Pizza Review: Sarcone's Bakery

Phillyist loves pizza and is always on the lookout for a good slice. This is the first in an ongoing series of pizza reviews in and around the city.

If you were to walk by Sarcone’s Bakery on 9th Street, you would probably just assume that it's yet another typical, family-run, Little Italy bread bakery - the kind you can find anywhere between Baltimore and Boston. You would also probably never expect them to have pizza, even if you looked in the window. However, if you did venture in, and if you were lucky, you'd be able to have some very good pizza.

The pizza at Sarcone’s is not your typical slice-joint Neapolitan or Grandma pizza, but more of a light, airy, Sicilian-type pie. If you time things right, there will be a selection of pies from which to choose a reasonably-priced ($1.25 to $1.50) slice. Typically pepperoni, mushroom, no sauce, cheese, and tomato pie are offered, but unlike in a pizzeria, the supply of pizza isn’t replenished through the day, so you may wind up with something you don’t like. What you see is what you get here. However, if you ask the typical South Philadelphia ladies who staff the counter, they'll tell you if more is coming and what it is.

The rectangular slices themselves are generous, both in terms of size and amount of cheese, rivaling your typical pizzeria’s extra cheese. The sauce has no hint of tomato paste flavor and is usually in perfect proportion to the cheese and crust. The crust is not greasy, something that you often find with this type of pizza. But if you like hot pizza, you may be out of luck, unless you wind up walking in when they are putting out a fresh pie.

If you want something other than pizza or a place to sit and eat, you are again out of luck, unless you want bread, rolls or cookies, all of which are quite good at Sarcone's. However, down the block they have a deli, also named Sarcone’s, which has a selection of beverages, chips and sandwiches made on bread and rolls from the bakery.

The pizza is not worth making a special trip for, since you may be disappointed by them selling out or having nothing that you want. But if you're nearby visiting Whole Foods or the Italian Market, it's worth popping in to see. Also, calling ahead for a whole pie may be an option, if you have enough people to eat it, especially since it will ensure that you'll actually get a hot pizza. Since they keep bakers’ hours, don’t plan on having pizza for dinner; the pizza tends to sell out before 1 p.m. and the bakery closes at 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, or earlier if the bread runs out.

Sarcone’s Bakery
758 South 9th Street
(215) 922-0445
Tuesday - Saturday 7:30 a.m. -3:30 p.m.
Sunday 7:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
sarconesbakery.com

Photos by the author