My spouse and I
stopped at the Art Museum location of Pizzeria Vetri for drinks and snacks on a
Saturday afternoon in late June 2017. The restaurant is open daily for lunch,
dinner, drinks, and snacks and accepts walk-in customers. Some limited (paid)
street parking is available in front of the restaurant.
The Vetri Family
restaurant group operates Pizzeria Vetri, along with other Philadelphia
restaurants including Alla Spina, Osteria, Vetri, Amis, and Bar Amis
(previously called Lo Speido). Pizzeria Vetri offers additional locations in
Rittenhouse Square, King of Prussia, and Washington DC. (We previously dined at
Vetri in December 2011; see our review titled “Excellent Special Occasion
Spot!”, and at Bar Amis at the Navy Yard in July 2017; see our review titled
“Sit on the Outdoor Patio and Enjoy the Wood-Fired Aroma”.) Since 2015, the
Vetri restaurants have operated under the umbrella of retail giant Urban
Outfitters (which also owns Free People, Anthropologie, BHLDN [Beholden] online
bridal shop, and Terrain Cafe).
Pizzeria Vetri is located in the
“art museum” neighborhood of Philadelphia just across the street from the
Barnes Foundation. (In fact, we stopped at this conveniently located restaurant
to pass the time when we arrived early for our reservation admittance time at
Barnes.) The restaurant is located on the street level of the Granary Luxury
Apartments building near the corner of Callowhill Street and North 20th
Street. (Other restaurant tenants in the same building include Le Pain
Quotidien and Buena Onda Tacos.)
The focal point of the Pizzeria
Vetri interior is the marble-topped pizza bar in front of the wood-fired oven
(the kitchen is completely open and part of the dining space). You can choose
to sit at the chef’s bar, at one of two long communal tables (which look like
they can be broken into smaller segments), or at a narrow counter against the
far wall or the front window. The interior restaurant space seats about 30
total customers, and sidewalk provides additional space. Indoors, the room
features high ceilings, white subway tile, and framed Napolitano photographs.
Pizzeria Vetri
offers Italian cuisine, although pizzas are their specialty. (It takes 3 days
to make/raise their dough, yet only 3 minutes to cook it in their 650-degree
oven!) Because we had dined elsewhere earlier in the day, we visited for drinks
and a snack only. We shared the amazing “rotolo”, a pinwheel of dough stuffed
with ricotta and mortadella, then topped with a savory olive oil-pistachio
pesto. The rotolo was a complete surprise because we did not know what to
expect, and it was really delicious! We also sampled the cannoli; the crispy
shell was filled with a unique citrusy-chocolate flavored cream and then dipped
in crushed pistachios on each end. (We had originally ordered some soft-serve,
but our waiter informed us that the machine was out of order. Later, toward the
end of our visit, when he found that the machine was working, he offered us a
complimentary serving, although we did not have the time or room.) Pizzeria Vetri has a liquor license;
however, it offers only a service bar), not a bar where you can sit and imbibe,
unless you want to sit at the interesting pizza counter.
Pizzeria Vetri is a
great lunch or snack choice when visiting the art museums. Be sure to try the
“Rotolo”!
