Pizzeria Beddia Makes the Best Pizza in America, According to Andrew Knowlton

It's about to get even harder to score a pie at Fishtown's Pizzeria Beddia, now that Bon Appetit's Andrew Knowlton has taken it upon himself to spill the beans that Joe Beddia's tiny shop is turning out "the best pizza in America." And, in case that bold declaration wasn't clear enough, he wants you to know he's really, really serious:

When I visited Pizzeria Beddia a few months after its March 2013 opening, I didn't know what to expect. Solid neighborhood pizza made by an owner who cared? I figured I'd order a pie, congratulate Beddia on realizing his dream, and head to my next meal — the real reason I was in town. Beddia's food would likely be a solid addition to the Philly scene, perhaps even the East Coast. As it turned out, Pizzeria Beddia was one of those beautiful eating experiences that still haunts me. I wasn't on vacation, and there wasn't some well-designed setting distorting my senses. It was just me and that pizza in a forgettable space. But it changed everything.

In the piece (which includes a thorough photo essay), Knowlton speaks highly of the technique, of the "mind-blowing" end result, and of the long and wide-ranging study that went into developing it — but not least of all, he admires the shop's remarkable consistency. "Every time I get to eat it, I consider myself the luckiest person on the planet," Knowlton continues, and perhaps no one has ever expressed a simple thought about pizza so complexly laced with such wistful, bittersweet joy and gratitude. (Hey, we totally get it.)

Beddia, for his part, has a way with words all his own in addressing such imposed monikers as "Pizza Jesus":

"It’s just fucking pizza."