We all know (and maybe even love) those friendly neighborhood Italian-American pizza joints.
Pat’s Pizza and Bistro is just that, but then, it also isn’t quite that, either.
First of all, its cuisine is based in Italy but it calls itself a bistro, a term and concept typically associated with French fare. But Pat’s definitely is a friendly place. It’s in a neighborhood, right on Broad Street and, more specifically, in the location of a former 7-Eleven. This fact is quickly forgiven and forgotten as soon as you enter the bright, contemporary-styled space, one without a map of Italy in sight. (Curiously, Pat’s isn’t owned or operated by someone whose last name ends in a vowel, but instead by two Greek-Americans, Yiannis Kyziridis and Nick Demourtzidis. More on that later.)
Pat’s is definitely a place to order pizza, made in a brick oven, along with plenty of other Italian specialties—the pasta, the salmon and, oh, did we say pasta?—but rendered in a way that’s pretty different. What distinguishes Pat’s immediately is the prioritization of fresh, high-quality ingredients.
Everything is scratch-made, which discerning diners can usually determine. In the case of Pat’s, the quality ingredients are about creating a clean eating experience. It’s not just some restaurant cliché to say the ingredients are superior. For example, the flour used at Pat’s is unbleached and unbromated. “Why would you want to put those chemicals into your body?” asks Kyziridis. “Almost everything is made from scratch, and the dough is made daily.”
Instead, they use a specialty blend from King Arthur Baking designed for the sort of culinary output Pat’s creates. The dough goes through a two-day fermentation period and is continuously made fresh—Kyziridis guides me through his walk-in with great excitement to show me all the sleeping pizza babies (a.k.a., balls of dough). Consequently, folks who have trouble with gluten may have fewer issues digesting pizza made from a dough that’s fermented this way and made with higher-quality flour. (Sourdough operates in a similar way.) Most pizza you encounter for takeout contains dough made from bleached and bromated flour with a higher gluten content.
Everything’s just a little bit different, and a whole lot better than you might expect, at Pat’s. The same philosophy of opting for the best applies to the sauce, which is of course homemade, and the cheese, from a company called Grande, which he calls “the Rolls-Royce of cheese” for its superior melting abilities and lack of caking agents. (Plus, of course, the taste.) Naturally, this philosophy follows through with the toppings, too. “You want the cheese to blend with the other ingredients, and not overwhelm the pizza,” says Kyziridis.
The pepperoni is uncured and contains only four ingredients (and definitely no nitrates, dextrose or citric acid, he says). “There’s no 17-digit words in our ingredients,” says Kyziridis. And thankfully, you’ll also never find tiny, tasteless canned mushrooms on top of the pizza at Pat’s, or in the pasta dishes, either. The other aspect that’s unusual? These thin-crust pizzas are oblong, not round. “It’s a Roman-style pizza, which is very close to the Neapolitan style, except for the shape.” It’s mostly an aesthetic choice, more than anything else.
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Char Grilled Salmon - Faroe Island salmon, roasted tri-colored cauliflower and Brussels sprouts with citrus caper aioli.
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Brick Oven Roasted Chicken - Marinated half chicken, buttered jus, roasted potatoes and vegetables.
These key distinctions set Pat’s apart. The dinners are well thought out; the salmon is from the Faroe Islands and is served over a bed of roasted veggies. Pasta dishes possess a brightness and lightness and don’t sit in your stomach like a stone; they’re not all cheese-laden and/or swimming in heavy sauces. The most popular pasta dish, named after the actress Sophia Loren, is a unique combination of tender, succulent shrimp, mushrooms and sachetti, which resemble little purses filled with mushrooms, in a brandy blush pesto sauce. It’s just so delicious. There’s no other word for it.
You can do your thing and order chicken parm (panko-crusted and breaded by hand—this stuff’s not coming out of a freezer), or pappardelle and meatballs, for example.
Or, instead of pasta delivered to your table in what always seems to be a large and seemingly unending bowl, at Pat’s you can order a flight—akin to how you might order beer or wine, for example. Mounds of pasta are piled high atop thin cutting boards with handles—the same custom-made ones used for pizza—and delivered to the table. Choose three among many pasta dishes–say, cacio e pepe, the ricotta gnocchi all'Amatriciana or the truffle artichoke tortelloni. Or maybe you want something else entirely. The pasta flights are ideal for sharing among friends and family. But honestly? It seems like they’re tailor-made for indecisive and hungry patrons for whom decisions about pasta selections are likely to cause agita. Here you’re given permission to follow your carb-loving bliss: Try more than one!
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Pasta Flight - Choose three pasta dishes to be served piled high atop a thin cutting board.
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Signature Cheesesteak - Sharp provolone, shaved steak, long hot pepper and garlic aioli on artisan baguette.
The story of Pat’s began almost 50 years ago in Pennsville, New Jersey, and it’s grown into a family-run business with independent locations in the Garden State, Pennsylvania and Delaware. There are currently more than 50 locations, but none of them are quite like the Lehigh Valley’s Pat’s, which opened in February 2018. Pat’s feels like a fast-casual place—but it’s homey. “We see and talk with everyone,” says Kyziridis. That’s easy to do, too–it seats about 50 people cozily and everyone gets a warm greeting.
Certainly, Italian restaurants are known for their hospitality, but you could almost say that about any type of restaurant, right? If they’re not hospitable, why go?
However, if you have Mediterranean blood, it seems likely you’ll spend your years teasing out a deeply embedded appreciation and respect for fresh, healthy food—in addition to honing any inner restaurant host sensibilities. But what about the Greek-Americans who own an Italian restaurant that’s called a bistro?
It’s hard to miss the humorous disconnect between Greek-Americans owning an Italian place—especially given how very proud those of Greek descent typically are about their food. When asked to tease out what it is he adores about Italian food, and why he isn’t doing Greek food, Kyziridis doesn’t hesitate.
“Italian cuisine is so fascinating. I don’t know half the pasta shapes and types that you can get,” he says, especially because every little town and village in Italy seems to make its own original shape.
“Plus, you can modernize it, and come up with so many different things,” he says. The restaurant’s pasta flight is an example of just that. And so are the pizzas. And well, so is most of the menu. Plan a few visits, because you’ll need to do just that in order to taste everything. Or bring a big group and sit outside, and order as much as you can.
Pat's Pizza and Bistro
1426 W. Broad St., Bethlehem | 610.419.8100 | patsbethlehem.com
*Please check their website and/or social media for current operating hours and procedures.
Hours
Sun.–Thurs.: 11 a.m.–9 p.m.; Fri. & Sat.: 11 a.m.–10 p.m.
Parking
Ample, lot on site.
Reservations
Accepted—never a bad idea to reserve on the weekend.
What to Order
The pizza, of course. The margherita is a classic, always, but try those with different flavor profiles—the Naked Olive is sauce-free but loaded with olives, soppressata, along with feta and herbs. Try Nonna’s Meatball, with sliced homemade meatballs, sliced garlic, pesto and, of course, mozzarella cheese and sauce. But really, any of these pizzas are bound to make you happy. If you want an entrée, you can’t go wrong with the pasta flights. They’re a sure-fire way to sample a few different kinds of pastas, thereby pleasing the indecisive among us. Catering is also available, along with excellent sandwiches to go, made on focaccia bread and served with house-made potato chips (yeah, for real!).
Published as "Inside Dish" in the May 2022 edition of Lehigh Valley Style magazine.
