For our first anniversary, James and I had decided to spend it doing something we both love: eating endless pizza. James and I had pizza for dinner at our wedding (I totally recommend it for people planning a wedding), and even though we didn’t get to indulge in it too much during that day we definitely had more than enough on our wedding anniversary.
The Philadelphia Pizza fest took place this year on September 8, and is hopefully around that time the next couple years. The ticket prices vary, but it cost us $25 each and per ticket included 5 free slices, free parking, a tour of the dugout at Citizen’s Bank, and a free Phillies game ticket. Granted, it was raining so we couldn’t get our tour of the dugouts which stunk. The Phillies tickets were for certain dates, but there were still plenty of days to chose from. There were other packages, like GA that was only $13 and VIP that was $55. General Admission didn’t include anything, and the VIP included things like a bag of goodies, a VIP beer tasting area, 10 slices, and more tickets to the Phillies.We took the median of the two because we knew we’d eat 5 slices of pizza each and we like going to Phillies games. Plus, I couldn’t drink any of that tasty beer and wine – although that was also available in the regular pizza eating areas and there were never any lines.
For the first time hosting this event, there were a couple things that I hope they improve on in the years to come. There were some pizza places that I was really looking forward to sampling that didn’t have working pizza ovens from Citizen’s Bank. There were also booths than ran out of pizza very fast. The event started at 12 and was supposed to go until 7. We left at 4 because we were full, but also because there were only 2 booths open at that point that still had pizza left and we had already eaten from them. Other than that though, it was great. Plenty of beer and wine, and plenty of pizza for you to scarf down. We’re definitely going again next year to see if it’s improved!
Now let me dish on the pizzas that I would buy a whole pie of next time I’m in Philly! Porta is one of my favorite pizza places with 1 location in Philly and 2 in North Jersey. They have something for everyone with vegan and vegetarian options on their menu, as well as brunch on weekends! I am telling you, this is literally the best pizza I’ve ever eaten.
The second place we sampled was El Sarape, which had pretty good pizza but I was honestly just there for the Pineapple drinks. This drink was so good that if they sell this at their restaurant, I would go just for that. The restaurant isn’t a pizza place, so I wouldn’t say that it was the best there, but the pineapple was delish.
We tried a few new places like Das Good and America’s Pie, and had some places there that I had known from previously eating like Uncle Oogies, Season’s Pizza, and Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza. Porta is still my favorite. But I’ll let you be the judge next year.
Ekstraordinaere 