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After seeing Dave’s review, I went out of my way to stop by Angelo’s while I was in Philadelphia. Do I think it’s great pizza? Absolutely. Would I score it in the 9s? Unfortunately, no.
When I stopped by Angelo’s, there was a massive crowd. I was worried that there would be a long wait for a pie, but thankfully, they have a huge team working in the kitchen. The team was banging out pizzas in under 30 minutes, so the wait time was very reasonable.
Angelo’s is cash only. There’s also no seating in the restaurant, and the inside is extremely cramped. You can’t wait inside for your pizza, so plan to kill some time outside in the meantime. Luckily, the neighborhood is one of the coolest in Philadelphia. The nearby Italian Market has a ton to do/see/eat, and many will recognize it as one of the locations seen in Rocky Balboa’s original training montage. It’s a great place to be.
When I came back to pick up my pie, it was a bit of a nightmare trying to make my way to the register. There were loads of 5’3”, insecure, heavily cologned Guidos trying to push their way to the front of the line. Absolutely terrible. Somehow, I was able to wade through the sea of gold chain wearing goombahs and get my pizza.
I took the pizza to my car and opened it up. I was immediately impressed by the way the pie looked. Great looking crust, and the ratio of sauce to cheese was perfect. The crust was a little on the tougher side for my liking, but the sauce and cheese were outstanding. However, I didn’t love how they incorporated the basil. The basil at Angelo’s was cooked into the pizza. Personally, I prefer when a Margherita pizza has fresh basil added to it AFTER it’s cooked. When the basil is cooked into it, it loses a lot of the flavor and bite it’s known for. This might seem like a nitpick, but details like this matter when you’re going for a top score. It wasn’t a dealbreaker though, and I truly enjoyed the pizza.
After careful analysis and review, I’d give Angelo’s an 8.4 overall. A very fine score, but for me, it’s held back by some of the stylistic choices. A few tweaks, and I would’ve rated it in the high 8s. Either way, Angelo’s is worth the trip, and I would encourage everyone to check it out. The food is delicious, and Philadelphia is an amazing city.
