Pica's Restaurant of Upper Darby — Restaurant in Upper Darby

Part 1 of 2 This is strictly a pizza review. If you grew up in Upper Darby, Pica's is the kind of bar and restaurant you probably celebrated special occasions in (their street facing sign says "Pica's" and "Banquets"). It's been at this location for many years. I imagine that when families arrive, the adults often order pizza for the kids and the kids love the pizza at Pica's. When those kids grew to become adults their affection for Pica's (and its pizza) grew too. Pica's has a bar and a large labyrinthine (well but dimly lit) dining room (there are a lot of dim lights). It's not decorated in my favorite style, but it's kind of impressive and comfortable at the same time (I agree with a previous reviewer comment that Pica's decor could be seen as "dated"). Pica's interior reminded me of the Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour [sic] inside the Granite Run Mall. Maybe that's why I immediately made the connection between Pica's and celebration when I entered the dining room. They have a nice large foyer (immediately inside the entrance doors) and a large waiting room with a hostess station and coatroom between the foyer and the dining room. The host seated me in a booth. Pica's menu pages are essentially a thick plastic book. The menu is extensive, but I was here for the pizza (in a small section at the bottom of one menu page). I ordered a small plain pizza (dough, tomato sauce, cheese). Pica's "pizza" is square and some people (on-line) refer to Pica's type of pizza as "upside down". The cheese is put on the dough before the sauce ("gravy"). The cheese melts into the dough as the dough cooks, and the sauce taste is prominent when eating upside down pizza. I agree with another reviewer: "Pica’s missed the mark with their sauce". I found their sauce to be over homogenized, and overly acidic (tinny) that feels as if a thickening agent has been added to it. The service was prompt and attentive. My server asked me if I needed garlic or oregano to go with my pizza. I said I that I would like both, and I asked for olive oil as well (not something I ever put on pizza when I was growing up not far from Upper Darby in Media--we had Pinocchio's for pizza and the Towne House for special occasions). Judging by the server's reaction--which was a very pleasant "sure" after a very subtle pause, I assume oil (I'm pretty sure it was not olive oil--I didn't taste it separately) is not routinely requested as an accompaniment to the pizza at Pica's. Shaker-jars of grated Parmesan (I assume it was Parmesan) cheese and crushed red pepper flakes were already on the table. All five condiments (the oil, the powdered garlic, the dried oregano, the grated cheese, and the hot pepper flakes) are the kind of items you can buy in any grocery store (unrefrigerated). From what I have recently learned (on-line) many (presumably all of them) locals (including Tina FEY--because she was once a local--and Jimmy FALLON--I guess because she loved it and they worked together at SNL?) swear by Pica's pizza. Tina FEY claimed, "this pizza is the best" on Late Night with Jimmy FALLON (look it up). I came to Pica's for pizza primarily on the strength of Ms. FEY's recommendation. I wanted to like Pica's for a lot of reasons, I really did; as the menu details, there is local (West Philadelphia and Upper Darby) history, and it's a family run business. I am, however, based on the much better pizza being produced by other local competitors, compelled to say that I would not return to Pica's for their "pizza", nor would I recommend their "pizza" to anyone who didn't grow up eating it. Don't stop reading though, because Pica's may be salvageable, and their takeout pizza may be better (see photo for the rest of...

My wife and I were looking for one particular restaurant but we made a wrong turn on Route 3. As a result we drove past Pica's Restaurant. I had never eaten there previously but my wife had. She excitedly said that we should go back. She had eaten there and enjoyed it thoroughly. Our destination was now changed. We turned around and went back to Pica's. There is free off-street parking and the restaurant is handicapped accessible. It was a little early and we were seated right away. The Italian fare menu is quite extensive so choosing can be challenging. I love Italian food so picking one meal is difficult for me. Ultimately, I chose Chicken Parmigiana with a side of Spaghetti. My wife ordered Manicotti. While waiting for our main course, our salads arrived along with bread and roasted peppers. The roasted peppers were delicious and the bread was outstanding. Our salads were a delightful prelude to our main course. The Manicotti, Chicken Parmigiana and Spaghetti were all delicious. We both loved the dinners that we were served. On top of the great food was a very friendly, helpful waitress who was very attentive to our needs. Pica's Restaurant is now on our list of restaurants that we enjoy and we will be returning there for meals again in the near future. I highly recommend Pica's Restaurant. If you are looking for very good food at very good prices, you owe it to yourself to visit this establishment for a meal. I think you will find, like we did, that you will want to come back...

Had our family reunion there last night 18 of us Aug 10th food was amazing as always the tomato pie so good.. the only issue was our waitresses no personality what so ever had to ask 3 times for menus. When it came time to pay she had a bad attitude about splitting the bill 1 she should have asked in the begun if it was 1 check so my husband told her whos food & drink was on what check because she said theses were her exact words ive been here sense 10 am i want to go home um WHAT i didnt tell u to work all day & thats not my problem so my husband helped then we had a gift card for 125$ my husband said put this on the 124$ bill then use my credit card for the 77$ bill easy enough WRONG she only took 50$ off the gift card & charged the rest to our credit card we were totaly confused as to why she did this so my husband explained to her what was supposed to be done she said i cant fix it um why then a gentleman came over my husband told him what was supposed to be done & low & behold he fixed it.. as she dropped off the correct check she says thank god now i can go home um really we haven't seen some of our family in 30 years the attitude wasn't needed. When i called to make the reservation i told them we would most likely be there till closing i would suggest that if certain people cant handle big party's that someone who can should be assigned.. sorry for the long post again we LOVE picas & always have our family gatherings there we were just disappointed in the way our...