Cebula's Bar & Lounge

295 Main Street
Dupont, PA 18641
(570) 655-8809
Website

NEPA is home to the "Pizza Capital of the World" in Old Forge, but to be honest, I didn't really like the look of most of the options there. On a drive up 81, I decided Dupont was the stop for me. They have a gem called Cebula's, which boasts Polish potato crust pizza. When I pulled up, I knew it was the place for me.

A few locals were inside drinking and eating "reheats" which are slices that have been pre-made, and reheated, obviously. There were not a whole host of options, which made sense. Some kind of proprietary hot pepper blend, and the standard garlic powder and oregano. Worked for me.

The slices that came out were surprisingly good. A sort of hybrid of frozen Sicilian and pizzaz, the crust was uniquely soft and airy on top, but still nicely browned on the bottom.

The sauce was crushed tomato and onion, nothing too crazy, but nice and rich.

Now when I say "slices" I'm utilizing my cultural finesse; in the great northeast, they're called "cuts" and a whole pizza pie isn't a pie at all – it's a "tray" – and that's that. Consider yourself learned and don't ask questions. My half-tray boasted 8 large cuts and so I definitely took some to go. I'll admit, a cut of reheats that you reheat again is where it's at.

The cheese, however, was perhaps even stranger than the potato dough. It was a blend of some sort, but definitely had a heavy American cheese presence. I love the creamy texture of American on pizza (once in a while) and it complemented the spongy soft texture of the crust (thanks, potato flour).

At $2.25 a cut, it was cheap for our area, but apparently expensive for NEPA. Either way, I loved the atmosphere, the pizza, and the place. Will definitely stop back when I am on my way up north.

Dattilo's Delicatessen

8000 Horrocks St
Corner of Rhawn and Bustleton (The Great Northeast)
Philadelphia, PA 19152
(215) 725-2020
Website



Dattilo's is one of those places you would never know about unless you grew up around it, or someone from the area told you about it. I happened to find it a couple of years ago driving home from a day of riding in Pennypack Park, and figured it was the kind of place that would be right up my alley. I have since eaten here a number of times, and it was generally delicious. However, last weekend, I was less than impressed. I must admit, I did not order my go-to "roast pork," but I did go for the infamous "main event" hoagie, and the "homemade mild Italian sausage parmigiana." I also ordered the "cheese fries," knowing full well from previous trips that they were cheap, salty, frozen fries served with Whiz, but sometimes that just hits the spot. It's not at all that anything was BAD, but more that I had some specific gripes that did not leave me happy.



The outside has a retro sun-faded facade that looks like it might have been famous in the 50's. The inside is just a little Italian market that has great, fresh, homemade imported cheeses and meats, and a dazzling array of Italian food products. Think low-brow DiBruno brothers, with twice as much room to move around. All of the cheeses, (including homemade ricotta) are extremely tempting, but in my case, they would have to sit inside a warm car for a couple of hours, so I settled on six hoagie rolls, and a 4 pack of Beck's pounders ($5) for an after ride treat (only one of the beers, not all four!).


The fries were not crinkle cut the last time I had them, and they were cooked slightly crispier. However the slightly spicy, extremely salty fries were pretty decent with a big tub of Whiz. The sausage sandwich (below) was also okay. It had house made mozzarella, sauce, and mild Italian sausage. It was pretty sloppy, the sausage took up only about 30% of the roll, and was not sliced in half to distribute the encased meat more thoroughly. I was more excited for bites of seeded roll and cheese than I was for sausage.


It wasn't terrible, just not that great.


On to the "main event." Literally. I have eaten the main event on a couple of occasions, and I always really liked it. The marinated vegetables are the WOW factor that, coupled with the tasty cured meats, make this a great sandwich. The sandwich I got, however, lacked the "pop" that I was in search of. My first qualm with the sandwich was the lack of meat and cheese. There were about 8 slices of meat, on a seeded roll that was well over a foot long. Every bite was as though I was eating an oily salad on a roll, and occasionally some delicious imported meat would glimmer through. The pepperoni was almost nonexistent, the hot capicola lacking and the genoa salami sparse. This is how I feel hoagie meat should be applied (not really, but you get the picture). The prov was tasty, but hard to taste hidden under all of the other ingredients.


My other gripe is that the salad of artichokes and roasted peppers tasted as though it was just tossed together at the last minute, as opposed to letting the flavors mingle in some oil and vinegar. They tasted watery, and the hoagie was just not very impressive. I actually thought, "I drove past Shank's for this?" Anyway, I was somewhat disappointed with the food, but a place that has been as good as Dattilo's deserves another chance. So I am not writing them off quite yet. It could have just been a fluke. I hope.