2025 in pizza: The best new slices and pies in the Philly area

When it’s creeping past 2 a.m. and the bars are letting out, you need a munchie run: That is what drove brothers Andrew and Michael Cappelli, who own Cappelli’s, a late-night pizzeria on 13th near Locust, to open this corner parlor and cafe in the former Starbucks at 15th and Latimer. It’s open till 3 nightly, with a case that’s stocked with slice options. The plain cheese and the pepperoni are the big sellers, as you’d imagine, but they sell plenty of the buffalo chicken ranch (rounds and Sicilians), broccoli spinach ricotta (rounds), and Margherita Sicilians. If pizza isn’t singing your song, they’ve got overloaded cheesesteaks coming off the flattop.

Saloon alumnus Marty Angelina and Franco & Luigi veteran Brian Cunningham serve abundantly topped New York-style pizza along with a menu of sandwiches, chicken cutlets, pastas, and stuffed long hots wrapped in bacon from this Seventh and Oregon Avenue space, formerly the Pizza Shop and Ralph & Rickey’s. The pizza that gets the most attention is the Honeyroni, a mix of pepperoni, ricotta, and hot honey, available by the slice or the pie. Its location makes it an easy jump to the sports complex. (Bonus: John’s Water Ice has a pickup window here in season.)

The phrase that pays at this humble, stand-alone slice shop near the Fort Washington SEPTA station is “drunken grandma”: That’s Frank Innusa’s crispy, almost buttery-bottomed squares topped with fresh mozzarella and ribboned with a thick, creamy vodka sauce amped with pancetta. Other hits include the stromboli and the uncommon mozzarella in carrozza — basically, a mozzarella stick in sandwich form (cheese tucked inside bread, crusted with bread crumbs, and fried). There’s seating for dine-in.

Whether you’re after thin or thick crusts, 12- or 16-inch, there’s something for everyone among the grandmas, Sicilians, and New York pizzas at this roomy, contemporary strip-mall spot in central Bucks County. If you’re indecisive, there is the capricciosa, which has a little bit of everything on top. The oven also turns out pinsa (the Roman-style flatbread) and schiacciata for Tuscan-style sandwiches.

Owner/pizzaiolo Sebastian Besiso is the first to say that you may not like his pizza, especially if you prefer more conventional New York or Neapolitan styles. His “Roma” — available in limited qualities at his one-man hole-in-the-wall takeout in Elkins Park — is built with two kinds of aged cheese, a smear of a slightly sweet tomato basil sauce, and an almost impossibly thin crust that shatters around the edges as you bite. There is no flop whatsoever. Apizzeria pies have the crunchy, cheese-on-the-bottom qualities of Chicago tavern-style, though Besiso slices them into conventional eighths, not party squares.

This cheery, spacious spot offers gluten-free crusts (using Caputo’s flour) along with a line of conventional pies, plus other foods (chicken tenders, wings, fries, cookies) that are gluten-free from inception. The lineup: five red pizzas (plain, pepperoni, sausage, pineapple, and a vegan margherita featuring cashew milk mozzarella cheese by Miyoko’s Creamery) and four whites (arugula, mushroom, broccoli, and buffalo chicken). Allergen info and protocols are up on their Instagram. Plain and pepperoni slices are available over lunch.

Pizza Brain co-founder Joe Hunter is behind this neighborhood drop-in disguised as a colorful playground in the 990 Spring Garden building, with a cicchetteria menu (small plates and the mini-sandwiches known as tramezzini), plus a few large plates at dinnertime. The stars are the puffy-crusted, 16-inch Neapolitan-ish pizzas, which are on the cheffy side: The French Onion, with mornay, caramelized onions, and comte, is a winner of a white, and nostalgics should find a soft spot for the Crab Rangoon — a take on the Chinese takeout staple — topped with cream cheese and lump crab with a swirl of sweet chili.

Staten Island-born pizzaiolo Paul Brancale has taken over the Bala Cynwyd location of EVO Pizza for a slice shop built around old-school New York styles, including thick, soft Sicilians; crispy-crusted, rectangular grandmas; and 18-inch round pies that are thin and crispy, in the Joe & Pat’s/Rubirosa tradition. He’s making his own fresh mozzarella from curds, and the sausage comes from Martin’s at Reading Terminal Market.

They’re creating in University City these days, and not just at the high-tech “innovation district” that Drexel University and Wexford Science + Technology are putting together. Chef Dave Feola puts out some traditional, thin-crusted 14-inch pies at this comfortable Market Street bistro, such as a Margherita with a San Marzano base and buffalo mozzarella and a spicy sausage Bolognese. But the seasonal selections get wilder, like braised rabbit in a tomato sauce dotted with ricotta and Calabrian chili oil, or the hazelnut pesto with roasted poblano and pecorino over béchamel.

Pizza at this massive Italian emporium in KoP Mall splits cleanly into two lanes. The full-service restaurant, La Pizza & La Pasta, serves classic, whole Neapolitan pies in a classy setting. For something faster, the marketplace counter sells Roman-style pizza by the slice; with a small seating area, it’s built for both lingering or grabbing a quick square mid-shop.

Come for a fill-up at this branch of Audubon’s Genova Pizza, tucked inside Marathon Gas. The grandma pies, with their crispy, olive oil-slicked crusts, the thicker-crusted Sicilians, and deep dish are the big draws. If you’re on your way somewhere, note that you can eat at the counter, if you’d care to spare your car’s interior.

It would be easy — and wrong — to write this place off as a sports bar. What matters is the pizza: light yet sturdy 13-inch pies from Vetri alum Brad Daniels, whose resume also includes the high-end Tresini in Spring House. The toppings show real thought, from a saganaki-inspired pie with preserved lemon, feta, and oregano to the broccoli-forward “Brock Party” with ricotta sauce and roasted garlic. Even the red pies are dialed in, finished with restrained Bianco DiNapoli sauce and fior di latte instead of generic mozzarella.

You may have to tilt the pizza box slightly to navigate the doorway of Steven Calozzi’s rustic parlor in the former Subway shop at 17th and the Parkway. Calozzi, a pizzeria lifer from Bucks County (by way of Seattle), is turning out whopping, 24-inch Trenton-style pies: cheese on the bottom, with a thin, crispy crust. (A 12-inch is available, too.) There’s a tomato pie drizzled with pecorino and olive oil, a sauceless white pizza, a cheese pie (heavy on the toppings), and a Sicilian. Dine-in on two levels is a plus when you have a family attending an event on the Parkway.

Having wowed our tasters for The Inquirer’s 76, John Bisceglie has added a Wayne outpost to his bustling Bryn Mawr pizzeria. Located in a strip center near the farmers market, it’s set up mostly for takeout, but there’s a comfy dining room to enjoy unforgettable pies both thick and thin(ish), rectangular and round, red and white. We’re particularly fond of the white pies, topped with fresh mozzarella, lemony ricotta, caramelized onions, pecorino-romano, and parsley and baked on a sesame-seed crust.

Gary Lincoln’s latest South Jersey pizzeria is not like the rest: It’s all online for delivery, and walk-in customers must use kiosks for slices and pies, available also for dine-in. Highlights include the Pickle (pickles, bacon, cheddar, mozzarella, ranch dressing), Zinger (secret sauce, steak, banana peppers, mozz, American cheese), and Knotty Vodka, with its edges ringed with garlic knots.

Mason Lesser is 24, but he’s been around the pizza world all his life through his maternal grandfather, Angelo Lancellotti, who owned dozens of local pizzerias over the decades. Lesser, who named his Fishtown storefront after his mother and grandmother, offers thin-crusted New York-style pies (18-inchers for whole, 20-inchers for slices) that meld both fresh and low-moisture mozzarella with minimal sauce (a simple combo of tomatoes, salt, basil, and olive oil); all pizzas get a finishing dusting of pecorino-romano and glug of EVOO. His upmarket pie is the Riviera, with pepperoni, creamy stracciatella, basil hot honey, and basil. It’s open for dine-in or pick-up.

Cosimo Tricarico left Philly (and his Caffe Valentino in Pennsport) a few years ago for his native Puglia. In his Philly comeback, he’s set up at Ninth and South, turning out an assortment of football-shaped Romans, traditional rounds, plus sfilatini —thin, pressed baguette sandwiches with fillings like meatballs and vegetables. It’s open for dine-in.

Lee Sanchez’s something-for-everyone menu at his mod bistro inside the Suburban Station building (aka One Penn Center) includes five pizzas — all thin-crusted 14-inch rounds with sturdy bottoms and good crunch. There’s plenty of heat from the Trevi, with spicy pepperoni cups, pickled serrano peppers, hot honey, and blobs of whipped ricotta. Also of note is the Funghi, whose wild-mushroom mix gets a topping of Dijonnaise, fresh mozzarella, and rosemary gremolata.

It’s hip to be square at this old-Philly institution — now up to 14 locations (including new outposts in University City and Deptford) under one branch of Joseph Santucci’s family. The pan-baked square crusts envelop a firm, crackly bottom, and the sharp sauce stays bright, ladled on top of the cheese.

Chef Laurent Tourondel, the New York restaurateur behind an international portfolio of steakhouses, Italian restaurants, and pizza concepts, is behind this sophisticated pizzeria/cocktail bar in Northern Liberties’ Piazza Alta. For the French-born chef, pizza is personal. “I was telling my staff that I cooked for a living, but pizza for me was always a hobby.” Twenty years ago, after Michelin awarded a star to BLT Fish, Tourondel’s chef de cuisine announced that he was quitting to open a pizzeria, a growing category. Inspired, Tourondel trained in Naples and returned to New York to launch La Mico and later take over a longtime pizzeria on Long Island, where he refined a crispy, airy-crusted style. At Scusi, chef de cuisine Georgeann Leaming offers a by-the-slice pizza bar as well as two Sicilian pies, along with calzones, salads, sandwiches, and soft-serve for dessert. Tourondel is also behind Terra Grill, a wood-fired grill restaurant, planned next door for early 2026.

There are seven Mexican pizzas on the menu at this vibrant taqueria in downtown Moorestown from Carlos Melendez of Conshohocken’s Coyote Crossing. The 16-inch rounds (not too thick or think) aren’t just getting “taco toppings,” either; there’s mole poblano with pulled chicken, red onions, and toasted sesame seed; birria topped with guajillo and morita-seasoned brisket, with consomé on the side, and a sweet-and-savory al pastor with achiote and the kick of chile de árbol salsa.

This newcomer in Downingtown is many things: a family restaurant and sports bar downstairs, with a sushi bar and event space upstairs. It’s also a serious pizza destination thanks to consultant Ptah Akai, whose pies are puffy, neo-Neapolitan-ish, with sturdy crusts and a light char. The sliced garlic gave a subtle roast to a cheeseless tomato pie that he made for me off-menu. His Forager, with basil pesto and three kinds of mushrooms, was balanced and did not sink under the mozzarella. There’s also a plain cheese, pepperoni, and a Margherita. Important, non-pizza-related tip: The adjacent parking lot is not the restaurant’s, and tow trucks abound; park across the street in the municipal lot.

The no-frills, 14-inch pies — especially the upside-down (with provolone on the bottom) and the cheeseless tomato — pair well with the brews on tap at this counter setup inside the industrial-looking “mixing room” at Bensalem’s Broken Goblet Brewing, run by veteran pizza man Bob Meadows and his business partner, Chris Margarite.