Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria Philly Pizza Review

Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria is located at 1336 Pine Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107. Established around 1997, Paolo Gourmet Pizza has become very popular in Center City Philadelphia.

Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria has delivery, pickup or dine in options available. If you choose to eat there, they have several tables and booths to sit at. Their tables are very colorful and their radio was blasting rap music when I was there so this pizzeria is not your typical gourmet pizza shop. Actually it is not fancy in appearance at all like a true gourmet pizza place like Pizzeria Stella. I think that these pizzerias like to throw around the word “gourmet” but don’t truly comprehend what gourmet pizza is.

Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria has a very extensive menu including tomato pies, traditional pizzas, and would you believe that they have a pizza with French fries on top. Strange…but sometimes strange may be good.

I ordered the chicken parmigiana pizza to spice things up. This is made with breaded chicken, marinara sauce and sharp provolone. The crust was crispy and small signs of charring on the bottom. The crust was of a traditional American style thickness in a triangular shape. This particular slice could have been much better. They only put 3 small blocks of chicken on top of the slice.

There was more sauce than cheese on the pizza and the minimal amount of sauce that was on there still was not the right proportion. All this for $3 a slice...way too expensive. Two blocks away you could go to Pine Street Pizza and pick up a slice about a dollar cheaper.

I am going to give Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria a red light (not recommended). They need to loosen up on the prices and give back more to their customers. Another thing that I noticed was the pizzas that were sitting on the counter appeared to possibly have been there over an hour. How could you possibly give a quality slice of pizza to your customer and be considered Philly’s best pizza if your slice were sitting out for a long time. Then when you go to reheat the slice (and you will have to) the slice will take on a different form (the form of reheated leftovers). This could never be good if you want to be considered a true gourmet pizzeria. Finally, the quality of the pie was just not the taste of gourmet pizza or quality pizza in general. Paolo Gourmet Pizzeria…remember that the key to gourmet pizza is fresh ingredients made and served now and not a few hours ago.