Dock Street South Brewery Fires Up Its Pizza Oven Today

Dock Street West’s beloved 12-inch pies make their way to its sister brewery in South Philly starting today, thanks to a massive wood-fired oven now planted in its events space-turned-“Pizza Room” lounge.

The Point Breeze brewery that turned one in August (2118 Washington Avenue) expands on a comfort foods menu of arancini, fried chicken sandwiches, and mac and cheese bowls with a debut lineup of the same popular pies its 35-year-old counterpart in West Philly is known for.

An Earthstone oven — an eBay buy transported from Ohio — cooks 10 types of pies at 750 degrees ($12-$17.50) starting Friday, November 13. Hours for takeout and outdoor dining are 4 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

“We’re using the same dough recipe that we have perfected at [Dock Street] West,” marketing director Renata Certo-Ware tells Eater.

Best-selling orders imported to Dock Street South include the Flammenkuche (crème fraiche, gruyere, caramelized onion, thick cut bacon, fresh herbs) and a barbecue chicken pie.

Dock Street South/official photo

One South Philly-specific order comes topped with slow-roasted jackfruit and dairy-free cheese to cater to both vegans “and ‘sometimes’ vegans like me who never pass up an opportunity for jackfruit,” she says.

Dock Street South chef Cam Waters’s top-selling jerk chicken cheesesteak will be adapted into a pizza in the coming weeks, she adds. Dock Street West chef PJ Freeman helped train staff, and Waters heads up the pizza program in South Philly.

Dock Street is working with just two batches of dough on opening day, so “when it sells out it sells out,” Certo-Ware tells Eater. Starting small enables the team to tinker with the new menu and get things right on Day One. More dough is on tap for Saturday, November 14, she adds.

An unused events room surrounded by the IPA and pilsner maker’s stainless-steel tanks was flipped into a “Pizza Room,” which houses the oven, prep space, and a counter area where customers can watch and wait for their pies. Architect Mark Weiandso fashioned the live-edge bar tops from a maple tree from Wayne, Penn. Once pandemic conditions improve, she says, Dock Street South will welcome sit-down customers across the 20-seat pizza pad.

After much demand for its pies in South Philly, too, Dock Street founder (and Renata Certo-Ware’s mom) Rosemarie Certo gave the green light this summer to buy an oven for the 10,000-square-foot South Philly location that’s twice the size as the original.

Founded in 1985, Dock Street calls itself Philly’s first microbrewery and one of the first post-prohibition craft breweries in the country. Its latest 16-ounce canned release is a Bean2Bean Espresso Stout (6.5% ABV) made with coffee beans from the local roaster.

Dock Street South/official photo

Dock Street South/official photo

• Dock Street South opens Wednesday in Point Breeze [PI]
• Dock Street South gets a pizza oven, and South Philly rejoices [PI]
• The Opening of Dock Street’s New Washington Avenue Brewpub Is Fast Approaching [EP]