Paola's — Restaurant in Radnor Township

My wife and I married in Philadelphia 36 years ago after I moved north from Alabama. We were residents of Bensalem for 25 years and we loved the food in the area, especially the Italian. About five years ago we went south to retire in the Huntsville Alabama area. Great place but the Italian restaurants suck. Well after five years we packed up and returned to Pennsylvania. One of the first food items I ordered was a pizza steak. I am in the King of Prussia area for a few months until house is completed in Pennsburg. I have tried the top rated pizza restaurants in the area and have had some very good pizza steaks. Well, tonight my wife wanted a pizza steak so I went on the web hunting for one of the places we liked but stumbled upon Paola’s and a near perfect five star rating. Being somewhat skeptical, I placed an order for two pizza steaks for my wife and I, a cheesesteak for my three rescues to share, and pizza fries. I was curious how Paola’s would compare to the other restaurants we tried, believing they likely would be middle of the pack. Boy, what a surprise for my wife and I. Definitely not middle of the pack, not even close. We had difficulty comparing them to previous pizza steaks, either here in King of Prussia, Bensalem, or Philadelphia. That includes the big two in Philly. These were the best pizza steaks we have ever had! We even revised our internal rating system so that the best we had prior to Paola’s would be about 4.5 stars and Paola’s would receive 5 stars. My wife had the pizza fries and consumed them before I could test. She stated they were the best pizza fries she has ever had., so you hit two homers with her. The problem I find myself faced with is what do we do when we move to Pennsburg? A bit far for delivery or carryout! What a quandary! Is there a solution other than a long drive? Perhaps it would have been best if I had never ordered. I may very well be a sad pizza steak eater in the future and I will envy the local residents in Wayne. Life...

Overall good food and great service at a fair price.

I remember when Paola's opened as Bravo in 1997. But, it was Paola who owned and ran the franchise, excellently, I might add. Thankfully, after 15 years she was able to buy the restaurant for herself and put her name on it. It continues to be a staple in downtown Wayne. I go there about every two months these days. However, my family members are there about once a week.

The service is great. Most of the same people have worked there since the day it opened, like Alfredo, Paola, Michele and Pino. Paola's niece also works there. They are friendly and take good care of you, which I know because I have known most of them for nearly 20 years. They clearly want to be sure you are satisfied every time you are there.

In my opinion, the pizza is pretty average. It's basically New York style, Napolitan pizza. There's nothing particularly wrong with it, but there's also nothing that really stands out. I may prefer the white pizza to the regular. But, it is not my top pizza choice in Wayne.

Their fresh daily items, which often include various pastas, various salads, and various other fresh-made Italian items like eggplant rollatini and chicken piccatta are all quite good. All of the entrées are also good-sized portions. I often get tortellini. The cheesesteaks are good too. They do not have a fryer, so there are no fries or other fried items.

Reasonable prices.

This is where I proudly gave Capitan Adorable his first ever tastes of cheesesteak.

There is a large, pretty, private room in the back.

Parking can be rather difficult, as with anywhere in Wayne.

Paola's is a great neighborhood pizza...

When I entered I was looking at the food while a family ordered and the male owner asked what I wanted. Very awkward greeting and not polite.

Then I told him and he asked if I was eating in or taking out. That should have been the first question then that way I could have sat down and gotten a menu.

The place is nice and my server was good so no complaints there. She did well and I appreciate her hard work.

I ordered a drink, 2 pieces of pizza, cake and pasta. It came to almost $40. I was pretty surprised I thought it may be 28-30.

Now to the food. The pizza was very mid. Thin crust ok amount of cheese and the sauce was very blah and light. The margarita pizza was a little better.

The cake was very dry and I usually love chocolate cake.

The pasta was ok but some of it was cold to lukewarm.

My one big issue is that nobody was wearing gloves and they were touching multiple items around the restaurant. That should have been a red flag.

Overall I have no idea how this place has a 4.8 rating. I’m sure the family is nice and they work hard but this is a hard pass for me next time. I would not return because the only good part of my meal was the bottled Fanta. Very...