Sal's Pizza: Tried and True

A funny thing happened on the way to my next restaurant review: the burrito place we were going to try in the K-mart shopping plaza had closed!

So, we went to Sal’s Pizza, a few doors away. The appeal: we didn’t have to dress up, it was close by and we knew the food was good. Sal’s also has a liquor license, so patrons can have a beer or glass of wine with their sandwich, salad or dinner.

This Sal’s Pizza is not a franchise. It is a single, family-owned restaurant.

For years I’ve stopped at Sal’s on my way home from work because of its easy access, quick service and the fact that I could get pizza for my son, who was a vegetarian, and a cheese steak and fries for me and my husband, without breaking the bank. The workers, including owner Sal Anselmo of Emmaus, are friendly and nice to deal with, once even covering for me when I came up a couple dollars short until I could return with the money.

“It’s not for the ambiance,”  I remarked to Bruce about the popularity of a restaurant that serves food on paper plates with plastic utensils, even when dining in.

The reason for Sal’s long-term success is simply the food, said manager Kris Kramer of Trexlertown, who is there most weekends, when I went back for my interview.

“Sal uses good ingredients. He makes good food and keeps the place clean,” he said.

Sal, a tall, dark-haired chap who usually welcomes guests with a smile and a compliment, was born in Sicily, Kramer said, and learned to make pizza in New York, where he lived as a young man with his sister and brother-in-law. Sal ran a pizza shop under the Flatiron building in the city but moved to the Lehigh Valley to raise his own family, including son John, who works at the shop.

Although there are many pizza shops throughout the Valley, Sal’s stands out for its homemade dough, sauces and hand-tossing, Kramer said. “We cut the cheese on the premises…slice our own mushrooms, peppers and produce.”

Pizzas come in 12-, 14- and 16-inch sizes with an impressive variety, including “white” with ricotta, white American and mozzarella cheeses on a Neapolitan crust ($16.80 large); tomato basil and garlic ($20.15 large); Sal’s special Sicilian with pepperoni, sausage, meatballs, green peppers, onions and mushrooms ($19.15 large); Hawaiian with ham, bacon and sweet pineapple ($20.15 large); and BBQ Chicken with bacon, cheddar and mozzarella ($20.15 large).  A newer option is gluten-free, wheat-free pizza.

Bruce ordered a medium sausage sandwich, light on the sauce ($6.15).  I ordered a small chicken cheese steak ($5.95) and a side order of  breaded mushrooms served with sauce ($3.80).

Bruce liked the sausage sandwich but said he would have preferred biting into a link rather than having the sausage thinly sliced in the roll, as it came. He presumed correctly that the staff slices the sausage that way primarily to put on pizza. 

I loved my chicken cheese steak for several reasons: number one the roll was amazingly soft and tasty on the inside and crisp without being hard on the outside; the meat, sauce and sweet and hot peppers were fresh, tasty and not over-stuffed. I ate every bite, asking for extra napkins. Waitress Danielle told me the rolls came from Lusitania, a Portugese bakery.

The mushrooms were standard frozen, deep-fried fare, but I managed to eat them all as well.

We skipped the cannolis ($2.50) for dessert, so our food tab came to $15.90.  With two imported beers and a clear birch soda, the total tab was $23.35.

Perhaps one reason Sal’s is still going and Burrito Grille had closed could be the time invested by Sal and his staff. Kramer has been there 18 years and said many of his employees have been there at least 10. This December, Sal’s Pizza will celebrate 30 years in business.

Sal’s Pizza

• 4767 W. Tilghman St.
• 610-395-7211