PhillyLunchBox

Franzone's Pizzeria

Franzone's Pizzeria
200 W Ridge Pike
Conshohocken, PA 19428
610-825-0323

I stopped by Franzone's Pizzeria in Conshohocken Saturday night, to pick up a pie with my Aussie friend. It's my favorite pizza, bar-none, and I wanted her to try it too. She did, loved it, best pizza she's ever had.

Well, while futzin' around the internets today, I found another right-on critique of Franzone's Pizza, on a message board devoted to Ben Folds of Ben Folds Five fame. The post was done by OneDown, there's not much I would add to his critique (except to tell him two words: spell-checker!!):

Theres this pizza place near me, its called franzone's. they have this pizza, its the normal diameter and thickness of a pizza, but something about it.. I could, and have eaten a whole large pizza. The crust is perfect, not too thin or thick...the cheese is a little greasy, but not too much or in a bad way, it goes down eeeeaaaaasy...oh, and the best part is the sauce it is so sweeet. the whole thing is fucking awesome.

I'm down with that, OneDown!!

Nat's Pizzeria in Doylestown

Nat's Pizzeria
138 W State St.
Doylestown, PA 18901
Phone: (215) 345-8822

I had lunch at Nat's Pizzeria today, first time I've been there. My chicken cheesesteak was excellent, worthy of Philly. My sister and her bf loved the pizza but it's just too greasy and a bit undercooked for me. As most people say about this place - the service is excellent, very nice guys. The two cops in the place were chowing down something fierce. And there was a steady stream of customers while we were there. The Doylestown area is a little spooky to me - it's a little too quiet, too suburby, too middle America (??) or something - it's hard to explain, I guess. But yea, Nat's is worth the trip if you're nearby.

Berkserker Cuts A Slice Out Of Alex's Pizza

Alex's Pizza
Leverington & Mitchell Streets
Philadelphia, PA 19128

I stopped by Alex's in Roxborough on Saturday night with my best friend, who I hadn't really hung out with in two years (long story, my fault). Turns out that our friendship is still intact (yes!), but alas I can't say the same for Alex's pizza.

I've been going to Alex's since the 1970's. The most memorable trip was a basketball championship celebration - our team of 8-12 year olds had won the local title at the rec center.

Our coaches piled about 20 of us kids into Alex's ultra-tiny corner shop, where there's still no seating - it's all take-out. We ate in anyway, having the time of our lives, throwing down about 20 pizzas.

Alex's changed hands a couple years ago. I heard that it sold for 1 million, and that was just for the business, not the building too. I'm not sure I believe all that, but it makes for some good gossip around the 'Borough.

The pizza is mostly the same - thin crust, relatively small in diameter, slightly sweet sauce, and a circular swirl of the cheese and sauce throughout the whole pie. I do find the sauce to be a bit sour lately, but that didn't stop me last fall from discovering that I could still eat an entire pie in one sitting - I'm not sure if that's a good thing, but it's there.

The biggest change is in the staff; and not just the names but the demeanor. The counter girl is just awful - she's been surly and just plain miserable every time I've been there. It's as if they took the most horrible candidate they could find, and stuck her up front because they didn't know what to do with her.

But, I don't blame here, I blame the owner/manager - they gotta see her bad 'tude, but they still let her answer the phone and deal with the walk-ins. Guys, even if she's family, get her out of there, she's costing you business. I hear this from lots of people that I've talked to in the neighborhood.

I miss John, the former owner, who was always there, behind the counter working as the sauce guy, saying hello to every single person who walked in, and - just as important - sincerely thanking everyone as they left with their pies (and it's only pies - they sell nothing else).

And the older lady who worked the counter - her sweet, grandmotherly persona always made the long wait on Friday nights that much more bearable. What a sweet woman, real old school.

So, if you can get past the grumpy counter gal and the sometimes sour sauce, Alex's might still be worth the trip and the wait. For me though, I might be done with the place for a while. But not so for my friendship with my buddy, we're back on track...