When Pizzata Pizzeria first opened in the Rittenhouse area of the city in late 2020, partners Davide Lubrano and Vinny Gallagher wanted to provide Philly with a classic NY-pizza shop experience. And now, more than three years later in 2024, the brand is expanding.
This new expansion will call the previous home of East Passyunk’s LaScala’s Birra home, but it’s technically the second move like this for the brand, who recently opened up a Naples, Florida, location as well. The result of this new Philadelphia expansion is planning to open later this month and will be dubbed Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria.
Currently, Pizzata’s original Philly shop operates with only a handful of seats inside and outside of its Rittenhouse operation. The new location will feature 58 seats in the downstairs dining room, another 14 at the bar, and roughly 78 more seats for outdoor dining.
Additionally, there is a kid-friendly upstairs dining room available for private events, pizza parties, themed nights, pizza-making classes, and more, a release notes. There will also be an expansive menu, featuring more than a dozen starters, a selection of salads, a wide variety of pasta dishes and Italian classics, an assortment of sandwiches, a handful of strombolis, a kid’s menu, and a massive pizza menu featuring naturally leavened 12” and 16” sourdough pies.
“We’ve had this plan in the works for a few months now, and while it’s been a lot of work, we are so excited to have a proper restaurant with so much space to work with, and serve more than a few people at a time, which is very important to us,” said Lubrano in a statement.
Lubrano’s brother Ciro has been running the location since 2016, and he also has experience running local restaurants, including Caffe Aldo Lamberti in New Jersey.
“Having family involved helped with the decision and the process, and we’re excited to bring the East Passyunk neighborhood a style and quality of pizza that it has been missing.”
The new venue on East Passyunk will boast a full bar featuring beer, wine, cocktails and more, and soon after opening, Happy Hour will also be introduced from 4 to 6 p.m. every Monday through Friday. Priced at $8, Happy Hour favorites will include 12” pizzas; bang bang shrimp; garlic parmesan wings; truffle fries; arancini; mamma’s meatballs, calamari; cheesesteak egg rolls; and more. The activation will also serve up a variety of beverage specials, including blood orange margaritas, wine, beer, and cocktails for the same price.
On the full menu at Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria, Philadelphians can find mussels in a spicy tomato beer sauce, truffle mac & cheese, ahi tuna, seafood linguini, eggplant parm and much more. There are 10 different red pie and white options, including a ricotta-stuffed crust pizza, and a “Make Your Own Pie” option, plus a bevy of stromboli options ranging from veggie, pepperoni, buffalo chicken and more. The release also notes that to keep quality control of the dough, all pizza and bread dough will be made fresh daily at Pizzata Pizzeria in Rittenhouse and transferred to East Passyunk.
“We are going to be a restaurant for everyone, not just pizza lovers,” said Gallagher in a statement. “We’re going to be a place where friends can come in for some drinks and dinner, but we’re also going to be a perfect place for the entire family… We love our Rittenhouse location and our customers in that neighborhood, and we always will, but it’s very exciting for us to be able to stretch our legs and create a space this big, where we can showcase more than just pizza and sandwiches.”
Pizzata Pizzeria & Birreria (1700 East Passyunk St.,) will be open seven days a week. For information, visit pizzatapizzeria.com
