The delicious Margherita wood-fired pizza is one of the few things our reviewer tasted that was not overly salty. (Photo by Judy Rubin)

by Judy Rubin

On a dark and rainy night, we headed over to Horsham to check out Pizzeria Felici, just six weeks old, the baby of Chef Tim Spinner and Brian Sirhal.

The two entrepreneurial men are also co-owners of three Mexican restaurants: Cantina Feliz in Fort Washington, La Calaca Feliz in Fairmount and Taqueria Feliz in Manayunk, but this is their first Italian restaurant.

Tim and Brian were high school buddies and are now business partners. Tim worked with Iron Chef Jose Garces at Stephen Starr’s El Vez and helped him open Distrito in West Philly, where he served as chef de cuisine. Early in his career, Brian worked on Wall Street. He left high finance to work at Rosa Mexicano in New York City, where he discovered that he preferred catering/restaurant jobs and later became general manager at Cantina Feliz.

Executive chef, Michael Brenfleck, now at Pizzeria Felici, was formerly at La Calaca Feliz.

Here’s what Brian said about their new venture: "When we started brainstorming about a concept for the new location, one key factor was its proximity to both of our homes. We wanted to focus on the kind of food we like to eat and that young families would enjoy. The great thing about Italian, especially pizza, is that it has nearly universal appeal.”

The night we were there, by 6 p.m. several families and a group of 40 having a reunion came in to dine. Oldies from the 1950s and '60s played in the background. The restaurant seats 80, and there is a 30-seat wine and beer bar. The bar top is covered with Italian posters.

If you choose, you can have a pasta dish or pizza while watching a game on one of their TV screens. They have a full line of Italian wines, beer and cocktails. Happy Hour is from 4:30 to 6:30. My mellow, red sangria was $4; certain draft beers are $3, and $2 is taken off some cocktails and wines.

We sat in a booth, watching the rain through expansive windows. On the wall beside us were the faces of famous Italians, from Frankie Valli to Frank Rizzo, painted on pizza planks.

The food is made to order, cooked from scratch, including the handmade pasta made with a pasta machine from Italy. The portion sizes are generous. My companion and I shared a Caesar salad ($7.95) with crisp, cold romaine, homemade dressing and homemade focaccia croutons. Although it was tasty, it was overdressed for our tastes.

The Felici “Pasta Fagioli” ($5.95) was an intriguing new interpretation of the traditional soup. It was a pureed root vegetable soup with cannelloni beans and roasted tomato garnish, gnocchetti pasta , lemon and garlic. Again, we felt there was too much salt in the soup, and the gnocchi, inherently floury, didn’t add anything to the already creamy soup.

My main course was the wood-roasted Branzino ($20.95) a mild fish served atop a mix of lump crab pieces, chopped kale, cannelloni beans and peppers. The fish was light and tasty, the mix underneath a bit too muddled and again, the salt shaker needed to be less tilted.

My fellow diner ordered the Short Rib Ragu ($16.95), served on handmade pappardelle. The meat was tender, but the sauce was very dense with a monotone taste and color and, once again, a bit too heavy on the salt.

The Margherita wood-fired pizza ($11.95) had, I’m happy to report, a non-salty, tasty tomato sauce topping and cheese with fresh basil. The crust was delicious, crisp and light, with nooks and crannies and a tender, not doughy, filling.

We managed to indulge in their Chocolate Budino ($5). The menu described it as drunken cherries with biscotti and whipped cream fraiche, but the chef, always creating and modifying, changed the biscotti to molten lava cake. The hot, runny chocolate in the center of the cake was too cloying, and the monotone color of the small brown cherries with the brown cake didn’t enhance it. Gelato needs to replace the whipped cream for a refreshing, cold contrast.

The small batch of roasted coffee from our very own Chestnut Hill Coffee Company ($3) was bold, fresh and satisfying.

Pizzeria Felici is located in The Elements Horsham at 303 Horsham Rd. in Horsham. The noise level can get quite high and the music a bit loud, but it is a bar/restaurant with a modern design, bare floors and naked tables, and loud music seems to be a draw.

For more information, call 215-323-4530 or visit www.pizzeriafelici.com.