Zake's Cafe: Cozy Fort Washington BYOB offers flavorful options for rich and lighter fare alike

Quaint and unassuming, Zake's Cafe was the perfect choice for a casual night out with my mom, sister and brother's girlfriend. As part of the Ambler-area restaurant week, we received an appetizer, entree and dessert sampler, along with a complementary glass of wine for only $25. This is absolutely a steal, considering that the entrees offered are typically $16-24.

Tables are definitely packed-in at this charming house-style BYOB, but I didn't feel as though we were too close to any of the other diners or struggling to hear each other. Luckily, there was sufficient surrounding noise that I don't believe anyone could overhear my sister and I sharing a story about the giant, whoopee cushion-esque fart that occurred during our last Pilates class.

Le Village Cafe an Intriguing Option for Your Breakfast Needs

If you look at the Norristown, Pa. area (and if you are not from there, we apologize and will get something for you up soon) right now, there is a surprising dearth of options in the greasy-spoon-breakfast diner category. The Trooper Diner consistently disappoints. Last we checked, Astoria Family Restaurant provided decent food with service that verges on the horrendous. Christine's? Umm...no. With this thought in mind, we decided to try Le Village Cafe, a low-key spot in Norristown's Fairview Village Shopping Center. Turns out the food is quite good, yet not without room for improvement.

Tale of the Pie: Tacconelli's Pizzeria

It's pretty ballsy for a pizza shop to require customers to make a reservation for their crust. For some, that may add to the mystique that has surrounded Tacconelli's for as long as I can remember. For others, that prerequisite (and the statement on their website that "well-behaved children are welcome") can leave a bad taste in their mouths before they even have a bite.

However, that taste will quickly be replaced by one of a delectable pie.

Since my mom is really awesome and super supportive of our blogging endeavour, she decided we should celebrate her birthday at the infamous Tacconelli's so we can add another review to the site. A party of eight adults and one nibble, we arrived at the modest, yet surprisingly spacious, shop with beer and wine in hand ready to put those pies to the test. We ordered one regular, one pepperoni, one margherita and one white specialty.

Deal Alert: Slice and Apollo’s Family Pizzeria

Two pizza deals to report today:

Slice on Groupon
$10 gets you $20 worth of gourmet pizza and authentic Italian fare at Slice's Rittenhouse Square location, 1740 Sansom St. Never been myself, but I've read some pretty good reviews, so it might be worth a try. Also a BYOB if you're looking to get your wine or beer on.

Get the groupon >>

Visit their website >>

Apollo’s Family Pizzeria on BuyWithMe
Pretty much the same deal here - buy the $10 voucher, get $20 worth of gourmet pizza and Italian cuisine. I love how all of the restaurants call their pizza gourmet, when in reality, there are very few pizzas I would consider "gourmet." Anyway, Apollo’s Family Pizzeria is located at 2255 Bristol Pike  in Bensalem.

Get the voucher>>

Visit their website>>

Tale of the Pie: Olce Pizza Grille

Sometimes, you just don't feel like going out to eat. Maybe you had a particularly bad day. Maybe you just don't feel like driving. In my case, I am feeling under the weather. My head is cloudy. My throat is scratchy. My body feels generally weak. If I were to put money on it, I would say it is probably time for my yearly sinus infection. In any event, when Spicy Hawaiian started talking about going out to grab a pie, I just wanted to say "No." I would take anything as long as it did not require my departing from the house. However, I could tell that she really wanted to try something off of the Philadelphia Magazine Pizza Best Of list, and I certainly didn't want to let her down. So I dragged my tired carcass off the couch, and we headed out for a little pizza.

Tale of the Pie: Gino’s Ristorante and Pizzeria

Bumpkin waiting for his slice

To be perfectly honest, I feel a bit silly reviewing Gino's. Gino's was my absolute favorite restaurant growing up. My grandparents loved it. My parents loved it. We went there for birthdays, graduations, really any excuse we could find. And when I began dating my hubby 11 years ago, we went there so frequently that they basically only took our order as a courtesy. The food is exceptional, the portions are huge and you can BYO.

Surprisingly, their pizza was always just okay. We used to occasionally get it on a Tuesday because they had a special (either $5.99 or $6.99, I can't remember). Since they stopped the special, we haven't ordered it in years. Because really, the pizza itself wasn't all that special.

But as we're reviewing every pizzeria in the area, it would be unfair to exclude Gino's. Plus, they recently expanded the restaurant and their menu (as well as adding an unfortunate corkage fee), so we thought they may have switched up the pizza recipe a bit.