Rosario’s Pizzeria opens in Cheltenham, bringing South Philly Mexican to Montco and the Northeast

South Philadephia — sometimes called Puebla-delphia — has Mexican food so hauntingly good, it makes one turn their nose up at ersatz interpretations elsewhere. Once you’ve had South Philly sopes, tacos, and tamales, you might be ruined forever. Which is why it’s such welcome news that one of its oldest Mexican pizzerias has expanded to Cheltenham, bringing authentic specialties to the Northeast and Montgomery County.

A new outpost of Rosario’s Pizzeria recently opened in a food-centric strip mall off Township Line Road, across from Burholme Park and just over the city line. Its six-page menu includes Mexican-inspired pizza, cheesesteaks, burgers, and salads as well as more traditional items, like tacos, flautas, quesadillas, quesabirria, and agua frescas. Husband-and-wife owners Aaron del Rosario and Margarita Jeronimo plan a grand opening within the month. Their original location, at 15th and Wharton, is still going strong at 12 years old.

Mexican pizza has grown increasingly popular in South Philly, which is home to many immigrants from Mexico — especially from Puebla, the state where both Jeronimo and del Rosario are from. (They actually hail from the same town, San Mateo Ozolco, but met in Philadelphia, at Taqueria La Veracruzana.)

Rosario’s wasn’t the first to serve pizza with Mexican toppings — that distinction likely goes to San Lucas Pizzeria on South Bouvier Street — but it’s one of the most creative, with 15 pies in its Mexican section alone. There’s the now-standard pizza al pastor, topped with guajillo pepper sauce, mozzarella, marinated pork, pineapple, and fresh onions; the Chicana, with tomatillo sauce, whole black beans, chipotle chicken, and chipotle ranch; and La Mexicana, another tomatillo-sauced pie laden with chorizo, roasted corn and poblanos, and slivers of avocado. (There are 19 pies in its “classic pizza” offerings, including chicken bacon ranch and a braised short rib pizza lightly doused with white truffle oil.)

Jeronimo says her husband used to work construction in New York City and often ate slices of plain pizza at the time. “It didn’t have taste,” she remembers him telling her.

When he moved to Philadelphia 20 years ago, he began putting salsa on his personal pizza. By the time the couple opened their shop in 2011, pizza al pastor and carnitas pizzas were relatively established in Philly, and they appeared on Rosario’s menu. But del Rosario didn’t stop there.

“He was always playing around,” Jeronimo remembers. He incorporated guacamole, chipotle, jalapeños, black bean puree, and Chihuahua cheese into cheesesteaks and burgers, and kept coming up with new pizza topping ideas: chicken mole, fajita steak, pambazo, taco pizza. The latest best-seller is birria pizza, topped with guajillo pepper sauce, braised beef, and rich, deep-red consommé.

Del Rosario downplays the challenge of consistently executing such a broad menu: “We use a lot of items that we just combine in different ways,” he says.

Jeronimo says customers have beseeched Rosario’s to open second locations over the years, in New Jersey, Upper Darby, and the Northeast. They’ve explored the idea twice before, but the Cheltenham shop was the first to work out. She’s prepared to introduce some dishes to those in the area who are unfamiliar..

“I think it’s gonna be a little complicated, because they don’t know our Mexican food, like, how spicy we are,” she says. “They’re gonna have to learn our kitchen, our cuisine.”

Rosario’s Pizzeria at 576 Township Line Road, Cheltenham, has a 3-mile delivery radius, covering Fox Chase, Rhawnhurst, East Oak Lane, Elkins Park, Jenkintown, and more. (If you order through DoorDash or Grubhub, the radius expands.) The shop also offers slices — typically plain, pepperoni, Chicana, and La Mexicana — for $4 each. Hours are Monday through Thursday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Sunday noon to 10 p.m. Order at rosarios-pizzeria-northeast.square.site.