Some say cheese doesn’t belong near fish, but in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philly Pizza Shackamaxon flourishes. It’s a small shop, but it’s packed with both flavor and character. One wall is alive with pizza characters enacting scenes from a universe where wedges reign supreme. Indeed, Shackamaxon intends to make wedge supremacy a reality with slices that make you check to see if there’s any affordable real estate on their street.
I tried four different slices on my visit: a plain, a pepperoni, a white, and a cheese-less red square. The first three were wedges with crust on the thinner side, but was still veryyy tasty. There were no leftover scraps of crust. It was well charred without any bitter-burnt notes distracting from the crumb. The cheese also stood out as incredibly fresh and incredibly punchy. There was evidence of post-oven cheese grated on top - always a good sign. The quality of the cheese was particularly evident on the white slice. Too often are white slices heavy and greasy and simply leave you feeling laden. Not this slice - it was light and ethereal. More white slices need to take note and aspire to this ideal (side note: this white slice also didn’t have ricotta, but it was so tasty in its own right you’d hardly notice). For me, the white stole the show - however the square was a star in its own right. It’s adorned with a thick marinara-esque sauce that while possessing a dominant flavor still doesn’t overwhelm the thick crust underneath. It was the only slice served room-temp (still not sure if this is by design), but it was eaten so quickly that the temp was clearly not a deterrent.
I only spent a few minutes in Fishtown and didn’t see much more of it other than the few blocks around Shackamaxon, but this place has got the stuff to be a cornerstone neighborhood slice joint. It’s on the smaller size, but they slung the slices quickly when I was there. And more importantly, even if there is a wait it’s well worth it.
