My pizza crew – friends and former colleagues, Nancy, Craig and Francisco – joined me again last week as we resumed our tour of Philly’s elite pizzerias. This time around, our destination was Pizzata Pizzeria and Birreria.
I initially came across drool-worthy photos of the pizza at PIzzata’s Center City location a while back, but their lack of dine-in service kept us from venturing there. Thankfully I discovered more recently that they have a second, full-service restaurant in the heart of South Philly, and it was quickly established as our next lunch destination.
After the four of us spent a few minutes complaining about how horrible the traffic and parking were in South Philly that day, we noted our pleasant surprised at how alive the neighborhood was. It’s a great spot for dog-lovers, as there seemed to be a constant flow of foot traffic and many people had their pooches with them.
Although it was an unusually warm day for early November, we bypassed outdoor seating in favor of a table in Pizzata’s bright and cozy interior.
As always, I had gone over the menu in advance and had a game plan. With the proviso that there must be a meat topping on at least one pie for Francisco, the crew allowed me to do the ordering.
Pizzata offers a nice array of appetizers, salads and pasta in addition to several interesting pizza variations. But I kept it pretty basic with a pair of large pizzas – one with pepperoni and sausage – and a cheesesteak stromboli.
The stromboli arrived first and my initial visual impression was very positive. The most common problem with cheesesteak strombolis is that the moisture from the steak and cheese often leaves at least the center portion of the crust looking and feeling like a gooey mess. That wasn’t the case at Pizzata.
The crust held up beautifully. It had no excess moisture and was cooked for the perfect amount of time, resulting in a nice crunch when biting into it. There was also an abundance of chopped meat and just the right amount of Mozzarella inside the crust.
Strombolis often come with the sauce mixed with the meat and cheese inside the crust. But I prefer it on the side and was pleased to see a generous portion of it for pouring on the serving plate.
I’ve posted on previous unsuccessful attempts to find a high quality cheesesteak stromboli at least a couple times. It was a relief to finally try one that lived up to my expectations. All four of us were impressed by it.
Our two pizzas came out shortly after the stromboli. As always, there was a plain pie, while the other had sausage on one half and pepperoni on the other.
Again, my first visual impression was a very positive one.
The sourdough crust may have been as good as any I’ve tried in the Philly region. As the best crust always does, it met at the intersection of crispy and chewy, with just the right level of each. There were also several beautiful dark bubbles.
The sauce was extremely flavorful and nicely proportioned. But the cheese was another story.
I’m sure they use high quality Mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano, but both Nancy and I didn’t think there was enough of the former. That’s an extremely rare criticism from me. While I’ve had many pizzas with what I considered to be too much cheese, these were the only ones that stand out in my memory as not having enough.
The sausage and pepperoni were very good, but again, I thought they could have been a little more generous with them.
These pizzas were clearly of the gourmet variety, and even with the issues I’ve mentioned, they were head and shoulders above what you’re likely to find at your neighborhood pizzeria. But I can’t quite put them up there with at least a couple of the other places I’ve been to with the crew.
Our favorite remains the New York style cheese pie at Pizzeria Salvy in Center City. And given that it’s been a while since we’ve been there, and especially Nancy and I are jonesing for more of their pizza, a return visit could be the crew’s next lunch stop.
BZ Maestro Eats 