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Last Thursday, more than 600 people had the opportunity to follow the pizza-aficionado’s equivalent of the yellow brick road: An entryway lined with yellow, red and white balloons that led to a mini bastion fortified with ovens and pizza boxes. At the Review’s Second Annual Pizzalympics, local parlors competed to gain recognition from this year’s attendees.
Upon arrival, guests were beckoned into the doors of Penns Landing Caterers, 1301 S. Columbus Blvd., by a bright blue 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air Sports Sedan, sporting advertisements that promised musical entertainment by Sam Lit of HyLitRadio.com.
The $10 all-you-can-eat feast included slices from 15 different vendors: Adriana’s, 1717 S. Second St.; Cacia’s Bakery, 1526 Ritner St.; Chickie’s and Pete’s, 1526 Packer Ave.; City Pizza, Front Street and Snyder Avenue and 16th Street and Oregon Avenue; J and J South Philly Pizza, 1777-79 S. Ninth St.; Joey Mack’s Boardwalk Pizza, 10th Street and Oregon Avenue; Key Pizza and Grill, 1846 S. 12th St.; Napoli Pizza, 944 E. Passyunk Ave.; Not Just Pizza, 2240 S. 11th St.; Pizza Shack, 1500 Porter St.; Rustica, 903 N. Second St.; Salvatore’s Pizza, 1429 Jackson St.; SliCE, 1180 S. 10th St.; South View Pizza, Fourth and Durfor streets; and The Pizza Place, Seventh and Morris streets.
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Conveniently placed just before the entryway between the lobby and the main hall, representatives from Philator.com Realtors handed out beach bags to all participants, thereby providing the perfect receptacle for the bombardment of pizza menus, pamphlets and giveaways soon to follow. Strains of classic tunes accompanied guests as they visited the tables lining the walls from end to end of the large room.
Each vendor offered a varied selection of pizzas from their menus, while patrons were encouraged to sample as many pies as they wished. Once the rounds were completed, visitors moved to tables set up in the middle of the floor for the chance to rest weary feet as well as build up appetites for a second helping.
“It’s overwhelming. I had to go around a couple of times before I got situated,” West Philadelphia resident Rocky Ricco, who found out about the event from friends, said. “We heard there were Pizzalympics going on and we freaked out.”
Tommy Ciarrocchi, manager at Chickie’s and Pete’s, estimated the turnout at 500 plus.
Due to the plentiful turnout, vendors were forced to order more pies to ensure guests would be amply provided throughout the three-hour eating competition.
“It’s unbelievable. We started out with 250 slices; we’re already out,” Ciarrocchi said about halfway through the event.
For those with a desire to cleanse pizza-overloaded palettes, Not Just Pizza offered a sampling of buffalo wings, while Key Pizza presented a hoagie tray. Other choices included free Utz potato chips, cans of illy issimo’s Italian espressos, as well as a sampling of the fine cuisine from chef and private consultant Siobhan Allgood of It’s Allgood. The resident of Broad and Wharton streets, who recently completed on season seven of the Fox reality cooking show “Hell’s Kitchen,” prepared Baja chipotle braised pork with roasted tomatillo, poblano and Jersey corn salsa with sauteed nopales (cactus) and queso fresco.
At the end of the night, patrons submitted ballots to determine the 2010 Pizzalympic champions in the eight disciplines of taste: Best Crust, Best Veggie, Best Square/Sicilian, Best Sauce, Best Creative Topping, Best White, Best Tomato Pie and Best Overall Slice.
For Roy Alabado, who came from Chestnut Hill to check out the event, Rustica was the clear winner.
“There was a cheesesteak and caramelized onion pizza, and they had a fig pizza with Gorgonzola,” Alabado said about the vendor’s surprising ingredients.
Some attendees were taken aback by the sheer number of choices.
“I lost track,” Packer Park resident George Gallo, of 17th Street and Packer Avenue, said. “I had just about every one. I couldn’t tell you which was my favorite.”
The ’09 Pizzalympics took place at Galdo’s Catering, 1935 W. Moyamensing Avenue, but all of the vendors were quick to note that they were pleased with this year’s venue change.
“Last year was a success,” Cacia’s Bakery owner Sam Cacia said. “Now they moved to a bigger place, and they filled it up. I think they need a bigger place next year … I can’t believe how South Philly supports all their pizza places.”
Guests who stayed until 9 p.m. were offered the added bonus of free boxes to go before the shops closed for the night.
To see more pictures, visit the Second Annual Pizzalympics slideshow.
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