NEPA Pizza Review

Anthony’s is a Chain Pizzeria that Delivers a Dose of Small Business Character

Square Margherita Pizza from Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza in Allentown.

Allentown isn’t exactly known as a hotbed of amazing pizza.  When we were in the hospital down there after the birth of the Pizza Prince, of course I quickly grew tired of hospital food and sought out a “real meal” of pizza to celebrate the birth of our little guy coming into the world.  I searched the internet thoroughly to find a great pizzeria near where we were staying and found mostly chain restaurants and small businesses with decent, but not glowing ratings and reviews.  I also was unable to find any pizza blogs native to the area.  One pizzeria which I did stumble upon that was close by was Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza.

Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza in Allentown, PA.

Anthony’s is a medium-sized pizza chain with over 60 locations in the Northeast United States and Florida.  I don’t usually get excited about chain pizza, but the reviews were solid and a coal fired oven is at least something you don’t see every day (unless you’re like me and frequent Colarusso’s Coal Fired Pizza in Dickson City)!  This location was pretty cool and had a sports bar vibe complete with full bar and plentiful TV’s adorned to the walls.

The Traditional Pie with half pepperoni and half sausage at Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza.

Although I scored and rated this pizza the day that I reviewed it, I’m writing this review a year later so the pizza details may not be quite as sharp as they were then.  We ordered a traditional pie with half sausage, half pepperoni as well as a square Margherita pizza.  The traditional pie was built atop a tender crust with what I presumed to be a high hydration percentage.  The crust had some delicate charring around the edged which provided a light and pleasant smoky flavor.  I will say that although the pizzas came in different shapes, the dough composition and cooking methods seemed to be the same.  They both appeared to be cooked directly on the brick and tasted the same with very similar textures.

A look at the nicely cooked underside of the pizza with light charring in some areas which added some pleasant flavor.

The Traditional Pie applied a generous amount of quality mozzarella cheese directly on the crust and then spread some dollops of chunky tomato sauce on top.  It created a really nice natural sweetness to contrast with the saltiness of the cheese and smokiness of the crust.  Much of the same can be said of the Square Margherita with the exception that the sauce rested underneath fresh mozzarella cheese and was garnished with basil.  Although there wasn’t a ton of differentiation between the two pizzas, they were both really, really good.

Overall, I very much enjoyed the first meal of pizza after the birth of my son.  Many times it’s easy to pick on the chains, but this was actually good pizza with character and complexity, and not the frozen preservative-laden spongy stuff that we’ve come expect from the big boys.  Kudos to Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza for being able to deliver a consistent product with such character on such a large scale.  It’s certainly not easy to achieve these results at scale.  I haven’t had much pizza in Allentown (near the hospital) so I’m wondering if there is anything better in the immediate area?  Hit me up in the comments if you’ve tried Anthony’s or other good spots for me to try in Allentown.

The Ratings

Restaurant: Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza
Location: Allentown