Listen to article \u2022\u00a00:00 min<\/p>\n
Delaware County restaurant watchers have been abuzz since Pica\u2019s announcement in March<\/a> that it would close its home of nearly 70 years in Upper Darby and relocate elsewhere in the county.<\/p>\n But where would the pizzeria \u2014 whose fans include comedian Tina Fey<\/a> \u2014 go?<\/p>\n Last week, Pica\u2019s took to social media<\/a> to offer \u201can exciting sneak peek \u2014 our variance was just approved … in BROOMALL!\u201d It also announced that its closing has been delayed from summer to the fall<\/a>. \u201cWe can confirm our dining room and takeout will remain open throughout the summer season,\u201d the Pica family wrote. \u201cThank you for your patience and understanding as we navigate this transition.\u201d<\/p>\n Facebook message boards lit up with speculation about the new location, with some contending that it would resurface in a shopping center and others suggesting a vacant lot previously used for carnival<\/a>. <\/p>\n The restaurant\u2019s \u201csneak peek\u201d post points the curious to the Marple Township Zoning Board, which on June 18 approved a zoning variance for a restaurant<\/a> at 1101 Sussex Blvd., a former gym in Lawrence Park Industrial Park. Although restaurants typically value visibility, this would square with talk that Pica\u2019s new location will offer takeout and not dine-in. <\/p>\n Representatives of Pica\u2019s and the landlord, Giacomucci Properties, did not reply to requests for comment.<\/p>\n Pica\u2019s, best known for its sauce-on-the-top pan pizzas, homespun menu, and banquet facilities, traces its operation to 1941, when Frank Pica Sr. opened Frank\u2019s Pizzeria at 62nd and Race Streets in West Philadelphia. He and son Frank Jr. moved to the sprawling building at West Chester Pike and Fairview Avenue in 1956. The family opened a West Chester location in 2017. <\/p>\n