues – Nancy, Francisco and Craig. 

Pizzeria Beddia is situated on a narrow alley that has no parking and finding a spot anywhere near the restaurant turned out to be a challenge. It’s situated roughly where Northern Liberties meets Fishtown. This is a fairly gentrified area that has become one of the prime restaurant hot spots of Philadelphia in recent years. 

Thankfully, I managed to park and arrive without keeping my friends waiting too long. The only indication of the restaurant’s presence was its name on a storm-door that led into a small courtyard with outdoor seating and heaters. We opted to sit inside, as it was a very cold day.

The menu included a selection of small plates, but we decided to go heavy on the pizza and bypass all other food options.

Beddia’s ‘no half toppings’ policy complicated our ordering process a bit. We’d have preferred to get a pie with sausage on one half and pepperoni on the other. But with that not being an option, we opted for one with both meats on the entire pizza. And of course, there needed to be a basic plain pie for a comparison to the New York-style pizza that Nancy and I had at Pizzeria Salvy in October. 

There were a couple choices for white pizzas with veggies, and we went for one with greens, Calabrian cream, Mozzarellas and Grana Padano. 

Three pizzas would have been more than enough for the four of us, but Craig wanted to try one of the menu’s specialty pies that included anchovies. 

That made four pizzas, and they only offer 16” full sized pies. 

The meat and veggie pies arrived first.

The plain pie was hot on their tails. 

Most of you will likely not be surprised to learn that we were all very impressed with these pizzas. The crust and cheese had beautiful burn marks and bubbles, but wasn’t overdone. The crust also met at my favorite pizza-related intersection – crispy and a little chewy. The cheese and sauce were top notch, while the sausage stood out among the toppings as particularly outstanding, both from a textural and flavor standpoint.

Craig called it the best pizza he’s had. Francisco and Nancy seemed no less impressed, although she was non-committal on whether she preferred Beddia’s plain pie to the New York-style pizza at Salvy and wants to return to the latter soon before making up her mind. I, on the other hand, had a preference, albeit not by a wide margin.

My slight preference is for the New York-style pie at Pizzeria Salvy, which remains my favorite pizza in Philly. Beddia’s is a strong second though, with Angelo’s Pizzeria, maker of my top-ranked cheesesteak, coming in at third. That doesn’t include the suburbs. I’ve mentioned my fondness for Joey’s Pizza in Thorndale, Pennsylvania, multiple times.

The factors that make Pizzeria Salvy my top choice in the city are a slightly more flavorful and texturally appealing crust and their cheese combination being otherworldly in terms of flavor and aroma. I know both places use great ingredients, but there was just a slightly bigger “Wow” factor for me when eating the New York-style pie at Pizzeria Salvy. 

I also am not sure I liked the plain pie at the current Pizzeria Beddia quite as much as the one I had at their original location. That may have something to do with Joe Beddia making each pie himself at the old spot while he has what I’m sure is a highly trained staff to help with that now. 

Here is a photo of the pizza from the original location that my wife and I shared some years back. She requested mushrooms on her half.

You can see that the crust was a bit more brittle that what we had Saturday. I can’t say if they use the same ovens now that they had at the old location.

Circling back, I haven’t forgotten about the pie with anchovies. It was ordered and came out later than the other three pizzas. 

As you can see, beyond having anchovies, this was not a standard pie. The only cheese on there was a bit of shredded Grana Padano. I was full by the time it arrived but am not sure I’d have eaten it anyway. Nobody else got beyond half a slice before deciding it was a mistake to order this one. 

But that didn’t impact my overall positive view of the pizza we ate Saturday at Pizzeria Beddia. Any pizza lover living in or visiting the Philly area should make a point of trying their pie. Just leave a little extra time to find parking.