Pizza Bar

Good lunch on Sunday from a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Pizza Bar has opened it's doors and oven to the Piazza crowds. It's tucked in just behind King's Oak, facing inwards towards the square. The space is sparse - basically an oven, stand-up coolers, a counter and some stools. True, we've already got pizza in NoLibs, but you can never have too much and this is a slightly different beast. Trios & Rustica make a great pie, but it's done in a traditional style oven with just radiant heat. Pizza Bar is using a gas fired, old school Italian version that can get you closer to that perfect crust. The resulting product is closer to Zavino or Stella.

pepperoni

The menu boasts 11 different pies, six red and five white, and the promise of four different type available for slices. So far I've tried the pepperoni, truffle and asparago. The pepperoni is an abruzzi style, hand sliced and imported from Italy. It's slightly spicy but left the pie too oily and turned into a bit of a mess half way through the slice. Truffle was decent with a mix of roasted mushrooms, but I could barely taste the truffle oil and the fried egg was nowhere in sight. Asparago was the best of the three with shaved bits of green asparagus tips interspersed with hunks of goat cheese and just crispy speck. I didn't see a fried egg on this one either, as promised on the menu. The highlight of all the pizzas was the crust. Crispy but still with a good chew and nice blister marks, it's the sign of a solid product. I'm looking forward to trying out some of the other pies for take-out. You can't judge just on pre-made slices.

asparago

According to the manager they are currently only doing delivery to the apartments in the Piazza & Liberties Walk, but expanding with scooters/cars in the coming weeks. For now, it's a good spot for a quick slice and a beer. They've got a decent collection of craft cans/bottles to go along with the pizza.

mushroom / truffle

The big draw is that they are open till 2:30 on Fridays & Saturdays. This is sure to guarantee them some late night BroLibs fallout business from the surrounding bars. On a personal level, I'll at last be able to complete the 2nd street trifecta of Dapper Dog, Jerk Chicken & Pizza. Take that, South Street Taco. That's right - I just created a thing. Can't wait for summer.

Food Baby Rating:  Only Child

Pizza Bar

1001 N 2nd St 

Next to Kings Oak in the Piazza at Schmidts

215.923.3332
www.pizzabarphilly.com

Burger Challenge Round 11 - Standard Tap

The veteran.  The trusted friend. The old standard.  I've been getting burgers at Standard Tap since 2003, back when it was one of only a handful of decent bars in Northern Liberties. Before the Piazza. Before the angled parking on 2nd street. Before Fishtown was a thing. Standard Tap has been doing awesome burgers since before they were a thing. They just about created the market for the gastropub in Philadelphia, serving really good local beers on tap and a menu of substantially excellent food.

With the distraction of new Stephen Starr restaurants opening on Frankford Ave and the merry-go-round of places opening and closing in Bart Blatstein's Piazza at Schmidt's,it's almost easy to overlook the Tap. The little bastion of hipster heaven anchoring the corner of 2nd and Poplar is just pretentious enough to know they do the gastropub concept better than just about anyone, but accessible enough so that no matter how tight your jeans are you never feel out of place.  By this point most of the hipsters have moved north of Girard or south of Passyunk anyway.

But enough social commentary. Let's talk burgers. You can get either the Standard or the Double Standard. Kind of a misnomer, the Double is not two patties but rather a double thick single. Melted jack cheese, lettuce, sautéed onions and mushrooms are the  defacto toppings. A soft and slightly sweet brioche bun keeps it all together and a side of their insanely good shoestring fries fills out the plate.

The beef is delicious. Not quite in the caliber of a Kennett or Royal Tavern patty, but for not having artisanal ground beef trucked in from Manhattan or any marrow mixed in, it's a remarkably good piece of meat. Definitely seems leaner than some of the other contenders we've had. They are relying more on the flavor of the meat than on fat to boost the taste. This helps to keep the burger from becoming a sloppy mess and the bun from disintegrating into the interior of a bread bowl. The roll held up nicely and didn't distract from the experience, which is more than can be said for other challengers. The brioche is just a bit sweet with a lovely golden sheen, the ideal conveyance for said burger.

The toppings is where the Standard burger fell off a bit. The cheese was good but fairly forgettable with no distinct flavors cutting through. The sautéed onions & mushrooms were cooked perfect. You can tell they've been doing this a while. But the pieces of limp iceberg lettuce only served to flatten out the flavor. Why not go for some Boston bibb,or some crisp romaine? I know it's October and it's not exactly in season, but there must be some good lettuce out there. If there isn't, just leave it off.  And the limp lettuce acted like a skating rink for the mites on ice. The mushrooms & onions slipping and sliding all over the place. It make eating the burger an exercise in hand-eye coordination. And I don't want to think about exercise while eating a Double Standard.

Don't get me wrong -this is still a great burger. It is consistently good and always scratches that ground beef itch. You will leave feeling contented and that all is right with the world. And at only $12 for the Standard ($13.75 for the Double) you can afford to have a few extra beers. My father-in-law comes all the way from Newtown just for this burger. Ask him where he wants to go for his birthday, anywhere in the city - Standard Tap for a burger. Where do we take friends from out of the city? Standard Tap for local beers and a burger. I think that says something. These guys have been doing it right for a dozen years now, and they've learned some things along the way. The Standard Burger is that old friend. Always there for you to fall back on - and you never appreciate just how much he means to you. I'm happy to call that burger my friend, and I'm looking forward to many more good times together. <3 you...

Food BabyRating:  Twins!

Standard Tap
901 N. 2nd Street  (Corner of 2nd & Poplar)
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 238-0630
www.standardtap.com

Great Burger Challenge - Round 5: PYT

The Great Burger Challenge soldiers on. I swear, we'll finish this before summer. Well, maybe before the end of summer. It'll definitely be this year. Promise. This installment features local hotspot PYT. Although I wrote this joint up a while back, it was time to bring in the professionals for a proper tasting, calculating and ranking of the burgers here. 

Service is always predictable, which generally involves waiting for whatever random hipster with gauged ears that has been assigned our section to bring out our drinks while they apologize for being new. Like the Dalai Lama says, "If you have no expectations, you'll never be disappointed." I have next to zero expectations for the servers here. The food however is a completely different story. A testament to how PYT can be successful with such an abysmal weight staff. I have never been disappointed with anything I've been served here. Not sure what his Holiness would make of a Philly Pretzel burger with a 1/2 lb. of cheesesteak meat on it, what with the vegetarianism and all, but I'm pretty sure he could come up with some new inspiration quotes for that piece of nirvana on a roll. 

pretzel nuggets with cheese dipping sauce

Appetizers. Ambitious, I know. With the amount of beef and carbs about to be laid before us, we're just getting greedy. Had to give the pretzel nuggets a try though. Served with a queso dipping sauce and a scoop of salsa floating on top, they were filling but not memorable. The pretzels themselves were not cooked all the way through, and still doughy in the center. The dipping sauce was about the equivalent of the nacho cheese you get at the Riverview movie theatre. One of the few dishes at PYT that has not impressed me. You can skip these. 

the Korean short rib burger

Contestant #1's Korean short rib burger, topped with some kimchi and an asian spicy mayo. The ground short rib is marinated in Korean bbq sauce, then formed into a patty and fried into deliciousness. I stand by my belief that bacon, goat cheese, and kimchi make everything better. This is no exception. 

the single - with bacon, fried onions and cheese. mind the onion rings. 

Contestant #2 went with the classic PYT single. More than enough for a normal human being, you're also entitled to a side of their crispy fries and healthy green pickle, so you can get your vegetables. She brought the A game with the addition of bacon and caramelized onions. Even cooked well-done (as requested - don't get me started on that burger faux pas) the flavor of the beef shines through. The soft potato roll, grilled ever so slightly, is the blank canvas for the artist in the kitchen. 

peek-a-boo - i see onion rings...

Let's not forget to mention the onion rings. Worthy of a write up all their own, they are the best in the city. Wishing Well puts up a serious contender, but I'm reminded again just how good these are. Huge rings of tender onion, cooked to a sweet, nearly caramelized consistency inside an oh-so-crunchy crust based on a Kenzinger beer batter. They are light and crispy, moist and delicious. Never will the onion betray it's crust and leave you with an empty batter ring. You can rely on these to be there for you, in good times and in bad, thru Swift Half and Gunners Run, Apollonaire and King's Oak.

the double, with all the fixins. tater tots, with chili & cheese.

Contestant# 4 - I'll let you guess who that was - was feeling saucy this night. Deciding that I needed to get the full weight and magnitude of the PYT experience, along with a proper food baby to report, I ordered the double with all the accouterments - lettuce, tomato, cheddar cheese, and the house made secret sauce. Oh, and a side of tater tots smothered Waffle House style with cheese and chili. And a pickle. There are families in rural China that don't consume this many calories in a day. God bless America.  

the double, fully assembled and ready for ingestion. 

Get your papaya pills ready for the post game after this one. You're going to need help with all the digestion that is about to take place. It's a challenge just getting a bite out of this thing. Luckily the soft potato roll lets you squish it down to make it a reasonable affair. On the downside, after about 3 bites, the bottom roll is soaked thru with burger juices and soggy in the middle. I eat fast enough that it's not an issue for me, but the slower members of the party made a note of it on their score sheets. I love this burger. It's the closest thing I've had to an In-N-Out burger anywhere outside of California - and that alone is a worthy accolade. The beef is terrific - sweet and juicy, full of flavor. Toppings and cheese are nothing fancy, but there's no need for shenanigans when the base is done this well.

It's a blessing and a curse to live within walking distance of burgers this good. Knowing that we can always get consistently excellent food and cheap High Lifes on draft can be tempting. And of course there are the adult milk shakes with shots of brandy, bourbon and/or kahula for something special. There's a reason PYT has quietly become the anchor that Bart Blatstein has been trying (unsuccessfully) to create for the Piazza on his own. Weekends and warm summer nights mean a wait for a table here - that's always a good sign for a restaurant.  Great food, cheap beers, and a very cool scene lend PYT an air of superiority over it's neighbors. In spite of the apathetic servers, it's completely justified.

-T.Kaso

Food Baby Rating - Triplets

PYT
www.pytphilly.com
1050 North Hancock Street 
The Piazza at Schmidts
Philadelphia, PA
(215) 964-9009