Deal Alert: Gianfranco Pizza Rustica

Grab your first pie of 2012 with today's LivingSocial deal from Gianfranco Pizza Rustica: For $10, get $20 to spend on a saucy taste of the pizza voted Best of Philly Pizza by Philadelphia Magazine for seven years running. Head to their South Philly, Olde City, or Center City locations for takeout only.

Get the deal >>

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The Pizza Project
Just a nibble: http://twitter.com/ThePizzaProject
Single slice: http://www.facebook.com/ThePizzaProject
The full pie: http://thepizzaproject.blogspot.com/

Great Beer, Good Food, the Occasional Nude Woman Make Varga Bar a Spot Worth Visiting

When the wife and I decided to go to Center City's Varga Bar this weekend when we were in town to go to The Nutcracker, I got very excited. This is because I had heard that the establishment's walls were decked with posters and photographs of nude women. However, in retrospect, I am thinking that I should have been more jacked up for the place's classy, carefully selected beer list and better-than-expected food options.

Being that our visit took place on New Year's Eve afternoon, there were not a ton of customers crowding the bar. This allowed us to get two seats at the counter, which was great because our bartender - we did not get his name, but he was a stocky fellow with shaved head and healthy beard - was a joy to deal with. He was friendly, attentive, and full of suggestions, if asked. The first drink I had was called Beast of Burden. It was a beer cocktail consisting of Voodoo Pilzilla, vodka, ginger beer, and lime juice. It was tremendously enjoyable with the ingredients mixing almost flawlessly. The ginger beer was probably the dominant element and the vodka was not incredibly noticeable until the final swill. This is a good thing for me as I am not a major fan of hard liquor. Extra points go out to the idea of serving the libation in a mason jar. There was something extremely manly about drinking a beer out of a container that might usually be used to hold strawberry preserves or something. The wife went with a beer that I was quite excited to see on the menu: Stone 11.11.11 Vertical Epic Ale. However, I must report that she was not a major fan and when I partook in a sip, I could see why. It was advertised as a Belgian Strong Ale, and yet it was quite light on heft. No way would I have thought Stone would strike out on this beer, but it simply was not up to their usual standards.

Philly's Ciao Pizza Makes Pretty Good Slice for Hefty Price

Being that I was pretty busy at work on this day, I did not have time for a long lunch. I couldn't stand in line for a half-hour for an $8 salad nor could I risk a lengthy line at the one-cashier Americanized Mejicano staple Hot Tamales (review coming soon). No, I just needed it fast, cheap dirty, and served on a paper plate (OK, I would rather it wasn't dirty). So I went for a quick slice.

The destination I chose was Ciao Pizza, a storefront on Chestnut St. in the area of Liberty Place. First, I must compliment the staff. This is because the dude who inserted my slice into the oven for reheating did not mock me when I stated my order as a "plain, pepperoni slice." He simply waited for my clarification and went about his business with aplomb and grace. The next thing I had to do before eating my slice was pay. When I stepped to the cashier and told him what I had ordered, he said something that I found to be somewhat ridiculous: "$3." Two things: 1) I thought right away that it would be very difficult for the slice to live up to this payment and 2) it was made doubly annoying because the price was not listed on a board above the oven nor was it even on the printed takeaway menu; it made me feel as if they probably looked at me, decided how stupid and gullible I looked, and pulled a price out of their arse that they thought I was crazy enough to pay.

A Yunique Slice Indeed

I work in Center City, and the other day I was in the mood for pizza. So, since I work around 17th and Arch, I decided to hit up a place whose pizza I have enjoyed in the past: Yunique Pizza. I have enjoyed this pizza before, and, now that I am blogging about pizza, I wanted to see if it was as good as I remembered. And I did come to a verdict...

...But before I get to that: Yeah, I have no idea about the name. My first thought was that maybe the people who own the place are idiots who don't know how to spell the word "unique." That could be the case, but more likely I think is that the owner is named Yunique, and he or she just decided to name the place after themselves, no matter how grammatically incorrect it is. So, in other words, the owners are not idiots. It is simply that their parents are. Note: I have no idea if the place is named after the owner who has a ridiculously misspelled name. This is just a supposition I am making. Their name could be Joe for all I know. I really could care less what they call the place because...