Pizza Plus West, the pizzeria at 4814 Spruce St. in West Philadelphia that built a following for pies alongside cheesesteaks and vegan swaps, reopened earlier in October after a three-month closure and a sale gone sideways. The shop is back under the same founders who opened it in 2021, with a slightly retooled menu and two new working partners running the ovens.
A Sale That Fell Apart
According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, founders Alex Carbonell and Daniel Gutter sold Pizza Plus West in April 2026 to focus on other projects, handing the shop to a new owner who planned to gradually turn it into a Guyanese fried chicken restaurant that would still sell pizza. The deal included a two-year bridge loan from Carbonell and Gutter, but the new owner defaulted on that loan, the Inquirer reports. Sales under the new ownership fell below half of what the shop usually brought in by July, Carbonell told the paper, even though he said the business had been thriving right up until the sale: “We were at the top of our game at Pizza Plus West, doing better than ever,” he said.
The shop closed in July 2026 and sat shuttered for three months while Carbonell and Gutter weighed their next move. After about a month of deliberation, the pair reclaimed Pizza Plus West, the Inquirer reports, and announced the reopening in early October. The shop held its first day back on October 12, with Carbonell telling the paper, “It was so great to have old faces coming back in.”
New Partners, New Menu Items
Carbonell and Gutter brought on Saul Pineda and Pedro Vasquez as working partners in September 2026, according to the Inquirer's reporting. Pineda and Vasquez, who worked with Carbonell for more than a decade at It's Nutts, now manage the pizza ovens at the Spruce Street shop. Carbonell has owned It's Nutts in Titusville, New Jersey, since 2005, and the Inquirer notes the fried chicken operation goes through an estimated 1,000 pounds of chicken per week.
That connection shows up on the reopened menu: Pizza Plus West now sells It's Nutts' fried chicken by the piece, brined for 24 hours before being dredged and fried, per the Inquirer's account. The shop also swapped out its pan pizzas for 12-inch personal-size New York-style pies. Carbonell told the paper the pan pizzas had grown too labor-intensive because their focaccia crust required a dedicated baker. The 16-inch pizzas remain on the menu, alongside red, white, vodka-sauced, General Tso's chicken and broccoli, and chicken Caesar varieties, the Inquirer reports.
What's Still On the Menu
Cheesesteaks, burgers, and vegan counterparts round out the lineup, according to the Inquirer, along with snack boxes that pack a personal pie, two cheeseburgers, wings, fries, and onion rings into one order. That vegan emphasis tracks with how the shop has long operated: a 2021 report from West Philly Local described Pizza Plus offering a vegan option for almost all of its menu items, including pizzas, burgers, sandwiches, salads, and sides. The shop's ordering page, hosted on Toast, lists the address as 4814 Spruce Street and advertises both hand-tossed and Detroit-style pan pizza baked with vegan mozzarella, along with burgers built on Beyond Meat patties and melted vegan cheese.
Pizza Plus West now operates 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, closed Tuesdays, per the Inquirer. That's a shift from the seven-day, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. schedule West Philly Local reported when the location first opened in 2021 as the second Philadelphia shop for the South Philly-based chain. The shop can be reached at 215-207-0391 or through its website, pizzaplusphilly.com.
Mixed Reviews From Regulars
Not every longtime customer is convinced the reopening has restored the shop to its old form. In a Reddit thread on r/PhiladelphiaEats, one commenter wrote that “the quality of the pizza and French fries has gone down,” while another described a recent order as “corner-store quality now.” Other posters in the same thread pushed back, with one noting, “Its the same people in the back.”
Expanding Footprint Across the City
Pizza Plus West was originally opened by Carbonell and Gutter in 2021 as the fourth shop in their restaurant group, according to the Inquirer, which also includes Circles and Squares, Bourbon & Branch, and the original Pizza Plus at 1846 S. 12th St. That flagship location serves 16-inch New York-style pies, pan pizzas, wings, and cheesesteaks, the paper reports. Bourbon & Branch, meanwhile, has been rebranded as a Southern restaurant helmed by Brooke Allen, per the Inquirer.
Carbonell and Gutter are also transforming the Mermaid bar in Mount Airy into a three-story restaurant, which the Inquirer reports is scheduled to open next spring. For now, the pair's attention has turned back to Spruce Street, where the ovens are running again under familiar hands.
