Meet the Philly Slice and Sandwich Maker With a Cult Following
Even with the nickname ‘Danny Disaster,’ the owner of Angelo’s wins fans with a focus on family over money
Danny DiGiampietro’s parents owned a pizzeria at Fifth and Watkins streets in South Philly. Every morning, his dad worked his day job for United News, a periodicals distributor, first as a deliveryman and eventually as vice president of distribution. He’d come home, take a 20-minute nap, then go into the pizza shop and sling dough until 11 at night.
“He was a fucking worker,” DiGiampietro says. “Worked himself to death.”
It was a heart attack that killed him at the age of 47. DiGiampietro was 16. He’s 47 today. He owns a pizzeria, Angelo’s. It’s arguably the most popular pizzeria in Philadelphia not named Beddia, busy the from the day it opened last January and exponentially more so since November, when Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy popped into Angelo’s and declared it the best in Philly on his one-bite pizza reviews Instagram channel. The account has more than 80,000 followers, and the Angelo’s review has been watched nearly 40,000 times. At peak hours, it can seem like that many customers are crammed inside Angelo’s snug waiting area. There’s no phone number to call ahead. Whether you’re Eagles center…