Pizza Marvin - Providence, RI - Review

For a street with as many coffee shops as actual coffee drinkers, Wickenden somehow scored itself a legitimately great pizzaria along the way. Not a "we studied dough fermentation in Naples for 40 years" kind of place, but somewhere that just absolutely nails the fundamentals. Pizza Marvin feels like it was built by people who know exactly what makes a slice worth coming back for.

The thing about Fox Point is it's changed a lot. Every other storefront is either selling overpriced coffee or vintage clothes marked up for the Instagram crowd. But Pizza Marvin feels like it belongs here anyway, like it could have been here 40 years ago and nobody would've blinked.

I came for the square slices. Always have been a square pizza guy - those corner pieces with the extra crunch, the way the cheese gets a bit more caramelized at the edges. Marvin's doesn't disappoint. Their crust hits this perfect middle ground - thick enough to sink your teeth into but light enough that you don't feel like you're eating bread with some toppings as an afterthought.

The sauce changes personality depending on what you order, which is a neat trick. On the tomato pie and cheese slices, it leans sweet, fresh, letting the simplicity do the work. Switch to pepperoni, and suddenly there's this subtle heat playing off the meat. Speaking of pepperoni - they don't mess around. Each square slice comes loaded with these little cups of crispy pepperoni, probably too many if we're being honest, but who's complaining? They curl up at the edges, get crispy, and hold tiny pools of oil that make each bite better than the last.

The food speaks for itself - so much so that chef Rob Andreozzi landed a James Beard semifinalist nod for Best Chef: Northeast in 2023. But the real stamp of approval is the steady stream of locals mixed with RISD kids who've figured out that sometimes great food doesn't need a fancy backstory.

The space itself is pretty bare bones. A few counter seats along the windows, couple small tables inside, patio outside that's great when Providence weather decides to cooperate. They've got this thing against normal sodas - no Coke or Pepsi, just these fancy bottles that you need a PhD to decipher. Get water. Save yourself the headache.

What matters is they're putting out some of the best pizza in the city. The music's good, the people behind the counter actually seem happy to be there, and there's this comfortable rhythm to the place that makes you want to stick around, maybe grab another slice. In a town with plenty of good pizza, Marvin's isn't trying to reinvent a thing. They're just doing it better than just about anyone else.