School is back in session, and with thousands of students roosting in and around Philly, pizza is going to be more in demand as a form of sustenance. Which is why we paid a visit to Mama Palma’s, 2229 Spruce St., a neighborhood favorite with more than 20 years of experience in satisfying Philly’s hunger for the thin-crusted delight.
Mama Palma’s forte is gourmet pizza made with fresh ingredients in a wood-fired brick oven, but it also offers a range of Italian favorites to complement the cozy and casual setting. The famous warm polenta bread plate ($10) is exceptional, with roasted corn and sweet peppers adding a nice hint of sweetness to the herb-laden and buttery dish. On the salad side of the menu, the mozzarella Capri ($14) was bright and lively with grilled eggplant and kalamata olives giving it some depth of flavor.
While there are a wide range of pastas on the menu, you’d be hard-pressed to get to them with so many temptations coming from Mama Palma’s pizza menu: ranging from seafood and veggie pizzas to low-fat and gluten-free pies. If you like your pizza basic, the margherita pie ($11.25/$19.50/$21.50) is as solid as they come, with buffalo mozzarella, red sauce and basil. Nice, but with the variety and combination of ingredients at Mama Palma’s disposal, we implore you to be slightly more adventurous. The Juliano pizza ($11.75/$20.50/$24.25) is the perfect traditional meat pie with three kinds of sausage (Italian, herb and veal) and roasted peppers and red sauce. Adding pepperoni to the pizza really made it great. If you’re looking for something with a more refined flavor profile, the goat cheese and bacon pizza ($11.25/$19.50/$22/$25) is excellent, with a crème-fraîche sauce, scallions, tomatoes and roasted peppers. If veggies are your thing, then the Mama Palma Special ($12.50/$21.50/$23.50) hits the bulls eye. The pie is dominated by fresh spinach, complemented by a white wine, lemon-roasted garlic, fresh tomato and garlic-herb sauce. The veggies are vibrant and play well with the other ingredients.
Mama Palma’s has a Pizza Happy Hour Tuesdays through Thursdays, with 25-percent off draft beer with your pizza order.
If you haven’t had the pleasure of sampling the long-standing pizza institution that is Mama Palma’s, you need to swing by and grab yourself a pie.