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Do you want to eat pizza from a truck? What about pizza custom–made within ten minutes of your ordering? What about pizza with ingredients you don’t know how to spell? Brick–oven pizza? Pizza paired with Pellegrino? What about all of those things at once?Meet Pitruco. The year–old operation unites two Penn culinary staples: food trucks and pizza. Parked at 33rd and Arch Streets on Tuesday and Thursdays, Pitruco sells four–slice pies at $8–$10.50 each. The price may seem steep for mobile food, but the quality more than makes up for it.
Pitruco serves the most sophisticated pizza that you can grab between classes—and perhaps the best pizza within a reasonable walking distance from campus. They hold a spot among the most sophisticated of Philly’s food trucks, too. You’ll probably be impressed by the sleek red–and–white vehicle: just wait until you notice it has a wood–burning oven. Its high–quality equipment has allowed Pitruco to achieve pretty much the Platonic ideal of pizza crusts: crisp, but airy; thin, but sturdy enough to support the dense combinations of toppings. If you’re craving a simple, traditional red pizza, try the spicy garlic ($8) or margherita ($9.50). The tomato sauce tastes amazingly fresh, and it serves as an unexpected upgrade on the traditional slice.
Their menu offers more adventurous fare, too. The radicchio pizza ($10.50) features a sweet balsamic syrup, which does a great job of balancing out the bitter radicchio and mushroom. The sausage pizza ($10) combines béchamel sauce with caramelized mushroom and pecorino; the eggplant pizza ($9.50) and soppressata ($10.50) are also sure to please.
A single pie makes a sizable meal for one. It could also suffice for two people with small appetites, but once you take a bite, you’ll probably want your own—just save your fourth slice for the next day’s breakfast. The service is fast for brick oven pizza, but slow compared to most trucks, so grab a glass–bottled Coke or a lemon Pellegrino ($1.50) to drink during the five– to 10–minute wait.
Don’t let the Drexel address intimidate you. Pitruco parks about three blocks northeast of campus—if you’re craving pizza in DRL, it’s closer than Allegro is. Pitruco parks about three blocks northeast of campus—if you’re craving pizza in DRL, it’s closer than Allegro is. Case in point: I made the trek after leaving class at 1:00. I returned, pizza in hand, in time for my 1:30 class, better fed than many of my peers.
