Pepperoncini Sotto Restaurant and Bar: South Philly Italian on Bridge Street

For many of us, Italian food, when done right, is comfort food. 

We crave it when we want something tasty, filling, and familiar. In the past, that meant taking my Italian mother-in-law to South Philly. With Pepperoncini Sotto’s arrival on Bridge Street, it means when the in-laws visit, we can now walk to authentic Italian cuisine.

Dinner began with a bread basket and a plate of olive oil. At each course, a server offered to add fresh ground pepper from a tall grinder to the dish. The fresh pepper added a welcome piquant note to the fruity oil. The bread was store-bought Italian, the only false note in an otherwise memorable meal.

We split the generous Fried Calamari ($11) appetizer which was served with lemon (which brightened the squid), a good marinara sauce and a fabulous basil aioli. The calamari was dipped in light, tempura-like batter, which beautifully contrasted with the just chewy-enough squid rings. While the marinara sauce was pleasant, the appetizer truly shone with the herb notes of the basil aioli. We scraped the plate and looked forward to our salad and entrées.

The house salad is included with the entrées. On Sunday, it featured a slice of tomato, a slice of cucumber and a tangle of fresh baby spinach, beet greens, and red and green lettuce, dressed with oil and vinegar. A sprinkle of pepper from the grinder and our palates were cleansed for the entrées.

My husband ordered a “Red Sauce Sunday” blackboard special ($14): a trio of Eggplant Parmigiana, Italian Sausage and Stuffed Shells. The eggplant melted in our mouths, the sausage was mostly meat, and the shells were the perfect balance of savory red sauce and creamy ricotta. It was filling, satisfying and my husband thoroughly enjoyed it.

I ordered the Chicken San Nicola ($22), which was a flatted chicken breast topped with crabmeat, two shrimp, sundried tomatoes and capers in a garlic white wine sauce. The sweet crabmeat bounced off the salty sundried tomatoes and capers for a dish full of flavor. Diced potatoes roasted with rosemary and salt accompanied the dish and were useful for soaking up the rest of the sauce for added flavor.

Instead of a dessert menu, the server brings you a tray with the day’s four freshly-made Italian desserts. I chose the Deliza ($7.50), an Italian sponge cake that is covered with thick, basket-weave strips of sugar-almond icing, then baked. The sweet almond icing complemented the soft, mild cake for a satisfying end to the meal.

Service was friendly, attentive and happy to explain the different dishes to diners who might not be familiar with the more ethnic choices. Frank Sinatra plays in the background just enough for atmosphere, but does not compete with your dining partner’s conversation.  

As the restaurant is in the basement of the Mainstay Inn, there aren’t any windows and the rooms are darker than in many restaurants. However, the clean lines of the freshly painted walls, the candles on the tables and the patterned tablecloths make the space cozy, rather than claustrophobic.

South Philly will always be worth the trip for Italian food. But if you want to stay in town and have a great Italian meal, it’s worth walking down to Pepperoncini Sotto.

If You Go:

Location:  184 Bridge Street, Phoenixville

Cost:  Appetizers:  $7 - $13,   Entrées:  $17 - $29, Desserts:  $7.50

Phone:  (484) 924-8429 (Reservations recommended)

Website:  http://pepperoncinirestaurant.com/sotto/

Hours:  Monday through Saturday:  4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

              Sunday:  3 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Payments accepted:  Credit card, Cash

Parking:  Phoenixville parking lot or on-street parking