Mama Palma’s Gourmet Pizza

I must admit I was shocked that pizza in Philly was so good! Look out NYC… you have serious competition!

The guy that took my order over the phone was so mean, I think because we only ordered a small pizza. He hung up on me before I was done talking to him. Moreover, the pizza we got was so flavorless. It was so disappointing, especially since it was my birthday.

The guy who rang me up was snarky and generally unpleasant, and the pizza was flavorless.

A group of my friends made ourselves at home last week on a rainy weekday night. It wasn’t crazy busy, so we got a table without a problem and felt right at home as our waiter came over to welcome us.
The menu is big — almost overwhelming. So many tempting pizza choices. Per the recommendation from one of my friends, we ordered a few of the Polenta Bread appetizer plates for the table (addictive.)
My boyfriend and I split two small pizzas: the Goat Cheese & Bacon and the Pesto pizza. Both were tasty, but we both enjoyed the powerful flavor of the Pesto one better.
It definitely helps that this place is BYO!

Really good pizza and casual, comfortable atmosphere. Thanks to Unilocal for helping us find it! I would definitely go back when next in Philly. We had the margarita pizza and the BBQ chicken — both were excellent. We also had an arugula pear salad which was outstanding. Service was very good as well.

This is a great family restaurant. Pizzas come from a wood fire oven, so crisp and delicious. Salads and pastas are amazing too. I’ve seen a few negative reviews lately but I’ve never had a bad experience. I hate to judge a place by one bad night. DEFINITELY worth trying out for a great meal.

NOT SAFE TO EAT HERE. We have been eating here on and off for several years. While the food is fine to good, its always kind of a crap shoot what mood the owner is in — which we’ve seen range from free food to telling someone to go home instead of seating them for no reason. Tonight it went too far though — we just saw him beat up one of his waiters — the owner literally had the guy pinned to the ground by the front door and was hitting him repeatedly with his fists while the waiter was screaming. Have never seen anything like it in a business establishment anywhere in the world. We were one of several families in the restaurant at the time. Kids started crying. Everyone got up and left immediately. We won’t be going back.

5 star! Consistently Delicious pizza and salads. Great ingredients and lots of unique menu options. Great value for quality & Service is always amazing and personable.

Solid pizza place. Cash only. I had the chicken parm which was ok but my wife had a spinach pizza which was awesome! Service is friendly. The restaurant is clean and tastefully decorated. This is a really good pizza place that i would recommend to others.

Mama Palma is God’s gift to Filter Square, and her pizza is proof that He loves us and wants us to have divine things here, in this earthly life. My sources in the Vatican tell me that the real reason for the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia this Fall is to dedicate a shrine to Mama Palma, canonize her as Saint Palma, and to experiment with transubstantiating Saint Palma’s pizza to see if it can serve as a replacement of the typical Eucharistic toast, (as a strategy for increasing attendance at Sunday Mass throughout the Catholic Diocese in the Tri-​State area). No word yet on whether or not the canonization will be reflected by a name change for this landmark local business, though there has been talk of simply adding the abbreviation «St.» to that homely and familiar sign that hangs above the hallowed walls of Mama’s establishment.
I have had occasion to read some – I wouldn’t say negative – but non-​ecstatic reviews of Mamma Palma’s. Let me set the record straight: your tongue will know flavors it has never before known and the rapture you feel would be sculpted by Bernini into a timeless work of art were he still alive, you will be served by the most pleasant and wholesome people in the city, and the way you feel upon returning home will make you a better lover. How, you ask, will you be made a better lover by eating at Mama Palma’s? By ingesting what has been crafted with the most pure love and affection, you too will feel love and warmth and goodness wash over your soul in waves as well as a degree of Schadenfreude at the thought that there are so many unfortunate souls who have never yet felt the joy you now feel for having been a customer of Mama Palma’s.

Excellent pizza and good service but pretty overpriced, hence the 4 stars.

Service is ok but the pizza is great! This is our go to pizza place! They are cash only but have an atm on property so not too much of a concern. They also serve beer but any wine is BYOB. I liked their beer selection so this isn’t too much of a problem. Try it out! It seems to be family owned/​run and had a cozy atmosphere.

Still the best pizza and pizza place in the city. I can’t get over how amazing the staff is and how delicious the food is! Tonight, we ordered take out of the Asparagus Alfredo pizza and a Caesar salad. Both were divine. Our wait was mere minutes and the food was delivered to us as we sat outside enjoying the spring night. Perfect. Every time.

This review is for the service we received. Our dinner party consisted of professionals in our 30’s, who have worked in the food service industry. Based from the photos on the wall, I believe our server was also the owner. He snapped at us regarding their $ 10/​person minimum policy, and repeated himself about 4 times even after we quickly apologized and said we’d be happy to order more. He never came back to take our additional order (we had to waved down another sever), never checked on our meal or refilled waters. What made the evening even more uncomfortable was his report to the hostess, who then turned around and stared at us.
I believe good service can makeup for so-​so food, but a rude attitude in the service industry is unacceptable.

Two stars seems low, but it’s closer to two than three.
Polenta bread is really a pizza with corn and other toppings — pretty good!
Everything else… not bad, but not good enough to go back. And it’s a bit expensive for what you get as well.
I liked the servers a lot, but it seems like they’re held back by the ownership.
BYOB but can’t bring beer.

This is a beautiful, rustic restaurant in a nice, quiet neighborhood. As soon as you walk in, you see the huge original brick oven pizza on your left, engraved with Mama Palma’s on it. The staff is very friendly and attentive. It’s not that big of a restaurant, but I’ve never seen it get uncomfortably crowded. Between the size and the ambience, you can’t help but to feel kind of like you’re at home.
Mama Palma’s is byob and as for the food, I’ve heard a few people label them as the best brick oven pizza in Philly… Unfortunately, I cannot agree with that statement. I’ll start off by saying they with out a doubt have the best polenta bread in the world! Trust me, there is no competition to that. But the pizza pies just don’t measure up in my opinion. The specialty pies definitely get an A++ for presentation… They use the freshest ingredients that you can find, but my issue is with their red sauce pies… The sauce is extremely mild and regardless of what toppings we got, the sauce just seemed to make everything taste bland (my friends though the same as well). But luckily, that’s not the case at all with the white sauce pies. The Primavera with goat cheese added is by far my favorite! We also had a Caesar salad, which was a little disappointing to all of us. It was just Romaine with grated parmesan cheese and average croutons. Some of the Romaine was borderline wilted and it was just a disappointment because it didn’t look nearly as appetizing or fresh as their pizza does… For the same price, some of Mama Palma’s competitors Caesar salads come with huge shavings of fresh parmesan cheese and more/​better seasoned homemade croutons. Another thing that Makes Mama Palma’s lose a couple of points in my book is that they don’t deliver like some of their competitors do. All in all, they have some things that are great and some other things that I don’t care too much for. They’re definitely worth a try, especially if you’re dining in. And no matter what, do yourself a favor and try their polenta bread!

The pizza is good, but not the best I’ve had. The 4^th star would be for the polenta bread… seriously the best thing ever. The servers were great. I like the overall feel of this place. I would definitely go back. And the prices are very reasonable.

A very solid 3.
A open, busy-​but-​not-​too-​crowded, homey feel, easy to have a conversation with your fellow diners, and generally polite (though probably a little less than friendly) staff. Service is incredibly fast (I ordered, and the food got to our table before my husband made it to the ATM and back to get cash).
Food is very ordinary – in both good and bad ways. Good, because you basically know exactly what you’re getting, and the food will be tasty, but predictably so (…that was the «bad»). My husband and got a pasta and a pizza to split – both were good, but nothing memorable.
Think this would be a great place for a group – intimate enough of a setting, without being too crowded or loud, a large assortment of options, and BYO Wine (they have beer).
MAJOR DRAWBACK – CASH ONLY. There are very few places that aren’t in Chinatown, that serve a sit-​down meal, that are cash-only…but this is one of them.

Ok so seriously…
Pizza + BYO = Best Meal Ever
Been here a number of times and Mama Palma’s always takes good care of me and whoever I’m with.
The service is extremely friendly and attentive without being overbearing. They love to help if you’re ever feeling overwhelmed about the items on the menu, which is nice.
The menu itself is filled with a number of good pizza options, and if for any reason you’re feeling creative or like there’s nothing on there that seems appealing they have a great option to let you create your own pizza, which I’ve done before and is awesome.
Cash only place so keep that in mind before coming, but DO NOT go without getting the Polenta bread. Trust me you will not regret it.

I really liked this place. The restaurant was clean and smelled amazing, the food was ridiculous (fresh, authentic Italian) and the server that helped us was very attentive.
The only thing that sucks is parking. It took us forever to find a spot… but it is Center City, so maybe I shouldn’t be whining so much about this.
Will be coming back the next time I am in Philly…