Philly’s Oldest Pizzeria Closes After 98 Years in Business

Here is truly sad news. Marra's, the oldest pizzeria in the city of Philadelphia, closed permanently on Sunday after 98 years in business.

Marra's, the multi-generation family-run restaurant at 1734 E. Passyunk Avenue in South Philadelphia, served pizza cooked in an oil-fired brick oven that has come close to reaching its life expectancy.

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the life of the bricks in the oven is about 100 years, and the inside is collapsing. The oil flame is so hot that the bricks are now pulverizing.

The Beginning of Marra's Pizza

Salvatore Marra arrived at Ellis Island in 1921, and his new bride, Chiarina Daniele, made the trip shortly after. The two had grown up baking pizza in Naples.

After failed attempts at pizza shops in New York, the couple moved to Philadelphia and ordered bricks for their pizza oven from Naples. In 1927, they purchased a former butcher shop on Passyunk Avenue and started Marra's.

The neighborhood was comprised largely of Italian American immigrants in those days.

The couple lived on the restaurant's third floor until they died. Their children took over the business as the years went on, followed by their children a generation later.

The Inquirer reports that the restaurant developed a national reputation for its pizza in as early as the 1950s and was named one of the five best pizzerias in the country in 1977.

"Marra’s celebrity guest list read like an index of 20th-century American entertainment: Mickey Rooney, John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Frankie Avalon, Eddie Fisher, Jimmy Darren, Bobby Rydell, Al Martino, John Travolta, Eugene Ormandy, Conan O’Brien."

 

The Downfall of Marra's

In the end, what hurt the restaurant most wasn't the pandemic, but the lack of parking. Marra's had 160 seats and no parking lot. The family hopes to find a new, more convenient location where they can reopen the restaurant.

Dan Tsao, a Chinatown restaurateur, purchased the Passyunk Avenue location and plans to open a branch of his popular Sichuan restaurant EMei next year.