Sarcone’s Bakery Italian Pizza Review

The following review is a very special review of Sarcone’s Bakery is South Philadelphia. Located at 756-758 South 9th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19147, Sarcone’s Bakery is one of the most popular old world Italian bakeries in Philadelphia. Established in 1918 by Luigi Sarcone, the bakery is still run by the same family with the same recipe as their Italian ancestor. In 2000, the business was fire bombed but survived and was opened for business the next day. Sarcone’s Bakery does also have a deli that they opened about 10 years ago that is a few doors down.

Sarcone’s Bakery sells all types of breads and desserts but obviously we are discussing them here because of their famous pizzas. Also, if any of you have read our Philly Cheese Steak Blog you may have noticed that Sarcone’s rolls are a very popular choice for many steak shops in Philly. This place is one of the most famous Philadelphia bakeries alongside with its competitors: Cacia’s, Amoroso, and Iannelli’s. Their philosophy on business deserves respect as well. They refuse to expand beyond what they can handle as to be careful not to sacrifice quality. I really like the quote that Luigi Sarcone states “Put too much food in your mouth and you can’t chew.” He was speaking of growing too big such as some of their competitors.

Sarcone’s Bakery sells pizza but their operation is a little different. If you want to try their pizza then you need to get there early (as in no later than about 1 or until they sell their last slice). They are open six days a week except Mondays but the pizza is sold only in the morning/early afternoon and goes fast.

Their pizza is usually cold unless the tray was just made. I happened to eat a cold slice but it is still good (it’s actually room temperature). They have only a few major selections of pizza, which include: tomato or white pie, regular pie, pepperoni pie, and their gourmet pie. I ordered a slice of their gourmet pie for $2. All of their pies are square pies served from a baking tray. The gourmet pie was 95% cheese and no sauce. The slice was topped with slightly hot peppers (mild) that were cut into small sluices. The peppers were not plentiful as there was only a few on each slice. I think that they were used mainly as an accent. I would recommend that they add a little more peppers or something else as there was just too much white on the pizza. There was plenty of space to fill the top of the slice.

Other than the cheese and the peppers the slice was very basic except for one thing. Did you forget that this is one of the best bakeries in Philly? The crust was made out of the brick oven of one of the best bakeries in Philly thus producing awesome crust. The crust was about an inch thick on the square slice. There were no signs of charring but it was extremely crunchy. It was so good that being served room temperature was not a problem (but I am sure that hot is better).

Sarcone’s Bakery has a very friendly family like atmosphere. There aren’t any tables to sit as it is take out only so be prepared to order and keep on moving.

Sarcone’s Bakery is a legend in Philly. It is my honor to welcome them into the Best Philadelphia Pizza Club!