Review: 13th Street Pizza - The Best Pizza in Philadelphia

Tell me if this story sounds familiar: Late night of drinking and dancing, a few hours of flirting and skirt chasing, then the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania says it is time to go home. You need a nosh, and you need a nosh right now! So where do you go? 13th Street Pizza.

13th Street could offer crappy pizza at exorbitant prices, resting on their ideal location wedged in-between Pure and Woodys. But this late night pizzeria actually offers fantastic slices affordable to any tightwads. If you only have a few bucks left over from a night of boozing, 13th Street can still cut you a plentiful piece of pie without any pleading.

Beyond the classic concoctions, 13th Street also offers several unique pizza options. The innovative loaded baked potato pizza tastes, well...just like it sounds! Cheese and bacon bits, already loyal pizza toppings, are accompanied by several circular potato slices. If you like loaded baked potatoes, give it a try.
13th Street has made-to-order pizzas at all hours of the day and night. We normally stomp thru there at 1AM (okay...okay...sometimes 2) and it's always a pleasant sight to see fresh pizzas steaming behind the sneeze quard. Plain cheese, pepperoni, meat lovers, combo, and the always-odd Hawaiian can all usually be found and gobbled up. If they don't have it, the staff at 13th is always prepared to whip up a pie for you as well. Don't be shy, ask them. Having sampled all the basic slices, I can agree with 13th's statement that they serve "New York pizza with a Philadelphia attitude." The pizza always good, not too greasy, and most definitely hot and quick.

Now if you're feeling daring might we suggest a taste of one of the unique specialty pizzas. Sure, 13th's pepperoni is great. But be a little adventurous every once and a while. An extraordinary departure from the ordinary, the BBQ chicken pizza is covered with tender sauce soaked chicken, even more finger-licking good then the Colonel's products. A more spicy option is the buffalo chicken slice pizza. Whoever came up with inspiration to merge the taste of Buffalo wings with pizza should be given a big wet kiss. My personal favorite 13th Street taste is the phenomenal ranch chicken. I've dipped cardboard into ranch and had a great meal, but this meal is one worth it's weight in gold.

In fact, I've actually left the bars early (shocking, I know) to indulge in a slice (or three). Moist warm chicken on thin piece of pizza dough, swaddled in ranch...what's not to adore? Now if all this sounds good (and honestly just writing it is making me famished), then you might opt for a slice of the BBQ and ranch chicken pizza. I could go into a deep long explanation of it for you, but I think you're probably intelligent enough to get it. I will say this, it's damn good.
If your late-night snacking is affecting that hard abs, then go with the fantastic spinach ricotta or the tomato pie. Slightly better than white veggie pie. Packed with almost every vegetable God made, and a few he might have missed, this pie will sate any veganite. If you want to pretend you're eating healthy, try the broccoli ranch. I am still a baby about broccoli; it's not my thing. But douse that stuff in ranch dressing and bake it on a pie, and watch me unhinge my jaw to ingest it. Yum!

Most likely, if your gay and in Philadelphia, you're occasionally at Tavern On Camac, Woody's, Uncles, or the Bike Stop. You probably have already eaten at 13th Street, maybe even enough for the staff to know your order just by looking at your face. (You know who you are...) If you haven't eaten at 13th Street, what the hell are you waiting for? Worse cold weather?

13th Street Pizza, 209 S. 13th St, $, 215-546-4453, myspace.com/13thstreetpizza.