Mulherin’s Pizzeria: A delicious delight in Philadelphia!

I recently had the pleasure of dining at a new restaurant in Philadelphia, Mulherin’s Pizzeria on 1175 Ludlow Street! Now, I know what you’re thinking, Ludlow Street?There is nothing there. A decade ago you’d either head to Walnut or Chestnut Streets to avoid Ludlow. Well, I can safely say that that has changed. With the inclusion of The Girard and Canopy Hotels, Wayward Restaurant, and a clean general lounge area, it is a lovely place to have a business meeting without having to worry about anything.

Now, let me tell you about Mulherin’s! It is a brand-new restaurant, around the corner from the Loews Hotel on Market Street. The decor is fairly light, lots of plants, rustic interior, and a wood-fired pizza oven that cranks out the crispiest pizza’s that I have have had in a while! Remember Porta on Chestnut Street? They had certified Neapolitan pizza ovens that would cook a pie in about ninety seconds. Mulherin’s reminds me of Porta. Now, on to our menu!

We first ordered their crispy stuffed paccheri with cacio e pepe fonduta. It was light, crispy, and ooey and gooey! They garnished the dish with a little lemon wedge that you could squeeze onto the dish as well. We then had the kanpachi crudo with colatura, mint, and lime. This was a light and refreshing dish, and I loved the sauce. Our last appetizer was the burrata with pistachio pesto, infused strawberries, and white balsamic vinegar. Absolutely delicious, and the focaccia, lemon zest, and creaminess of the burrata was fantastic! In my humble opinion, more pistachios should have been added to the pesto, and the strawberries should have a firmer texture.

For our entree’s, we split the Scarlet O’Hara pizza, and cacio e pepe bucatini. The bucatini dish was amazing! Not so much sauce that it felt like the pasta was swimming in cheese and black pepper, and not so thin that the pasta wasn’t soaking up the sauce. The bucatini was perfectly cooked, and the portion size made you feel like you were back in Italy or Sicily. The Scarlet O’Hara pizza was fantastic! Perfect balance of spicy ‘nduja sausage, parsley, lemon, pecorino, and olive tapenade atop a perfectly crispy pizza dough. My only notes for the chef would be to add an additional layer of pecorino, and maybe to char the lemon so that there is a little more contrast of sweetness to the spiciness and saltiness. Otherwise, a perfectly done pizza.

For dessert, we split an order of pistachio gelato and bomboloni! The gelato was perfectly creamy, but I wish they had added roasted pistachio pieces. Then it would have been like the pistachio gelato that we had in Sicily. I know, an unfair comparison. The bomboloni were delicious. It had the perfect amount of lemon zest in these round balls, a perfect balance of cinnamon to sugar for the outer coating, and just enough chocolate to coat and dip them. My only critique is that more amaro should have been added to the chocolate sauce, because the dark chocolate overpowered the amaro. Otherwise, a spectacular job as well.

For drinks, we each had a cocktail to start, and then split a bottle of white wine to pair with everything. Our friend Sylvia and I ordered their “Shakedown on Ludlow”, which had vodka, aperol, amaro, lemon, cucumber, and honey, served in a lovely coupe glass. Eric, my husband, had the “Lovers Quarrel”, which had coconut washed tequila, ambrosia, campari, lemon, grapefruit, and sage. Both cocktails were delicious and very well made. To pair with the pasta and pizza dishes, we had a bottle of Nascetta. It was a lovely white wine from the Piedmont region of Italy. Beautifully crisp, it paired very well with the cacio e pepe bucatini, and the Scarlet O’Hara pizza.

I highly recommend visiting Mulherin’s restaurant for lunch or dinner, and tell the general manager Evan that I sent you! Also, thank you to our server, Daniel, for wonderful service, and my hairstylist Heather, who told me about Mulherin’s during a recent hair appointment at Salon G Rittenhouse. Caio!