Pica’s in Upper Darby, slated to close, gets a temporary reprieve
Residents of Upper Darby and Clifton Heights have more time to get their sauce-topped pan pizzas, eggplant parm, and chicken marsala. After the summer, they'll have to drive to Broomall.
Upper Darby residents got some good news this week: Town mainstay Pica’s Restaurant will be open till the fall. The family-owned establishment had previously announced in March it planned to close its location at West Chester Pike and Fairview Avenue this summer and relocate elsewhere in Delaware County.
“While we do not have an exact closing date yet,” read Pica’s update on social media this week, “we can confirm our dining room and takeout will remain open throughout the summer season. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this transition.”
The restaurant also announced that a variance had been approved on its new location in Broomall. No further details were provided on the forthcoming shop, but the family owners had previously indicated they planned to move to a smaller shop than Upper Darby’s sprawling, country club-esque dining complex. (It has another location in West Chester, 15 miles down West Chester Pike.)
Frank Pica III, one of the owners, could not be reached for further comment.
The news was met with fanfare on Facebook and Instagram. Many commenters expressed relief that Pica’s would be coming to Broomall — roughly 15 minutes from the Upper Darby location — while others wished the owners would hang on even longer in their original Delco location. “Delay until end of the year so my family and I can have one more Christmas Eve dinner there!” one commenter wrote on Facebook.
Pica’s is best known for its sauce-topped pan pizzas, which have had a moment in national-TV spotlight thanks to Tina Fey, who enjoyed a slice with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show in 2014. “This pizza is the best!” Fey pronounced when Fallon unveiled the box.
While pizza may be the star, the restaurant also serves a vast selection of Italian American classics, including eggplant parmigiana with Bolognese sauce, spaghetti with crab meat and tomato sauce, chicken marsala, and tiramisu. Inquirer critic Craig LaBan characterized the dinner menu as “hopelessly anachronistic” in 2017. “Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by the toothy snap of the house-extruded spaghetti,” he wrote.
Pica’s first started in 1941, when Frank Pica Sr. opened Frank’s Pizzeria in West Philadelphia, at 62nd and Race Streets. He and his son, Frank Jr., moved the business to Upper Darby in 1956, expanding to a full restaurant and banquet operation. The family opened the West Chester location in 2017.