Will the Verdict Stand on My Favorite Philly Pizza?

It was just this past October that I proclaimed the New York Style cheese pie at Pizzeria Salvy to be the best I’ve had in Philadelphia while throwing in a proviso on the need to try the city’s most acclaimed pizza, which is served at Pizzeria Beddia. I did that with several friends in December and posted about it here. 

I still preferred the New York-style pie at Pizzeria Salvy, while my friend Nancy, who joined me at both places, was undecided. We decided to return to Salvy last week to solidify our views along with our friends Craig and Francisco, who were also with us us for the lunch at Pizzeria Beddia. 

Pizzeria Salvy, which is owned by legendary Philly chef Marc Vetri and named after his father, serves medium sized pizzas. Two or three probably would have been enough for us, but we ordered four to ensure we each had our favorite toppings and styles. 

As you can see in the above photo, the New York Style cheese pie is one of the pizza options they offer. Most of their pies are a more traditional Neapolitan style. They’re very good, and we ordered one – the Fiorella sausage and peppers pie – to compare the two styles. The New York Style pizza is also available with toppings. We went for one plain and one each with sausage and pepperoni. 

The plain New York Style pizza came out first. This is the pie I called the best I’ve ever had in Philly when I first tried it.

Having it a second time did nothing to change that judgment. I still prefer it to Beddia and all of the other pizzerias I’ve sampled in the city. I also have to give it the edge over my favorite suburban spot – Joey’s Pizza in Thorndale, Pennsylvania, after this most recent outing. 

While everything about this pizza was wonderful, Nancy and I agreed that the blend of three cheeses that they use is what sets it apart from the competition. At least one of them is Mozzarella and one is likely Parmigiano Reggiano. I’m not sure about the third, although it could be a second type of Mozzarella. Whatever they are, the flavor and aroma from the three of them in combination is absolutely divine.

The sauce was also top notch and worked beautifully with the cheese blend, while the crust is thin and crispy but provides just enough chew to make eating it extremely enjoyable. 

The two New York Style pies with toppings came out next.

Not surprisingly, they use very good sausage and pepperoni. If there was a minor complaint, it’s that a bit more of each topping would have been nice. Yet we were all enjoying the pizza too much to complain about that. 

Craig, who thought the pies we ate at Pizzeria Beddia were the best he’d had until then liked what we had at Salvy at least as much, if not a bit more, while Francisco stated his firm approval without giving a preference for either place.

We still had one more pizza to get through – the Neapolitan style pie with sausage and peppers. It was also fantastic flavor-wise. While I definitely have a slight preference for the crust and cheese blend on the New York Style pizza, this one is also good enough to make a visit to Pizzeria Salvy worthwhile. If I lived in the neighborhood, I’m sure I’d get it on occasion for a change of pace. 

So my verdict at this point remains firmly in favor of the New York Style cheese pizza at Pizzeria Salvy as Philly’s best. There are still pizzerias of note that I haven’t been to, and I’ll gradually try to rectify that. But they’ll have a tough mountain to climb if they’re going to top Salvy. 

For those wishing to try this pizza, please note that Pizzeria Salvy is only open Monday-Friday and only serves dinner Thursdays and Fridays.