Stephen Starr Is Sending Vampires to Deliver Pizza

How does a restaurant top a perennial favorite like pizza delivery? By having a vampire show up at the door, pie in hand. At Stephen Starr’s Pizzeria Stella on Headhouse Square, delivery is via vampire over Memorial Day weekend and comes with a mystery-themed game for a bit of entertainment during the meal.

Pizzeria Stella is working with Vampire Pizza, the Los Angeles-based brainchild of Josh Sugarman of entertainment company Ravel. Sugarman, who is originally from Philly, enlisted a group of artists to help him create an interactive experience around food designed to appeal to people stuck at home social distancing during the COVID-19 situation.

Vampire Pizza first popped up in LA and then Las Vegas, and is now coming here. Diners get salad and Neapolitan-style pizza dropped off by a delivery person who is really, per the game, an undercover vampire trying to start a revolution. The food comes with a game with puzzles and other challenges that takes about an hour to 90 minutes to play.

“People are bored right now,” Starr said in a press release. “They have been quarantined for months, and there’s only so much you can do to make dinner at home fun.”

The pizza and game package is available Friday, May 22, to Monday, May 25, for $45 per person for two people or $40 per person for four people. Reservations open today.

Customers can also opt to pick up their package at Pizzeria Stella, but that doesn’t sound quite as fun as having a vampire ring the doorbell.

• Bored at Home, Chef Joe Cicala Built a Pizza Oven in His South Philly Backyard
• This Sushi Restaurant Takes Contactless Pickup to the Next Level by Using a Robot
• Apricot Stone Will FaceTime You to Recreate the Restaurant Experience at Home