Need a break from the holiday hustle? These pizzerias in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties serve up crowd-pleasing pies that will keep your house guests happy while giving you a night off from the kitchen.
Now, more than any other time of the year, takeout pizza is a lifeline.
Whether you’ve got family home for the holidays who want a taste of something familiar, a house full of people who are hungry at all hours, you’re hosting a holiday party, or you just need a break from cooking, takeout pizza will save the day.
There’s an important thing to remember, however. You’re not buying in bulk to serve co-workers you hardly know at a holiday office party. You’re feeding friends and family. You need to do better than ordering chain pizza or from the local place that’s somehow remained in business for decades despite serving pizza that tastes like Ragu and Kraft Singles on cardboard (every town has one.)
In Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties, there’s no need to sacrifice quality for quantity, for there is exceptional takeout pizza available in these Philadelphia suburbs.
After sampling takeout pies from dozens of Bucks, Delco, and Montco pizzerias—some of which I visited upon the recommendation of readers of our newsletter dedicated to Pennsylvania pizza, Pizzavania (subscribe here)—I am highlighting the spots I found to be the best.
One quick thing before we get into it…
There’s a chance many of you will read this list and think that I don’t know the first thing about pizza because I didn’t mention your favorite pizzeria. Please keep in mind that it’s pretty much impossible to know about every single pizza joint in the area. These are the best takeout places among those I have tried. If you’d like to recommend a pizzeria that’s not on my list, I welcome your input.
DeLorenzo’s the Burg — Levittown (Bucks County)
You’ll find two DeLorenzo’s on this list—same family, though not exactly the same pizza. The name, DeLorenzo’s the Burg, references the family’s pizza roots in the Chambersburg section of Trenton, NJ,, which stretch back to 1947. Across the Delaware River in Levittown, they still serve the Trenton-style take on pizza called a tomato pie—cheese on the bottom, crushed Jersey tomatoes on top, slight char, super crispy, no flop. Unlike the other DeLorenzo’s in Bucks County (which we’ll get to in a minute), the Burg has a slightly thicker crust, and a few more pizza offerings, two with very Jersey roots: The mustard pie (a tomato pie drizzled with spicy brown mustard) and a pork roll pie. Whatever you get, you can’t go wrong. (Order online here)
DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies — Yardley (Bucks County)
Same deal with the pies at the Yardley DeLorenzo’s: Cheese on the bottom, crushed Jersey tomatoes on top, slight char, super crispy, no flop, amazing taste. I should mention the dangerous thing about the Trenton-style tomato pie is that because they’re so thin, it doesn’t take a competitive eater to house an entire pie in one sitting. So, if you’ve got a house full of hungry people, don’t skimp on that order. Get yourself a couple of salads while you’re at it. Though they’ve been beloved for generations for their pizzas, their salads (which they began serving when they opened up a location in Robbinsville, N.J. in 2007) are pretty great too. (Order online here)
Joey’s Pizza — Thorndale (Chester County)
This hidden gem on Lincoln Highway lets you know what you’re in for when you order online, advising customers that “Pizzas are cooked WELL DONE.” If you still need convincing despite the ALLCAPS advisory, I’m here to tell you that the pizzas are, in fact, cooked well done, which just happens to be my preferred level of doneness. So don’t come to Joey’s looking for flop. They serve up pies that are charred & crispy, with a savory sauce and a dusting of Romano cheese on top. It’s simple, it’s classic, and it heats up the next day like it just came out of the oven in the shop. (Order online here)
Johnny’s Pizza — Bryn Mawr/Wayne (Delaware County)
Johnny’s is the kind of pizza you almost don’t want to eat because it looks so good—crispy, yet foldable, and charred in all the right spots. Once you start eating it, it’s going to be hard to stop. It may take a second or two to get used to the heat of the sauce, but the slight kick is a difference maker, especially when you pair it with sweet peppers. Their garlicky white pies are great too (available round and square) featuring splashes of ricotta, caramelized onion, and a sesame seed crust. Johnny’s created a buzz after opening a small shop in Bryn Mawr in 2022, and the wait times can still be long, since they’re currently not taking online orders. Locals say ordering early in the day is your best bet. You can also drive a few miles west on Lancaster Avenue to the larger, less logjammed Johnny’s in the Strafford Shopping Center, where there’s also a DiBruno Bros. for all your holiday charcuterie needs.
Lucatelli’s Pizza — Doylestown (Bucks County)
Pizza from a joint located next to a Sport Clips and a Panera Bread in a shopping center at a busy intersection in the suburbs typically isn’t this good. Lucatelli’s serves up the kind of pies that both pizza snobs and the people who believe there’s no such thing as bad pizza (a myth, if ever there was one) will embrace. It’s high-quality, but relatively simple pizza, with something for everyone: Traditional round pies with some flop, gourmet style round pies (I recommend The Bova), NEPA-style grandma pies, gluten-free pies, and you can even buy your own dough if you want to make a pie at home. And the pies heat up great the next day. The combination of creamy burrata and hot honey on The Bova landed even better coming out of a 350-degree oven 24 hours later. (Order online here)
Pica’s — Upper Darby, West Chester (Delaware County, Chester County)
After nearly 70 years of serving up thin and crispy square pies in Upper Darby, Pica’s Restaurant ended dine-in service in late October. But fret not, Delco pizza lovers: They’re still doing takeout for the time being, with plans to open a dedicated takeout location nearby in Broomall early next year. Besides that, Pica’s in West Chester is still open. There’s a reason Pica’s has enjoyed generational love. Their super-thin crust square pie, with a tangy red sauce that’s spread right to the edge over a thin layer of cheese and whatever toppings you want, is sublime. For reference, think something in between a NEPA grandma pie and the sauce-on-top square pies served by another Philly-area institution, Santucci’s (we’ll get to them shortly), but with a thinner, crispier crust. Bonus: Maybe you’ll even get to see Tina Fey grabbing a pie in Upper Darby if she’s home for the holidays. (Order online Upper Darby; order online West Chester)
Santucci’s Original Square Pizza — Media, Paoli (Delaware County, Chester County)
You don’t need to get too fancy with toppings or combinations at Santucci’s Original Square Pizza, because their straight-up plain pie—cheese on bottom, generous coating of sauce on top—leaves you wanting for absolutely nothing else. The sweet sauce has a garlicky bite that’s subtle, and the crust is pretty substantial—somewhere between a traditional Sicilian and a grandma pie. But you’ve got options if you want them, from white pies to bacon chicken ranch pies to a gluten-free pie, along with bake-at-home kits. What started in Northeast Philly in 1959 is spreading throughout the Delaware Valley. Along with the Media and Paoli spots, they’ve got four locations in the city, six in South Jersey (including two at the Shore—so keep that in mind for vacations), and another member of the family is slinging very similar pies at Philomena Santucci’s Square Pizza in Warminster and Hatfield. (Order online here)
The Steel Penny — Hatboro (Montgomery County)
Sometimes you find world-class pizza in the places you’d least expect to: Like on a backstreet industrial strip adjacent to a scrap metal business. The Steel Penny isn’t a traditional pizzeria—they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and roast their own coffee. They just happen to serve the kind of pizza that you’ll drive an hour-plus in rush hour traffic to pick up, then another hour-plus in rush hour traffic to bring it back home (as I did—I suffer for my work). They feature top-shelf round pies in various creative combos, but the steel-pan baked Detroit-style pie is the thing here. Like, really the thing, with cheese that forms a crispy edge, a light, chewy crust, and sauce on top. Whether you opt for a simple red Detroit pie with cup pepperoni, or get adventurous with their white pies (one white Detroit-style pie features portabello, shallots, and arugula; another has shredded Brussels sprouts, banana peppers, sage, and gorgonzola), you may soon find yourself braving rush hour traffic to keep your holiday gang well fed. (Order online here)
