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

Stogie Joe's Tavern: Square Pizza and Meatballs in South Philly

Stogie Joe’s Tavern has been on our to-do list ever since it made the 2010 Best of Philly. It took a year and half, but we finally made it with some friends and family before a Flyers game.

It surely will not take another year to visit Stogie Joe’s. The square pan pizza was amazing and the meatball sandwich lived up to the great review that a co-worker had given it.

Stogie Joe’s reminds me of Tacconelli’s. Neither will overwhelm you with the with latest and greatest food craze such as Spanish tapas or pork belly this/that. They are just every-man places offering food that has passed the test of time. The service is average, but you go for the experience of eating and drinking at a simple place doing it right, not the glamour of a fine dining establishment. I love places like Stogie Joe’s.

Better with the tomato sauce on top... 

Our group may as well have attempted to eat the whole menu. Between us all, we had plain square pizza, several strombolis, and meatball and chicken parm sandwiches.

The 2011 22nd & Philly Scarpetta Awards

Welcome everyone to the first-ever 22nd & Philly Scarpetta Awards!

Why the Scarpettas? On the About 22nd & Philly page, we detail why we started this blog and how we define a good food experience: "at the end of the day, if Bradd cleans his plate with a piece of bread, you know it was a good meal." Little did we know there is an Italian phrase for using bread to clean your plate, Fare La Scarpetta. We learned about the word from Anthony Bourdain's show, The Layover, when he visited Rome.

What better way to characterize our own "Best Of" awards for Philadelphia?

The Scarpettas are based on the eateries we visited in the past year, food quests, local events, readers and friends we’ve met, among other considerations. It's our way of pointing out some of our favorite - and least favorite - discoveries within local food scene during 2011. Either our plates were clean, or something was left to be desired.

And the 2011 Scarpettas go to...

Year in Review: Top Posts of 2011

It's recap time! 2011 was a huge year for 22nd & Philly, with our readership increasing as well as our Twitter/Facebook following. Thank you to all our visitors, commenters and fellow foodie pals for keeping this blog on its toes. We cherished the opportunity to get to know you better, both in person and online. Looking forward to more foodie adventures in 2012!

Here are our top seven posts for 2011 based on pageviews:

Guapos Tacos Truck

Guapos Tacos Food Truck: Bringing Jose Garces to the People: Garces' traveling tacos exemplified the burgeoning popularity of food trucks in Philly. Chasing down Guapos Tacos in its opening nights was one of our most exciting food adventures of the year.

Review of Pamcakes, a Philly cupcakery: One mention of Pamcakes in an earlier post and the crowd went wild. When we had to the chance to give it a try, Pam's delightful desserts did not disappoint.

2011 Philly Beer Week Cheat Sheet: There are hundreds of events scheduled for Philadelphia's annual Beer Week. We wanted to help readers by picking out a handful to attend. From the Philadelphia Cheese Experiment to hot dog pairings at Doobie's, this year's Beer Week was chock full of fun. Can't wait for June 1-10, 2012 when Beer Week returns.

Manakeesh: Best Baklava in Philly? Wow. Who knew Philadelphians took their baklava so seriously? Check out the comments section for the all-out war that ensued over who serves the best baklava, the treat's cultural origins and more.

2nd Annual Best of Philly To-Do List: Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly" list each August provides a great starting point for new foodie outings. So far we've checked off Monsu, Pizzeria Stella, Beck's Cajun Cafe, Blackfish and Khyber Pass Pub. Reviews to come and more to try in the next six months.

Taconelli's Signature Pizza

Ten Things You Need to Know about Tacconelli's Pizzeria: Also an instigator for quite the discussion on who serves the best pizza in town, our advice on how to approach the non-traditional ways of Tacconelli's struck a chord with many readers. We welcome all suggestions on other pizza to try, but we still love our Tacconelli's :-).

Stephen Starr Goes Gastro: Dandelion: 2011 was another big year for the venerable Stephen Starr with Frankford Hall, Il Pittore, Talula's Garden, Route 6 and of course, Dandelion. Like most Starr openings, Dandelion generated a ton of buzz and lived up to the hype, though we still favor Pub & Kitchen as our go-to gastropub.

Wishing you a happy and healthy new year!

Ten Things You Need to Know about Tacconelli's Pizzeria

For more than a year, our neighbors raved about some pizza place in Port Richmond and shared tales of renting cars just to drive there on Friday nights. Finally I said enough is enough. A group outing of 10 neighbors was organized, two coolers of beer packed, and our caravan hit the road for Tacconelli's Pizzeria.

Fresh pizza by John Tacconelli in his 20' x 20' brick oven

About an hour later, out of a massive, 20 ft. x 20 ft. brick oven came, hands-down, the best pizza we've ever had in Philadelphia.

Tacconelli's dates back to 1918, when Giovanni Tacconelli arrived in the U.S. and started baking brick oven bread just as he'd done in Italy. Today, the same spot is a stronghold of Port Richmond and a well-kept secret among pizza lovers in Philadelphia. Save for a mention of the giant oven in Philly Mag, we'd never heard a peep about Tacconelli's beyond our neighbors. And yet, it's packed every Wed-Sun night.

It would be a tough trek for tourists, but is a must-visit for locals. Before you go, consider these points, as Tacconelli's is far from your average pizza joint.

Ten Things You Need to Know about Tacconelli's:

1) Go with a group. More people = more pizza to try. The slices are on the smaller side so you can handle a lot.

2) You must call ahead to reserve a table and order your dough by number of pies. Tacconelli's doesn't make more dough than is ordered in advance. More on how to order on the Tacconelli's website.

3) How much should you order? We had 10 people and 7 pizzas. That was a smidge more than enough but you can always take the extra home. Or just keep stuffing yourselves until every last slice is gone like we did. 

4) Expect to wait. Even if you made a "reservation" at 7:30pm, you may not sit right then. And if you do, it might be a while before your pizza arrives. That's just how it is. You can bring your own salad or other appetizers to hold you over, but the pizza is so damn good you don't want to fill up early.

5) There is a three topping max on each pizza but the owner sometimes prefers to limit it to two. We suggest at least one regular pie with cheese, red sauce and your favorite toppings, and one white pie with toppings. The white is loaded with garlic. It's freaking amazing.

6) Order the "signature," even if it's not listed on the menu. It's white pizza with spinach, chunks of tomato and garlic. A guaranteed favorite on its own, but even better with sausage added. Some nights the owner isn't cool with adding sausage (we suspect it could be tough on the thin crust, or he just prefers it as-is) but it is worth asking.

In addition to the signature, we devoured a pepperoni, a red pizza w/ onions, a white pizza w/ onions (another favorite of Tacconelli's regulars), a sausage, and a margherita. I don't think you can go wrong with any options.


7) Ask the waitress (likely a Tacconelli family member) for other suggestions. Otherwise, we never would have had our final pizza, and a new group favorite - white pizza with onions and peppers. Ahhhh I want some right now.

8) Bring cash and beer/wine - not just because it's a cash-only BYOB but also to feed the awesome old school juke box.

9) Look up the directions and location on a map ahead of time. Tacconelli's is just minutes off the Girard Ave exit on Rt. 95 but if you aren't familiar with Port Richmond, I could see it being a little confusing to navigate. Drop off whoever is carrying the cooler and park on the street wherever you see a spot.

10) Don't expect a jolly old Italian singing "That's Amore" behind a counter. John Tacconelli is a super nice guy, but he is also the extremely focused and devoted one-man show making the dough every morning and the pizza every night, so he rarely spends time out chatting with customers. He and the waitress were nice enough to let me take one really quick shot of John at the oven, but then I raced out of the kitchen before he got annoyed. Our neighbors are regulars and have started a friendly relationship with him, but you may only see his serious side.  

If these photos of Tacconelli's pizza don't make your mouth water, you need to take a serious look at your love for pizza.

Signature pizza - spinach, tomatoes, garlic

Signature close up.

Red pizza with onions

Must toast to friends!

Margherita

Pepperoni

Sausage

White with onions and peppers

There is a second location in Maple Shade, NJ, that some will say is better and has more stuff on the menu, but our trusted neighbor regulars swear by the original. Perhaps we'll get out that way to compare, but for now the legendary Port Richmond pizzeria is tops on our list of local favorites. 

The Original Tacconelli's Pizzeria

2604 East Somerset Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134
215.425.4983
http://www.tacconellispizzeria.com/