ReviewsRankings BlogGuides HistoryAbout
New York Style 901 South Street, Philadelphia · ~$18/person · August 2026

Puglia Pizza

The sauce is the best thing on the menu. If the cheese matched it, this would be a serious contender.

Group Score
7.2
out of 10
GA
7.0
MW
7.0
MA
7.5

"Order the margherita. Come back for the hot honey pepperoni."

The setup: Sit-down dining, ordered at the counter. Paper plates. Bottle of water instead of a glass. All 12" pies are cooked to order. They also sell slices — including Roman-style with a thicker crust — which is a nice option if you want to stop in without committing to a full pie. Price is genuinely good for the neighborhood: $16–20 per pie.

Pizzas Tried

1. Margherita ⭐ Best of the night

The group's unanimous favorite. The tomato sauce is exceptional — bright, well-seasoned, and elevated by fresh oregano that you actually taste. The cooked basil works: it captures the flavor fully rather than sitting raw on top. The crust is crispy on the bottom. The cheese is the weak link — underwhelming, and the whole pizza needs more salt. With proper fresh mozzarella, this would be a showstopper.

GA"The tomato sauce is incredible. Fresh oregano stands out in exactly the right way. The cooked basil captures the flavor fully. The cheese lets it down — needs better cheese and more salt. With proper fresh mozzarella this would be outstanding. Still my favorite."—
MW"That sauce is incredible. The oregano is a really nice touch — you actually taste it. The cheese needs to be better for this to reach its potential. But the base is there. This is our best pizza of the night, no question."—
MA"The sauce is outstanding. Fresh basil cooked in — you get the full flavor. The cheese is the weak link and it needs more salt. Replace it with proper fresh mozzarella and this changes completely. Still our top pick of the evening."—
Margherita pizza at Puglia Pizza
2. Pepperoni

Solid and reliable. Right amount of salt, good cheese coverage, excellent pepperoni. Slightly dry compared to the margherita — it could use more sauce. They have a hot honey pepperoni that none of us tried this visit; it sounds like the version worth ordering.

GA"Very, very good. Right amount of salt, good amount of cheese, excellent pepperoni. A little bit dry — could use a little more sauce like the margherita. The hot honey version might be outstanding."—
MW"This one works. The pepperoni is well seasoned and the cheese-to-sauce ratio is mostly right. I like this one a lot. The hot honey version sounds like something worth coming back for."—
MA"Solid pepperoni. A little dry compared to the margherita, could use more sauce underneath. Still a good slice — second best of the night."—
Pepperoni pizza at Puglia Pizza
3. White Pizza — Truffle Ricotta

The components are there — mushrooms, fresh garlic, ricotta — but the truffle is an illusion. You can smell the oil on arrival; it doesn't carry through to the taste. MW can't detect it at all. The ricotta makes the whole thing heavier than it needs to be. Double the mushrooms, use real truffles, and it would be a different pizza entirely.

GA"I can smell the truffle oil but the truffle flavor doesn't carry through. The mushrooms are delicious and the garlic tastes fresh. The ricotta makes it too heavy. Double the mushrooms, use real truffles — then it would be great."—
MW"I can't detect any truffle at all. The mushrooms are the best thing on here. The garlic is good. But the ricotta is too much — it overwhelms everything. Not a fan of this one."—
MA"You can tell there's truffle oil but it doesn't taste like the real thing. The garlic is great, mushrooms are tasty. Ricotta gives it body but makes it heavy. Worth trying once — I'd skip it on a return visit."—
Truffle Ricotta white pizza at Puglia Pizza

Pizza Scoring

CriterionWeightScoreWeighted
Dough25%
7.5
1.88
Sauce20%
8.5
1.70
Cheese20%
6.0
1.20
Bake15%
7.5
1.13
Overall Balance20%
7.0
1.40
Pizza Score7.31

The sauce carries the score. The cheese pulls it back. The margherita shows both at once.

The Verdict

Puglia has one ingredient that's genuinely exceptional: the tomato sauce. It's bright, well-seasoned, and the fresh oregano makes it taste intentional. The margherita is the pizza that best showcases it — and with proper fresh mozzarella instead of the current cheese, it would jump several positions on this list.

The pepperoni is solid and reliable. The truffle ricotta white pizza has good components but the truffle is an illusion of oil rather than the real thing, and the ricotta makes it heavier than it needs to be. At $16–20 per 12" pie, the value is genuinely good for South Street. Paper plates are a minor annoyance. The hot honey pepperoni is the unfinished business.

"Order the margherita. Come back for the hot honey pepperoni. Bring your own glass expectations."

Individual Scores

GA"It's good. It's not excellent. The paper plates are annoying. The bottle of water instead of a glass is annoying. The price is great. I would come back."7.0
MW"Nice that they have slices too — you can stop by and grab one quickly. Good pizza at a fair price."7.0
MA"I like this. Reliable and tasty. I'd be interested in coming back to try the Roman slices another day."7.5
New York Style South Street 12" Pies Roman Slices