Overbrook Pizza Will Smith Best Pizza

Overbrook Pizza Review - Will Smith Best Philly Pizza

Overbrook Pizza is not your typical Philly pizza joint. Celebrating 30 years in business this year, this little take out only (or delivery) pizzeria was highly recommended by one of the most famous living Philly celebrities, Will Smith. They are located at 2099 North 63rd Street, Philadelphia, PA 19151, just a few moments from Will Smith’s high school, Overbrook High.

The staff at Overbrook Pizza was very nice but very busy (so you need to order and cut the small talk). The place was very small so again, just a reminder, there aren’t anywhere to eat unless you don’t mind standing outside and eating. The pizza oven used was also very small right behind the counter.

Will Smith is very friendly with the owners of Overbrook Pizza. He often ate there as a kid growing up in West Philadelphia. This may be the reason that when he comes home to visit his mother every now and then that he stops by to have a bite. Will likes Overbrook Pizza so much that he mentioned the place on an interview at 60 Minutes a few years ago.

Overbrook Pizza is good not only due to their popularity with Will Smith and the Saint Joseph University students but also because their pizza is one of a kind. Although they don’t have a dine-in restaurant, just waiting for your pizza for pickup is an enchanting experience. There are pics of Will and the owners on the wall and Overbrook Pizza’s awards (including World’s Largest Cheese Steak).

Overbrook Pizza makes their pizza in a pan. They are one of a small few in Philly that make pizza this style. I am not sure where they came up with this style of pizza making as the owners appear to be straight from Italy and not Chicago. Those facts become irrelevant once you eat their pizza. I ordered the Veggie pizza for $9. The pizza is a personal size (about 10 inches). They do not sell by the slice so I was forced to buy the whole thing but boy was it worth it. The veggie is made out of several major vegetable toppings including: mushrooms, black olives, broccoli, onions and green peppers.

All of the toppings were fresh and they loaded the small pie with them. The crust was not charred at all but very shiny, crunchy and with a buttery crust appeal as a pan pizza has. This is not a deep dish as the toppings and cheese were on top of the sauce. The cheese was very stringy and the eight small slices made eating very messy (especially considering the weight of the toppings). The sauce was very sweet but with all of the toppings you barely noticed it. The crust was definitely the highlight of the pizza though. Having good pan pizza is a treat in Philly where pan pizza barely exists.

Overbrook Pizza has value, popularity, taste, originality, and voted best pizza by the Philly legend Will Smith. Putting all of these factors together, I say Overbrook Pizza - welcome to the Best Philadelphia Pizza Club!

Philadelphia Pizza Hut Restaurant Review

There are five dine in locations for Pizza Hut in the Philadelphia area currently. Their addresses are: 3501 Aramingo Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19134; 3000 Island Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19153; 1401 66th Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19126; 6613 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19135; and 300 East Baltimore Pike, Clifton Heights, PA 19018.

The Pizza Hut location that is the subject of this review is at 3501 Aramingo Avenue. Established over 20 years ago, this location is one of the most popular Pizza Hut locations is Philly. Although there are about 10 Pizza Huts in Philly that have delivery and pick up services, only the five locations above are pure dine in restaurants. Most of the restaurants have the same Pizza Hut franchise look with the one story brick building and the red A shaped roof (thus the logo of Pizza Hut).

The inside of this Pizza Hut location brings back a nostalgic remembrance of the 1980’s. Actually I would bet that barely anything has been changed in this place since that timeframe. I felt like I was walking in a time warp. The building appears well kept but nothing has been modernized. There are plenty of tables and booths in the restaurant. They also have a pizza buffet there but you have to get there before 2 or 3.

I recently ordered the stuffed crust pan pizza with half pepperoni and half sausage for approximately $10. They have a special now $10 for any pizza, any topping. This pizza has an extra ring of cheese around the inner circumference of the pizza.

To recall, pan pizza is similar to Chicago deep dish pizza in that it is cooked in a pan with a layer of oil at the bottom to give the crust a more buttery taste. The major difference with traditional deep dish is that the pan pizza has the toppings on top of the sauce and cheese. The regular Chicago deep dish has the sauce on top of everything. I like both approaches but Pizza Hut has perfected the pan pizza version as this is their signature pie.

Pizza Hut is one of the very few pizza places in Philly where you can get Chicago style pizzas (in this case pan pizza). That is why I thought that one review of Pizza Hut would be relevant here. The other major player would be Chicago Pizzeria Uno (the inventors of Chicago style deep dish pizza) and that will be a review for another time. So if you want this style of pizza in Philly, these are your two main options (after all this is not Chicago).

Although this is a pizza chain and my traditional opinion of pizza chains is that they are generally lousy, I have always had a soft spot for Pizza Hut. It may be that their style of pizza is hard to find in Philly and I like deep dish and pan pizzas…yea..that is probably it. I bet if I lived in Chicago where this kind of pizza is served everywhere I probably would not feel the same. But here in Philly, franchise or no franchise, Pizza Hut presents an opportunity to bring Chicago a little closer to home.

The crust is a nice buttery colored crust on the bottom and the edges. That extra buttery flavor really adds value to the pie but I am sure that it adds to your cholesterol level as well. The pies at Pizza Hut are 14 inches served in a pan that was probably as old as Pizza Hut. There are 8 slices in a pie. Each slice is more filling than a regular American slice as this is pan style, a thicker crust style. This pizza was very cheesy but it tastes great the way Pizza Hut does it.

The extra ring of mozzarella cheese around the edge of the pizza’s crust complements the pie. The pizza in general is very cheesy but the sauce underneath balances it out. The pepperoni and sausage toppings have created a little extra oil on top of the pie. If this is too much for you then you may want to put a napkin over it to make it to your liking. They were very generous about the amounts of sausage and pepperoni on the pizza as well.

Overall, Pizza Hut has good pan pizza for a reasonable price. The waitresses were very nice and helpful. As an unusual twist of events, I am very impressed with a major pizza franchise. Pizza Hut, welcome to the Best Philadelphia Pizza Club!