Returning Home for Pizza

It’s been a couple years since I posted about the cheesesteaks at Berardi Bros. in Southampton, Pennsylvania, the Bucks County town in which I grew up. While they were too cheesy for my taste, I mentioned a desire to try their pizza, as it looked promising in online photos. That’s taken much longer than anticipated, but it finally happened a couple weeks ago when my friend, Robert, joined me for lunch.

As mentioned in that earlier post, the site of Berardi Bros. was previously occupied by a handful of other pizzerias, including Longhitano’s*, the first restaurant I can recall visiting with my parents for pizza when I was very young in the late 60s and early 70s. 

Berardi Bros. has a fairly sparse interior, but the bright red booths and what are likely family photos on the walls create a comfortable atmosphere in which to dine. Robert grabbed a corner booth while I walked up to the counter and ordered a pizza with sausage on half and garlic knots to start. 

While we waited for our food to arrive, I snapped a few photos, including one of their display of canned plum tomatoes. Alta Cucina is a brand I’ve seen raved about by several chefs with YouTube channels, so I was expecting good sauce both on the pizza and with our garlic knots. 

The knots came out first, and indeed, the sauce on the side was excellent, as were the garlic knots themselves. 

Garlic Knots are a pizzeria staple that I virtually never order, but I’ve started to question that recently and decided to do something about it. I’m glad I did. They were the perfect warmup for our main course. The garlic and grated cheese gave them a fantastic flavor and the crust had a pleasant bit of body to it.  

And that main course – our half sausage pizza – looked eye-poppingly good when it was dropped off on our table. It had the appearance and texture of a New York-style pizza, and that’s a high compliment from me.

All of Berardi Bros.’ pizzas come topped with fresh basil, thin slivers of Parmesan cheese and extra virgin olive oil. I’m pretty sure we’d have loved this pizza even without those finishing touches, but they elevated it to an even higher level.

The crust had some darker spots, but I wouldn’t call it well-done. And it didn’t need to be, as it already met at my favorite pizza crust intersection of crispy and slightly chewy. There was just the right amount of crunch when I bit into it. 

And everything on top of the crust was beautifully proportioned and combined for a fantastic overall flavor – including the sliced sausage on half. 

While I am glad to have eaten at Longhitano’s and the other fine pizzerias that existed in Southampton when I was growing up, there was nothing to compare to the level of excellence that Berardi Bros. brings to its pizza. I only wish I still lived close enough to enjoy it more often. 

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*Longhitano’s is still in business in Southampton, just a few blocks from their original location. The post I wrote about them in 2023 is available here.