Where to Eat This Weekend: Pizza, Pizza!
We have a busy weekend coming up with not a lot of spare time to cook or spend time on dining, which is obviously the perfect excuse to head out for pizza. Not that you really need an excuse for crisp crust, luscious tomato sauce and creamy mozzarella in your life. As the pizza options have amped up over the past year, so have the pizza opinions. We’ve listed five places to get a great pie; please let us know your favorite pizza places in the comments!
Cooper’s
Bruce Cooper’s casual alternative to Jake’s, his long-running Main Street spot, offers crisp gourmet brick-oven-baked pies, which are light on traditional red-sauce options in favor of combos like short ribs and horseradish, or crimini and cheddar.
Cooper’s Brick Oven Wine Bar, 4367 Main Street, Manayunk, 215-483-2750
Pizzeria Stella
Stephen Starr’s first foray into the pizza world offers a low-maintenance atmosphere, which belies a serious approach to pizza craftsmanship. If you’re not afraid of a little heat, order the sausage topped with long-hot pesto.
Stella, 420 South 2nd Street, 215-320-8000
Slice
Head to either South Philly or Rittenhouse for super-thin, almost cracker-like Neapolitan pie — go the traditional route with an authentic Margherita or go completely Americano with a buffalo chicken pizza. The salads are fresh and tasty, too.
Slice, 1180 S. 10th Street, 215-463-0868 and 1740 Sansom Street, 215-557-9299
Treno
The classic pie gets a chic makeover in a new wood burning oven, and can be paired with over thirty wines. A selection of house-cured meats adds verve to the sausage (with spicy greens, garlic and ricotta) and the genoa salami (with tomato, provolone, fresh mozzarella and red onion).
Treno, 233 Haddon Avenue, Westmont, NJ, 856-833-9233
Zavino
The room is uncomfortably small, but the pizzas are worth the tight quarters. The pies range from minimalist (the Rosa, simply topped with red sauce, garlic, and oregano) to hearty (the Philly, Gonzalez’s take on the cheesesteak, although without wiz, natch) and friendly bartenders pour the vins.
Zavino, 112 South 13th Street, 215-732-2400
*Stella photo courtesy Starr Restaurant Organization
