Blackbird Pizzeria

I've tried vegan cheese steaks all over Philadelphia, and I've never wanted a second serving of any of them - until I went to Blackbird Pizzeria. If I had my druthers, I'd rename this place "Blackbird Vegan Steaks". As a beef-lover, I won't say it's as good as the better steak sandwiches I've had, but it's up there with the typical ones. The vegan pizza was also decent.

I've had vegan pizza in a lot of cities around the US, and Blackbird is the one I fantasize about periodically. I can't wait until next time I'm in Philly to have some more. Tried their award winning cheesesteak - it was great, but that pizza is what I'll be eating next I go.

I dream about Black Bird's pizza frequently. I fly to PA whenever I can to eat there. so great

And the cheesesteaks! And the wings! Now if only they'd add a soft serve machine.

Definitely the best vegan pizza place I've been. The wings are to die for, I tried both the Sweet & Spicy and the Barbecue. The Sweet & Spicy I found a bit sweet, but my partner found them a bit spicy, so perhaps they are just right! The Barbecue are incredible. The barbecue pizza and Haymaker pizzas were incredible, so nice. Was with some very skeptical meat eaters and even they enjoyed them, so that was a plus! They do use Daiya cheese, which is good, but I wish they had home-made cheese or something a bit more special. Though, it is still very nice. Also got a bunch of different desserts, cookies, cupcake and a whoopie pie. I thought the cookies weren't very special. The fungi pizza was also really yummy. The only thing we didn't think was very good was the Cheesesteak; I thought it wasn't good at all.

Pizza was great, so were the cheese fries! Will be back!

pizza was awesome! philly cheesesteak was awesome! I could eat there everyday.

Situated next to Starr Garden Park & Playground in a very Sesame Street section of Philadelphia, Blackbird Pizzeria stays good at making amazing foods for the famished. Unique pies and hearty subs accompanied by loaded salads & carnival-style fries… Why yes indeed!

Being in the birthplace of Rocky Balboa, we’da been big dummies to pass over the Balboa slice. With cherry tomatoes, fennel seitan crumble, tofu ricotta, and pumkin seed pesto resting on a chewy crust, all topped with a loaded handful of baby arugula. Oh! The seitan was perfect. Perhaps the finest seitan sausage we’ve eaten. Fennel was a flawless touch, the pungent licorice and salty protein paired well and created the subtle but remarkable flavor. Blackbird’s tofu ricotta was also spot on, rich and tangy lush mouthfuls mimicked the sweet salt fatty hits of dairy-based ricottas. The Balboa is a great slice.

Blackbird’s seitan cheesesteak took the concept of a meat and dairy free alternative to Philadelphia’s historic sammie and broke both its thumbs, and that is meant to be a compliment in the highest regard! Chip chopped seitan served on a blistered chewy baguette, mixed with sweet handfuls of grilled peppers, onions and Blackbird’s own Vegan Whiz, a creamy hit of salty perfection. Blackbirds seitan cheesesteak is no joke, put one in your belly!

ecoRDN.com

Most shudder at the thought of vegan pizza, but this is delicious. The crust is exceptional. Only wish they offered a non-refined flour crust option. Tried the "wings" but not a fan. Seitan was too thick. Very casual. Order at counter. Friendly service.

I was lucky enough to eat at Blackbird Pizzeria as I was driving through Philly. The parking is not convenient, but I did find a spot in front. Everything was very delicious. I even took a few things to go. Absolutely the best cheese steak I ever had.

The food is amazing here. The cheesesteak is amazing, with tons of flavor and texture. We also got the root beer bbq wings, and while the wings are pretty good, dipping it into the cucumber sauce makes it even better. That being said, I have yet to find a "vegan wing" that makes me go crazy for it, but these are way better than other veg wings I have tried. The crunch was there as were the sauces, but the texture is a little too chewy to be a wing. The pizza is thin crust but packed with flavor. If you order a slice, they pop it in a little oven to rewarm and it comes out piping hot, but it doesn't seem to negatively affect the flavors at all. The chocolate pudding cup at the end of the meal is thick, smooth, and chocolately. It's a great end to a filling meal.

Now for the reasons why it's only a 3-star place and not a 5-star place...the setting. The cashier didn't even crack a smile or say "hi how are you" or anything remotely inviting. You don't have to be a cheerleader or wave pom-poms or shout at us (like a certain other chain restaurant), but at least don't seem like we're the inconvenience. She ignored us for a few minutes while she was walking back and forth behind the counter fixing another order and then she just really seemed like she didn't even want to be bothered with taking our order. We ordered two fountain drinks, a slice of pizza, wings, and a cheesesteak, and while the pizza came out within a couple minutes, we had to wait a few minutes longer for our drinks, and the wings and cheesesteak never came out. It wasn't until several minutes later that a cook (a very friendly employee, in complete contrast to the cashier/server) came by, asked if we were missing something, I explained, and she fixed the issue (system froze) and got the food cooked up right away. The restaurant itself is on the dirty side; it doesn't seem like anyone really wipes off the tables after guests and there were paper towels, straw wrappers, etc scattered about the floor. The AC is on the warm side and it feels rather squished when it gets busy.

The food however is great. But if I eat here again, I'll be getting delivery or takeout because the restaurant setting just wasn't worth it.

A small pizza joint that offers vegan pizza, sandwiches, cheese fries, and AMAZING vegan seitan wings. The food is fantastic! On our short visit to Philadelphia, we ate here twice!I highly recommend trying a slice of The Hay Maker.

This place is pretty well known for its pizza, cheesesteak, and seitan. They ship their seitan to a bunch of other restaurants on the east coast (for example Champs Diner in Brooklyn uses it) and for good reason - it's the best. You can even buy it in little boxes to use for home cooking. All of the pizzas are excellent. Try the haymaker and the fungi. My favorite sandwich is the ringer. Their wings rule too. Such a good spot!

I have never had pizza this good (even before going vegan).
The dough was super fresh, the sauce was perfect and I could create my own toppings from a stunning variety of vegan toppings. I went for the pepperoni with jalapeños, red onion and green bell peppers. All topped of with Vegan cheese. They do pizza by the slice but I was a pig and ate a whole small 12" to my self!

The vegan pizza was delicious and there were at least 8 pre-made options so if you wanted just a quick slice or two you could order whatever strikes your fancy. You can also order whole pizzas with the toppings you want. The wings were also amazing. We had the sweety and spicy and were tempted to go back for more. They also had several types of cookies and desserts. Would definitely return!

Within the pizza and sub genre, I rate Blackbird Pizzeria, 4 stars. I'm not rating for healthfulness, just taste. I found the seitan cheesesteak and cauliflower pizza to be excellent (5 stars), and the funghi (mushroom) pizza very good (4 stars). My only pizza complaint is that the topping on the funghi pizza didn't extend far enough out to the circumference.

I had one salad, the caesar. This salad was not made fresh, but pulled out of the fridge and was served crammed into a plastic container. I've had many vegan caesar salads, and don't really consider this salad to be caesar. It was more of a regular toss salad with an Italian dressing. I'd give this salad 3 stars at most. The only available "silverware" was environmentally unfriendly plastic.

I had one dessert, which was a chocolate pudding parfait with cookie crumb layers. I would have liked more chocolate pudding and less cookie crumbs, but none-the-less, it ranked about a 4.5 in taste.

The service is pretty good, but could be improved. The staff patiently answered all my questions. But when I was sitting at the table, I asked where I could get a napkin, and the server who is half my age or less, pointed out where they were. As she was standing up and standing in between myself and the napkins, she could have gone the extra mile and handed a napkin to a patron old enough to be her mother.

My table was not clean, and I had to clean it myself. They seemed to have a lot of staff, so there was no excuse for dirty tables.

On the strength of the cauliflower pizza and the seitan cheesesteak, I would have rated this place 5 stars. Lack of attention paid to cleaning tables, excessive use of plastic, and the mediocre salad drag the rating down to 4.



Updated from previous review on 2016-08-24

Pizza che merita, detto da uno abituato a mangiarla in Italia. tantissimi gusti, alcuni si sciolgono letteralmente in bocca. ottime anche le alternative della cucina e I dolci. uno dei pochi posti negli USA dove mi sono letteralmente sfondato.

The food here is ok. The pizza is nothing special but it is vegan pizza which is always a bonus to find. I would not say it is anywhere near as good as the vegan pizza from &pizza for instance. The wings were pretty tasty. The main dislike I had about this place is the grubbiness of it. It just looks like it needs a good clean. From drink stains up the walls, to broken ceiling tiles and being generally dirty looking all round. Tables also all dirty and sticky and had to clean our own.