Aldo Lamberti Trattoria, Philadelphia Airport

As you've been reading, I recently had a layover at the Philadelphia Airport, my first time.  After stopping at Red Mango for froyo immediately upon landing, and picking up takeout from Legal Seafood for my next flight, it was time to grab some savory food to actually eat then.

I know that the order in which I did things didn't make sense in many ways.  Yes, ideally, I'd get my savory lunch first.  Follow it with froyo.  And pick up the takeout last.  But each was in a different terminal, and I landed in the terminal with the Red Mango, was passing through the one with Legal Seafood on the way, and took off out of the one with Aldo Lamberti Trattoria, where I wanted my savory food.  I could have just picked other establishments that made more sense logistically, obviously.  There were a slew of options.  But I did my research, and I knew what I wanted.  Red Mango and Legal Seafood were not new to me, but Aldo Lamberti Trattoria was.

Reviews told me that it was the place to go for good pizza.  Not just good pizza for an airport, good pizza in general.  Pizza may not be what I often pick, but sometimes there is a place for it, and it certainly sounded better than lackluster sandwiches or salads, or random fast food.  The reviews did not lead my astray.

I'm not familiar with the Lamberti name, but I guess they own a handful of Italian places in New Jersey, and one in Philadelphia.  This is obviously a fast concept for an airport, with everything pre-made, but the quality still showed.

Menu Board.

The menu board was pretty simple: pizza, salads, sandwiches, paninis (oh, and breakfast, including french toast!)

No frills here, and nothing to imply it would be any better than the slew of other airport dining options.  I hoped my research paid off.

Specialty Pizzas.

They make a variety of pizzas throughout the day, so options are always changing, and nothing is labelled.  The menu just lists "cheese", "1 topping", or "specialty".  I felt obnoxious, but asked the server what they all were. He rattled them off with ease, so I'm sure this is common.

I was tempted by nearly all of them.  The margarita and margarita with sausage looked incredible, the fresh mozzarella perfectly melted.  Then there was the buffalo chicken and bbq chicken, with fantastic looking sauces and toppings.  And plenty of classics like onions, peppers, and sausage.  I think probably 10-15 types total?

The pizzas are pre-made, and looked varying degrees of fresh.  All slices are heated to order in the oven, and handed over once they look good as new again.

Sandwiches, Paninis, Salads.

A few assorted premade salads (caesar, house, caprese) and sandwiches came next.  I imagine they heat the paninis up too.

Prices were very reasonable, <$5 for a small salad, $8 for a large.

Desserts, Fruit, Drinks.

An assortment of other treats completed the lineup, including cookies, tiramisu, and some really, really good looking muffins.  If I hadn't just chowed down on a massive Red Mango froyo, and hadn't just picked up Legal Seafood takeout for my next flight, I definitely would have taken one to eat on my next flight.

Specialty Pizza: Margarita with Sausage. $5.50.

And finally: the pizza!

Slices are huge, served in slice shaped boxes.  I loved the boxes, and, our slice literally fit perfectly.  How did they do that?

My research paid off.  This was good pizza.

The crust was thin, crispy.  The sauce flavorful and tangy, plenty of it.  The fresh mozzarella perfectly melted (Ojan thought there wasn't enough, but I actually like this style with it in islands on top and not encompassing the entire thing).  A generous amount of nicely seasoned well sized sausage chunks.  Fresh torn basil.

Overall, very good.  No real complaints here.  Actually, shockingly good, particularly given that this was airport food, and, it wasn't made fresh to order.

The price of only $5.50 was also a shocker (plain cheese was only $4 and a single topping $4.75.)  Seriously? In an airport?  For a monster slice?  Incredible.