If you follow this blog, you may have observed my ever-evolving belief that there is more than one way to combine tomato sauce, dough, and Mozzarella cheese into a great pizza. Yes, I will admit that I began blogging with an intent to focus only on New York Style. However, I am sure glad that I have expanded my reach, and I am sure glad that I discovered the magnificently designed Tomato Pie.

From what I have gathered, Tomato Pie Central may very well be Trenton, NJ where the Snob has yet to adventure. (There were hopes this would happen soon until the Yankees pulled the plug on their Trenton Thunder affiliate.) However, I have found some fine examples of the Tomato Pie down the Jersey Shore and it’s not surprising that this specialty pizza has crossed the Delaware River into Philadelphia. On a recent visit to see our son and daughter-in-law, I found that it has made it even further west into Delaware County (a/k/a “Delco”) at Gaetano’s Pizzeria in the Philly suburb of Clifton Heights.

On our previous visit, we discovered G’s existence as well as the fact that they have no seating and offer only delivery and takeout. Fine with us, but when no one answered their phone between 6pm and their 7pm closing, I could only assume that they either had run out of dough or that their available cooking time before closing was extinguished. (I now see that they advertise a 30-minute cutoff.) Planning ahead this time, we called earlier to place our order for two large “Traditional Pies” of sauce and cheese only for $13.25 each. Cash only, by the way.

While picking up the pies, I got to see G’s awesome multi-oven pizza factory behind the counter. Getting quickly back to the house, I did the unboxing for my surprised family members who had yet to see a Tomato Pie with the tomato sauce on the top and only a thin layer of cheese on the bottom. Likewise, when all was said and done, no one was open-minded enough to give it a fair chance. Me, on the other hand, found G’s Tomato Pie absolutely delightful!

This kind of pie is certainly different but nonetheless, when made as well as G’s does, it can be a savory fun tasty treat. It does require a thicker crust to carry the extra load of tomato sauce and the resulting crust is therefore softer, being simply too thick to be crisply cooked. And let’s face it, with such a light layer of cheese underneath, it’s mostly bread and sauce that you are eating. But the incredibly delicious tomato sauce made G’s pie so flavorfully fabulous. While I miss the crispness of a good old New York slice, I just can’t get enough of G’s luscious tomato sauce.

So, prepare yourself for a different experience and go and give Gaetano’s Pizzeria a try. Long live the Tomato Pie!

PIZZA SNOB RATING ****Near Perfection
Gaetano’s Pizzeria
210 S Springfield Rd.
Clifton Heights, PA 19018
610 – 626-4826
[NO WEBSITE]