Spatola's 93 S. West End Blvd (a.k.a. Route PA 309) Quakertown (215) 804-0377

How far would you travel to munch on a pizza? We put that quintessential question to the test when we traveled down the road a piece to Quakertown to taste the brick oven wood-fired pizza at Spatola's, located 200 meters on the left after the Trainer Station (Rt. 663) intersection on Route 309.

We were all business (well almost) when we invited Dan Rubin '01, an accounting major, and Jan Redinger a.k.a. Jan "The Red," the spouse of our new Dean of CBE, Dick Durand. Tom Mayes, a graduate student in our Educational Leadership program who hails most recently from Waterloo, Iowa rounded out our testy tasting panel. For the first time in our history, two Lehigh professors, Lynne Cassimeris and Mike Kucha of the Biological Sciences department, who happened to be enjoying their pizzas at another table, joined us half way through our testing procedure. We had just told Jan that the Lehigh Valley is like a small town.

Spatola's is a family-owned pizzeria with branches in Chalfont, Southhampton, Buckingham, and Doylestown. Only the Quakertown and Doylestown restaurants are wood-fired and brick oven, and what an oven it is. It can hold 8 large 16" pizzas at a time. Applying the rule of pi to 8 pies on a single plane results in an area of about 1600 sq. inches. However, Provost Nelson Markley reminded us that circles when placed side by side actually take space in the form of squares. Thus, 8 pies occupy 2048 square inches ­ translating into a mighty big oven. You can look into the opening and see the wood burning away. Maria, the general manager, reported that it takes about an hour to build to the right temperature in the oven. Oak is preferred for the nutty taste it imparts.

The crust was the real winner! Both Lynn and Jan separately concluded that the crust was just like the ones they had tasted in Verona (in Italy NOT New Jersey). Marie, who is an adjunct waitress, pitched in that the crust reminded her of Vicenza, where she lived on pizza for four years. This Veneto connection seemed a bootstrap stretch, since Angelo, the owner, is from Sicily. Nevertheless, we all agreed that the thin crust was crunchy, with that lingering sandpapery bottom (i.e, "eccelente" on the Volpe tongue test). The crust also passed the droop test with minimal drip (i.e., "ottimo" on the Yoshida dual dimensional scale).

The sauce tasted rich like real tomatoes, not t(h)in and artificial. The mushrooms were fresh; the only other restaurant with this distinctive touch is our local and "lussuoso" Alpha Pizza Pi. The condiments were on the table -- in easy reach for those who needed the boost of garlic powder and oregano. But for the purist, the pies didn't need any extras. The only disappointment was the sausage, which came in small mushy bland pellets. Finocchio, finocchio, where art thou finocchio (fennel, that is, in Italian)?

Our panel of tasters independently issued ratings from 5.5 to 7.0, with an average of 6.5. This non-inflationary grade put Spatola's in the upper crust of the14 pizzerias reviewed to date. However, as clarified on the menu, "[Spatola's] considers pizza a culinary art." We didn't try their gourmet ingredients, such as creme fraiche, pesto (which is made in the near classic way with walnuts rather than pine nuts), garlic parsley sauce, and goat cheese. How about their #9: grilled chicken, barbeque sauce, provolone cheese, cilantro, red onions, and yellow bell pepper pizza? Bet they don't have that in Verona and Vicenza.

Our business representatives proposed a cost benefit analysis of the pizza. Cost = $8.95 for a large pizza, $1.00 for beverages with free refills, and transportation expenses. Benefit = "delizioso" pizza, a chance to get some psychological distance from Lehigh, perhaps a private place to take a date (although watch out for Lehigh profs), and proximity to "abbondante" shopping. Our accidental testers, the biology profs who reminded us that bacteria helps the cheesy process, weighed the cost/benefit ratio in favor of going over the hill to Spatola's. We would concur that Spatola's is worth the trip; it earned our "bel voto." --- Ciao (appropriately pronounced "chow").

Reviewed by:
Ron Yoshida, Dean of the College of Education
Perry Zirkel, Iacocca Professor of Education
Dan Rubin '01, accounting major
Jan Redinger, the spouse of Dean of CBE, Dick Durand
Tom Mayes, graduate student in Educational Leadership
Lynne Cassimeris and Mike Kucha, professors, Biological Sciences department

Spatola's
93 S. West End Blvd (a.k.a. Route PA 309),(215) 804-0377. Open M-Th 11-10; F/S 11-11; Sunday 4-10. Dine in or take out, no deliveries.

This review originally appeared in The Brown and White at Lehigh University.