Philadelphia Pizza Craze Part Two: Square and Thick Crust Pies

The thing about pizza is that it can warm you up on a chilly winter night, fill your tummy after a long summer day at the beach, and everything in between. It's the perfect food for any time of year and you can't go wrong at many of Philly's pizza spots, new and old.

This post, the second in our quick series on Philadelphia's latest pizza craze, shares four square and thicker crust pies that we think are among the best in Philly. As we mentioned last post, we take with a grain of salt any discussion about the single "best" pie - especially when so many of today's hot new pizza joints are cooking with a similar style (like the ultra-thin Neapolitan pies that are all the rage).

To help you sample several of the "best" pizza in Philly - new and old - here are a few more pizzas we think you should try next. 

Salciccia from Square Pie with sausage, peppers, onions, mozzarella and red sauce. Brought to us by Gene Giuffi, the owner of Cochon BYOB, find these new square pies in the old Blue Belly BBQ corner in Queen Village. Giuffi taps his Brooklyn roots to make these thick crust, Sicilian-style pies, adding his own flair with meat toppings reminiscent of pork-focused Cochon just across the street. It's nice to see someone focusing on any other style than Neapolitan and they do a great job with a really thick crust.

The Salcicca from Square Pie Phily

Philadelphia Pizza Craze Part One: Are Neapolitan Pies the Best Pizza in Philly?

Philadelphia's pizza craze has reached bubble territory with the likes of Capofitto, Square Pie and Brigantessa all opening in the last few weeks, and Pizzeria Vetri, Bufad and several others not too long before them. It's as if the pizza gods are trying to make up for years of limited options by ensuring a quality place is on every city block.

We're big fans of the bubble like anyone else, but as pizza simpletons we take with a grain of salt the constant in-your-face debate about the best pie. It's easy to tell when pizza is bad. But as one of the greatest foods on Earth, pizza inadvertently imposes a real challenge in separating the "best" from 2nd, 3rd and even 4th best - especially when so many of today's popular pies are similar in style (ultra-thin Neapolitan being all the rage right now). 

To help you sample some of the "best" pizza in Philly - new and old - our next two blog posts will share eight great thin and thick crust pizzas.

Let's start with some of our favorite thin crust pies, in no particular order:

Nomad's Margarita pizza. Now with two locations and a food truck, Nomad's Neapolitan-style pizza is never more than a few steps away. And it's super light so you can polish off this whole sucker by yourself. Many say it's the "best" and most authentic Neapolitan in Philly but you should decide that for yourself.

Nomad's Margarita Pizza

Pizza and Beer Make the Right Summer Combo at Dock Street Brewery

If you haven't ventured up Baltimore Ave into West Philadelphia, it's worth a trip. A mix of African restaurants, the lively Clark Park, another installment of Little Baby's Ice Cream and more have made it yet another great food destination for Philadelphia, but one that's still largely under-hyped (kinda nice that way). 

One spot we've heard great things about for years is Dock Street Brewery. Finally on a perfectly warm night this spring our neighbors took us there for a pizza and beer feast under the stars. It's definitely a fun place for a group, not only because of the laid back atmosphere and big tables, but because more people = more pizzas to try. The four pies below (two large, two small) plus an appetizer was plenty of food for six people. All the pies come in large or small sizes.  

There are all sorts of unique ingredient combos to keep things interesting at Dock Street and distinguish it enough from so many other gourmet pizza + wine/beer joints around Philadelphia. This was certainly the first time we had mustard on a pizza! I loved the crust, too, always a critical factor. And of course Dock Street is a brewery so it offers a host of original and tasty beers to try. There are a number of seats out front on the sidewalk so try to score one this summer. Here's what we ate:

Appetizer: trio of regular fries, sweet potato fries and grilled leeks (the leeks were the real kicker here, such a great idea that we need to try at home):

Mellow Yellow Pizza: Brown mustard, creme fraiche, portobello, white mushroom, mozzarella, gruyere, topped with scallions: