A new pizza spot may (or may not) be coming to the northwest corner of 4th and Poplar in Northern Liberties. Joe Beddia, the would-be owner, went before the NLNA about a month ago, but was not supported by local residents. According to the NLNA, the presentation to their zoning committee wasn’t as well received by the neighborhood as Beddia may have hoped. Neighbors were most concerned about parking/traffic, venting, odor and noise at the location, which is a corner property in a very residential area. This space was previously the home of a green grocer, Almanac Market.

The space

It’s unclear at this time whether Beddia will go back to the NLNA zoning committee or take it straight to the ZBA, despite the lack of support from the neighborhood. Some of you may already be familiar with Beddia as he’s the expert pizza maker at popular Philadelphia Wine Bar and Pizzeria, Zavino; so we’re not talking about some fly-by-night operation here. While we get it that the neighborhood has some reservations, we also think this could be a pretty sweet new spot if it gets through the ZBA. We don’t know whether Beddia would seek a liquor license, but even if he did, it doesn’t strike us as the type of place that would turn into a rowdy, late night spot. Any locals have more info on why people weren’t into the concept? Or was it a collaborated sabotage from the owners of Home Slice and Rustica?*

Ah, the ruthlessness of the pizza biz. Not for the faint of heart.

–Kaitlin Bostwick

*Definitely not the case