Another legit pizza contender in Fishtown

In a city of pizza riches, Fishtown already serves some of the best, from the cheffy Neapolitans at Wm. Mulherin's Sons to the crispy cult rounds at Pizzeria Beddia.

With the recent arrival of Medusa along its northern edge, the neighborhood now has another worthy destination - a starkly modern and spacious bilevel hall that makes the wood-fired pizza experience all the more accessible.

The view from its second floor deck, gazing north from the corner of York and Gaul over the rooftops of rapidly gentrifying Kensington and Port Richmond, is a draw in itself. But the pizzas are also legit.

This BYOB is very different from the Americanized pies at their other pizzeria, the popular Joe's Pizza in Center City, which the Villico family has owned for 30 years.

Medusa focuses on a more authentic "Sicilian" style - not thick and square, but thin and round like a Neapolitan, though with a distinctly crispier bottom crust.

I loved the one with chorizo and smoked scamorza. Even more irresistible was the pizza fritta, which was essentially a fried calzone, but lighter and puffier in texture due to Medusa's slow-fermented dough. Try it savory with sauce and mozz (plus a hammy upgrade of prosciutto cotto). Or save it for a sweet dessert, when pizza fritta is stuffed with cannoli filling and Nutella. - Craig LaBan

Pizza fritta, $10, Medusa, 2327 Gaul St., 215-644-8383; medusapizza.com