Last summer, I reported that Stone Fire Pizza by Midici would be opening at the Cherry Hill Mall. They quietly soft-opened last December with almost no advertising or announcement. In fact, there was no social media presence to speak of.
Since then, they’ve been active on social media and I noticed a few Facebook ads. I stopped by a few weeks ago to take-out and decided we had to go back for a visit. National Pizza Day seemed like a good day to stop by and dine-in.
It has a fast-casual, yet warm and welcoming vibe. You walk in, place your order, pay for it, they give you a number, and you sit down and wait until they bring it out. The service is prompt and friendly. We ordered spicy Italian Wings to start from the small plates menu. They came out in less than 5 minutes!
Like the pizza, the wings are fired-up in the 1,000-degree pizza oven which produced succulent and juicy wings. The breading wasn’t super crispy, though, which may disappoint some purist deep-fried wing-lovers. I wouldn’t let that stop you from ordering these flavorful wings. The addition of fried jalapenos on top and a generous drizzle of balsamic & red chile oil glaze brought a nice tangy sweet heat to the wings. Six wings cost $9.95.
The made to order pizza here is artisan-style authentic Neopolitan. They use finely ground “00” flour from Italy, non-GMO crushed Italian peeled tomatoes, non-GMO cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, fresh cow’s milk mozzarella, and authentic Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Ingredients matter, friends. If you have dietary restrictions, you’ll be happy to know that you haven’t been left out — they offer gluten-free and cauliflower crusts and vegan meats and cheeses. So rest assured, you can get a pizza made your preferred way!
Hubby was satisfied with his Double Pepperoni ($9.95) which comes with pepperoni and spicy Italian salami. He also added some gorgonzola cheese which added some creaminess and a little funk. That’s the beautiful part of this place — you can customize the specialty pies or build-you-own. Which is what I did.
I built what I’m calling the “Rainbow Pie” ($11.95) because it was so colorful… Italian sausage, vegan cheese, goat cheese, red onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and spinach. The red onions were a little haphazardly sliced, but the pizza was quite tasty. I asked them to swirl a little balsamic glaze on after I took the photo above and it took the pizza to the next level.
We had the pleasure of meeting former Philadelphia 76er John Salmons who is the owner of this restaurant at the Cherry Hill Mall. After retiring from the NBA in 2015, he decided to pursue his entrepreneurial dream and began John Salmons Enterprises where he invests in real estate, tech, and owns several franchises of Midici.
Overall, we had a pleasant experience and enjoyed the pizza and wings quite a bit. We look forward to a future visit so we can try some other variations of the pizza and a few other small plates.
Stone Fire Pizza by Midici (at the Cherry Hill Mall)
2000 NJ-38
Cherry Hill, NJ08002
856-320-2948
Marilyn is a freelance writer covering the food and drink scene of South Jersey. You can find more of her writing on Philly Grub and NewsBreak.