pennsylvania | Barb and Eric's Pizza Adventures

March 25th, 2016

Philadelphia, PA

I can’t believe that I somehow missed posting about Tacconelli’s back in 2016. Back on the original list (2015), Tacconelli’s was ranked in at #63. It disappeared from the 2016 and 2017 lists, but made it back on the 2018 list at #60.

Tacconelli’s is a Philadelphia classic, having been making pizzas since right after WWII. The restaurant is much older and the brick oven has been used in the family for baking and selling bread since 1918. They started making tomato pies, which had a lot of sauce and very little cheese. The restaurant is now on its 5th generation of owners, but it is still a one-oven, one-man operation.

Because there is only one pizza maker and one oven for baking the pizzas, the best way to make sure that you get a pizza is to call ahead and reserve your dough. They serve pizzas from 4:30 pm onwards, but you can call ahead as early as 10 am.

When we went, we tried the recommended white pie with spinach and fresh tomatoes. The crust was charred as much as a New Haven pie. The crust was thin, and they didn’t skimp on the toppings, although they recommend that you not order more than two toppings per pizza. Not too cheesy, either.

We were glad that we had called ahead here and reserved our dough. Usually, they sell out of dough well before closing. When we got there, we saw that many families would reserve two doughs and take one to go. That’s a really great idea that we may copy next time. Also, because they only can make one pizza at a time, you should be prepared to wait a bit for your pizza. Fortunately, they let you bring your own salad, and beer and wine! We didn’t do this and we were starving by the time our pizza came.

Two other pieces of information that you should know. First, they are closed on Monday and Tuesday. Second, the original location is in Port Richmond in Philadelphia. There is another location in Maple Shade, NJ. This is run by a Tacconelli family member, but is NOT associated with the original.

We should really go back here soon. We know so many people who grew up ordering this pizza, and it’s hard to believe that we’ve only been there once. Especially now that it is back on the Best Pizzas list!

To visit:

The Original Tacconelli’s Pizza
2604 E. Somerset Street
Philadelphia, PA 19134

May 14th, 2016

Old Forge, PA

Has anyone heard of Old Forge, PA? When we first read through this list, we had no idea where it was. Ghigiarelli’s is the only pizza place on the list that is not located in a major city in the US. As it turns out, Old Forge is not too far from Scranton (about 5 miles), which isn’t too far from us in NJ. So we decided to take a drive.

Old Forge likes to call itself the “Pizza Capital of the World”. Being the pizza fans that we are, we had still never heard of it. As we drove through the town, though, we realized why it goes by that phrase. It started as a coal mining town, but then in the 1960’s and 1970’s, when the big businesses closed, it turned to pizza. Ghigiarelli’s was the first pizza place to start serving “Old Forge style” pizzas. Now, the town has over a dozen pizzerias – all to serve the population of just under 9,000 and all within about 3 square miles of each other.

The pizzas are all essentially the same, with slight variations. The crust is rectangular and crispy, baked in a tray. You can order a “red” tray or a “white” tray (never a “pie”). And just to make it more confusing, it is called a “cut”, not a “slice”.

We got to Ghigiarelli’s shortly after their Facebook page said that they were open. They didn’t have a regular website, and when we showed up at the door it was closed. We were sure that we had the right place, but no one seemed to be around to let us in. So we called the number on the Facebook page, and luckily someone picked up! Turns out they were open but they had forgotten to open the doors. Phew.

The hostess then asked us if we wanted a “red or white tray”. A white tray is more like a calzone, with crust on bottom and top, folded over, with a bunch of garlicky cheese inside. While that sounded pretty good, it also sounded very filling. So we went with the red, which had a good topping of sauce and a blend of cheeses. The sauce had plenty of chunks of onions in it. It actually reminded us of frozen Ellio’s pizza, but with a crispy crust. Or maybe more like the pizza we used to have in the cafeteria in high school, although a bit more fresh (and not like it had been sitting under a heat lamp for hours).

There certainly isn’t anything like this style of pizza anywhere else. While Detroit-style pizza is now becoming trendy in NYC and elsewhere, Old Forge-style hasn’t quite made it out of Old Forge. We actually liked the crust as an alternative to Sicilian crust, the sauce was slightly peppery and sweet, and the cheese mixture seemed to work fine, although it wasn’t our favorite.

Of course, we could see why the Daily Meal had to rank at least one Old Forge pizza on the list, since it is the “Pizza Capital of the World”. We would never have tried this style otherwise! It would be fun to go back and compare Ghigiarelli’s with a few of the other Old Forge pizzerias. Especially now that we just saw that Ghigiarelli’s is permanently closed. Apparently, the owner went missing! From what I can see, he still hasn’t been found and the pizzeria has been closed since his disappearance in January.

To visit (if it ever re-opens):

Ghigiarelli’s
511 S Main St
Old Forge, PA 18518

Tag: pennsylvania

#63 Tacconelli’s

#101 Ghigiarelli’s