Philadelphia doesn't always get the credit it deserves in national pizza conversations. New York dominates the discourse, New Haven commands the pilgrimages, and Detroit has had its cultural moment. But Philadelphia — with its deep Italian-American roots, its BYOB dining culture, and its obsessively quality-driven independent restaurant scene — has been quietly building one of the most interesting pizza cities in the country.
We started The Philly Pizza Project because we were frustrated by the lack of rigorous, independent documentation of that scene. After months of eating, scoring, and debating, here is our honest guide to the best pizza in Philadelphia.
Why Philadelphia Is a Pizza City
The story starts in South Philly. The Italian Market on 9th Street has been a center of Italian-American life since the late 19th century, when waves of immigrants from Southern Italy — particularly Campania and Sicily — settled in the neighborhood and brought their food traditions with them. They brought tomatoes, olive oil, pasta, and pizza.
But Philadelphia's pizza history is distinct from New York's. While New York developed the iconic thin, foldable coal-fired slice, Philadelphia went in a different direction: the tomato pie. Sold at room temperature, sauce-forward and often bakery-adjacent rather than pizzeria-proper, the tomato pie is Philadelphia's original pizza contribution to America. (We'll cover this in full in our History of Tomato Pie article.)
Today's Philadelphia pizza scene has evolved dramatically from that tomato-pie tradition. The city now supports serious Neapolitan practitioners, excellent New York-style operations, and a growing number of Detroit-style spots. What unites the best of them is a commitment to craft and an independence from corporate formulas that makes the scene feel genuinely alive.
Our Three Categories
We rank pizza across three styles separately, because we believe comparing a Neapolitan pie to a Detroit rectangle is like comparing a croissant to a brioche. They're both excellent and made from similar ingredients, but they have completely different technical goals and should be judged on their own terms.
Neapolitan
True Neapolitan pizza — certified or uncertified — demands a few things: a dough made with type 00 flour and fermented properly, San Marzano or equivalent quality tomatoes, fresh mozzarella (fior di latte or buffalo mozzarella), and a wood or gas-fired oven reaching temperatures north of 800°F. The result should be a pizza that cooks in 60-90 seconds: a soft, slightly chewy crust with characteristic leopard-spot charring, a soupy center, and a puffed-up cornicione that's light enough to eat on its own.
Philadelphia has several practitioners doing serious Neapolitan work. Our first review — of Sorellina in Center City — found a kitchen with exceptional dough but inconsistent execution. The Diavolo (7.7/10) was a revelation; the Bake criterion hurt them (5.0/10) due to two burned pizzas and poor oven temperature control.
New York Style
The large, foldable slice. New York style pizza in Philadelphia is a fascinating subject: because it's always being done in the shadow of the actual city two hours up I-95, every Philly NY-style spot must justify its existence against the real thing. The best ones do — and some of them are doing things you genuinely can't find in New York.
Key criteria: the fold test (a proper NY slice folds in half and holds without cracking), the grease balance (some pooling is traditional and good; a swimming pool of grease is not), and the bottom char (it should be caramel-brown, not white and floppy, not black).
Detroit Style
The rectangular, deep-ish pizza baked in a steel pan, with sauce applied in strips on top of the cheese. Detroit style has had a well-deserved national moment over the past decade, and Philadelphia has seen several excellent practitioners open up. What we look for: the frico — the caramelized, slightly crispy ring of cheese around the edge where cheese meets the pan — and the interior crumb, which should have a pronounced honeycomb structure from proper fermentation and a generous hydration ratio.
The Best Neapolitan Pizza in Philadelphia — Our Current Top Pick
Sorellina (Center City) — Our first reviewed spot. A 6.7/10 reflects excellent fundamentals — particularly the dough — held back by execution problems on the night we visited. The Diavolo is a must-order; the Margherita needs a stronger sauce. We'll be back.
What We're Looking For, Specifically
When we visit a pizza restaurant, we score each pizza on five criteria:
- Dough (25%): Texture, fermentation, structure. This is the most important single element. A great dough can carry a mediocre pizza; a bad dough cannot be saved by great toppings.
- Sauce (20%): Tomato quality, balance, intensity. The sauce should taste like tomatoes — not cooked-down sugar, not oregano-forward "Italian seasoning," but actual, high-quality tomatoes with some acidity and brightness.
- Cheese (20%): Quality, distribution, melt. The right cheese for the style, applied in the right amount.
- Bake (15%): Bottom char, color, heat spots. Is it properly cooked?
- Overall Balance (20%): Does it all work together? This is the criterion that catches the things the others don't — a pizza where every component is individually good but nothing coheres, or where the ratio of ingredients is off.
Tips for Eating Pizza in Philadelphia
A few practical notes from our experience:
Go early in the week if you want consistency. Weekend dinner rushes are where kitchens struggle most. We've had some of our most inconsistent experiences on Saturday nights — as was the case at Sorellina, where our last two pizzas arrived 40 minutes after the first two because of oven problems.
Order the margherita first. At a Neapolitan spot, the margherita is the most revealing pizza on the menu. There's nowhere to hide — no toppings to mask a weak sauce or a mediocre dough. If the margherita is excellent, the rest of the menu will be too.
BYOB is your friend. Philadelphia has an unusually vibrant BYOB culture, and many of the best pizza spots are unlicensed. Bring a bottle of natural wine or a craft beer and your bill drops significantly — improving the value score considerably.
Go with a group. This is how we operate. Three or four people means you can try three or four different pizzas, get a broader picture of the menu, and have a collective conversation about what you're eating. Pizza is a social food. Eat it socially.
Our Mission
We'll keep adding to this guide as we visit more restaurants. Every review we publish adds a data point to the ranking. Our goal by the end of the year is to have at least five entries in each style ranking — enough to make meaningful comparisons and draw real conclusions about the state of Philadelphia pizza.
If you have a restaurant you think we should visit, reach out via our contact page. We read every message and we take recommendations seriously.