Ranking the Philly Style Tomato Pies

The Internet is awash in pizza rankings. Some are expert, some are clumsy, some are downright pointless. Here we attempt, instead, to offer some guide to the best Philly Style Tomato Pies.

First, we have to define tomato pie. We've done so extensively HERE. For this ranking, we are talking about the Philadelphia/Conshohocken style of tomato pie, which is a big rectangle with a thick airy crust (much like a Sicilian pizza), a signature tomato sauce, and little or no cheese. These are found in a bakery as often as in a pizzeria, and are frequently enjoyed at room temperature. Hence, this comparison does not include the Trenton tomato pie or the New Haven version.

Note: I've dubbed it Philly/Conshohocken style, but this thick-crust scant-cheese room-temp bakery-sourced pie is also common in other parts of the northeast.

Let's meet the contenders (click on any one for the full review) :

• Carlino's Specialty Foods, West Chester PA
• La Sicilia, Belleville NJ
• L&B Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn NY
• Corropolese Bakery, Norristown, PA
• Limoncello, West Chester PA
• Morabito's, Norristown, PA
• Tony Roni's, Willow Grove, PA
• Wegman's, Downingtown PA

Of course, there are many other tomato pies in the Philly region. I did get to sample some at the South Philly Pizza Olympics, but I didn't gather enough info to fully and fairly evaluate the pies from Aversa, Cacia, and Santucci's.

Now, before the judgement, some disclaimers. My heartfelt pizza love is for the Trenton/New Haven tomato pie, then thin-crust bar pie, then Neapolitan and New York style. The Philly tomato pies and Sicilian pizzas rank considerably behind those (but still ahead of Chicago style pizza casserole). That helps explain why I haven't sampled the dozens of other tomato pie purveyors in the Delaware Valley. If you know a great one, please post it in the comments.

Because the crust is thick, puffy, and often lacking the flavor and character of a great Trenton or Neapolitan pie, and further because it typically has little or no cheese, a Philly tomato pie can best be evaluated on the strength of the tomato sauce.

Tony Roni's

Coming in at Number Three is Tony Roni's. In our review we noted that, of all the "tomato pie I've eaten, this was the first one that sold me on the room temperature approach." Notably, even though finishing third in this mini-contest, Tony Roni's wins the Philly region prize - read on to see why.

L&B Spumoni Gardens

Our Number Two finisher is L&B Spumoni Gardens, near Coney Island in Brooklyn. Famous to New Yorkers and to pizza congnoscenti everywhere, L&B is not known by Philly area residents, and it certainly doesn't call its product "tomato pie." It's known as "square" or "Sicilian" or both. I could not detect, on my visits there, the cheese alleged to be under the sauce. Whatever you call it, it is the only tomato pie I've tasted where the crust could be the star. "Ethereal" is not hyperbole for this thick, part airy and part dense crust. It took me several visits to fully appreciate it - but I finally understand what makes L&B a legendary pizza stop.

La Sicilia

Number One is La Sicilia, in Belleville, NJ. On my visit, I rated the sauce a perfect 10. I can't do better than to repeat what I wrote after my visit: 

"The tomato sauce, which is mostly chunks, was as delicious as any I can remember. Such balance, such vibrant flavors! This is not a pizza or a granma pie; it is a tomato pie and a wonderful one. The crust was simply a palette, and a crisply durable one, to convey this awesome red tomato topping. I sat in a lot of crappy traffic to get this pie and I'm VERY glad I did. Usually, tomato pie is improved by the addition of some cheese, but this time I preferred the slices that had none."

On balance, even though many revere the Philly style tomato pie, there's plenty of room for improvement. Baked in a pan, the pie begins at a disadvantage, but that shouldn't mean that the crust has little character. Dom DiMarco makes a fabulous square pie in a pan at Brooklyn's DiFara (well, sure, he uses a pint of olive oil for each pie). 

Square pie at Di Fara

Too often, the tomato pie crust lacks flavor and texture, tasting as though it had come from a supermarket. Imagine an L&B crust with that La Sicilia sauce!  Still, is the thick crust too much to overcome? Could it ever deliver the satisfying snap of an al taglio Roman slice? Share your thoughts!

Roman pizza

Review: L&B Spumoni Gardens, 86th Street, Brooklyn NY

This was my third trip to L&B Spumoni Gardens. In 2008, I did an outer boro pizza tour. We made a stop at Spumoni Gardens for a slice of their square pie and a conventional triangle slice from the round pie.

Sampling the conventional slice

About a year ago, I returned and again sampled both the square pie and a conventional triangle slice. Based on those two experiences, I safely concluded that the round pie was forgettable. The square didn't blow me away on my earlier visits, but based on the reviews of pizza bloggers more expert than I, it was an easy decision on a hot August afternoon to stop in and try again en route from Dyker Heights to JFK.

Here is some background, excerpted from their website:

"Here we are known for our Famous Sicilian Pizza, Home made Spumoni, and outside seating. Ludovico Barbati came into the United States back in 1917, from Torella Di Lombardi, Italy. In 1938 Ludovico learned from a baker how to make Spumoni and Ices, in a little garage on West 8th Street, Brooklyn New York. He sold his products up and down the streets of Gravesend & Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. In 1939, Ludovico, Sr. decided he needed a little, inexpensive place to make the Spumoni and Ices, so he purchased vacant property on 86th street in Brooklyn. In the mid 1950's L & B Spumoni Gardens built the second building, which is now the Pizzeria, selling our famous thick Sicilian pies, as well as our regular round pies. L & B Spumoni Gardens is now in its fourth generation. There will always be a family member to greet you at our doors."

Nice stuff! Let me translate that last sentence: "There will always be a family member to bark at you if you hesitate when you order."  

That is not a complaint! In fact, the brusque attytood of the window staff is part of L&B's charm. The place is huge by pizza joint standards. There is a separate window to order pizza and a window for spumoni and Italian ices.

I ordered two square slices, and I was happy that I did not get a center sans-cornicione piece. I got one standard border slice that had a single crusty edge, and a corner piece with two crispy edges. Upon visual inspection, it is abundantly clear that this is not pizza, deep-dish pizza, or Sicilian pizza. Yes, it has a thick Sicilian-style crust, but the cheese is a mere dusting of some aged finely grated cheese, probably Parmesan. This is much like what we call tomato pie in Conshohocken PA and Philly.

Click on this pic to see this close up!

For a cheeseless pie, the sauce should shine, and it did. This sauce was very bright, but it did not upstage the in-your-face red gravy on the comparable Sicilian slices at NY Pizza Suprema, near Penn Station in Manhattan. 

Those who praise the L&B square pie talk most about the crust. Crisp, airy, crunchy. It was all that. Starting with its perfectly browned bottom, above that is a layer that is puffy like good Italian bread, then above that is a layer that is dense and moist (probably from the sauce). Texture-wise, this is pretty good. I think this crust is close to perfect for a square pie; better than NY Pizza Suprema, rivaled perhaps only by Rize Pizza in Broomall, PA.

I have to conclude about this square pie what I've concluded about tomato pie in general: if you grew up eating it, it must be pretty special. If you discover it as an adult, it's a fine snack but at the end of the day it's a pretty good pizza with the cheese missing.

I'm glad that there are places like this, but I think the whole look and feel -- window ordering, outdoor seating, spumoni for dessert -- makes this place more an experience than an epicurean event (same can be said for Pat's or Geno's Cheesesteaks on Passyunk Avenue in Philly). You go for the ambiance, and the food is a bonus.

I'm happy to report that the spumoni at L&B was wonderful. I loved their take on "Neapolitan" in which they substitute pistachio for strawberry. And they scoop it from three different drums! The vanilla, chocolate, and pistachio products were the perfect soft texture (though they began to melt faster than I could eat & photograph). The small cup of spumoni was the same price as a square slice: $2.25. Nice value.

How does it all stack up?  Based on my two past experiences, I rate the round pie a 6. Not bad, but not distinctive in any way. The square pie rates higher. That crust is a 9.5, and the sauce gets an 8. The spumoni is a 9.5! This is a fine institution and I encourage you to stop by if you are in the area OR if you are a big fan of tomato pie.