What many pizza places in Philadelphia lack is the brick oven to make their pizza authentic - and that's why Soho Pizza, between 2nd and 3rd on Market, stands alone as the best brick oven pizzeria in the city. With crust covered in garlic as standard, the thin Soho slice is good to the last bite. Famous for their BBQ chicken pizza, Soho is on par with Allegro's, serving the perfect BBQ slice, but Soho quickly surpasses our local favorite in all other categories. The Hawaiian pizza, covered with pineapple and tiny pieces of bacon, is soft enough to melt in your mouth - in a good way. Veggie lovers have many options as the vegetables come straight from the Italian market on at least four of the meat-free pizza varieties. But the real test of a pizzeria is their plain cheese slice ($1.85). Soho makes the grade with a larger-than-average triangle that is served piping hot. Though it may be considered a social faux pas to order a cheesesteak at a pizzeria ($6), Soho can whip up a steak on par with Gino's - except there's only American cheese here, no whiz.
And yes, they serve wine ($5 per glass) and beer ($3.75 per bottle), but this is more a pizza-on-the-run kind of place. Don't look for pasta here either; you'll find none. Soho stays open late (midnight is closing, according to the menu), most likely to capitalize on the after-bar crowd in Old City. But this pizza is too good to eat while drunk, so stop in the next time you're walking past the Liberty Bell and Independence Hall.
