Tale of the Pie: Charlie's Pizzeria

As mentioned in our post on Philly Mag's Best Pizza issue, we're visiting all of the local spots recommended in the article. First up was Charlie's Pizzeria in East Norriton.

Because it's about 15 minutes from our house, we planned on eating in, so the pie didn't get cold during the ride home. But before we even got in the door, we thought we might be changing those plans. There are a few tables in the back, but it didn't seem like the spot for a nice Friday night out with our 18-month-old. Plus, once I did get inside, I realized that the temperature was hot enough that they could have been cooking the pizzas right on the counter.

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.