“Rewarding” is how Chef Michael Carter describes his work as Executive Chef at Down North Pizza. The celebrated pizzeria doesn’t just serve up delicious Detroit-style square pies with a Philly twist; it also provides a second chance to people like Carter, who spent 12 years of his life behind bars.
Founded by Muhammad Abdul-Hadi, a West Philadelphia native with a degree in criminal justice, Down North Pizza is essentially a social mission disguised as a pizza joint. It’s designed to combat re-arrest and re-incarceration after imprisonment—known as recidivism, create jobs and build dignity for those the system tries to forget.
Located in Strawberry Mansion, a predominantly Black neighborhood in North Philadelphia, plagued by decades of disinvestment and poverty. Down North isn’t just a restaurant—it’s a lifeline. The area has one of the highest recidivism rates in the city, and Abdul-Hadi saw an opportunity to disrupt that cycle.
Abdul-Hadi told ESSENCE he wanted to go beyond merely doing business to serving the community in a meaningful way. “If I’m going to…bring a business into a neighborhood, I need to be for the neighborhood.” So, he made combating recidivism the mission of the restaurant and “brought opportunities for a neighborhood that needed it.”
The North Philadelphia restaurant has become a national example of how food, purpose and second chances can change lives. This year, that mission was immortalized in a new cookbook, We The Pizza: Slangin’ Pies and Savin’ Lives, featuring 65 recipes, named after songs by Philadelphia musicians. It also includes a history of incarceration in the U.S. and redemption stories from its staff — all of whom are formerly incarcerated.
Down North Pizza goes beyond providing employment to offering concrete resources to stay out of prison. The restaurant makes housing available to its employees in two apartments above the shop and provides them with on-the-job culinary training. “The two main factors in recidivism are unemployment and homelessness,” said Abdul-Hadi. “So if we can target the two, then the chances of people actually going back to prison are lessened, you know, by almost 90%.”
At the heart of this pizzeria is Chef Carter, whose journey is as layered as the pies he now creates. His favorite? A pie called The Flip Side. Carter lights up as he describes the uniquely Philly take on a Hawaiian pizza—made with beef bacon instead of pork (which the restaurant doesn’t serve), caramelized pineapple, barbecue sauce, and jalapeños for a little extra kick. “Not a lot of people know about beef bacon outside of Philadelphia, so I was happy to be able to champion that,” he said.
The Flip Side could also be seen as a metaphor for what Abdul-Hadi is building in Strawberry Mansion with his team of formerly incarcerated staff—recognizing and celebrating the value in people society too often writes off.
Carter’s life was derailed at just 16 years old when he was incarcerated for armed robbery and home invasion. After nearly three years in juvenile detention, he returned home at 19—but with no rehabilitation and few resources, he quickly fell back into street life, which led him to prison again.
“When I was 19, I came home and I basically went back to what I knew,” he said. “I may have had friends that wished they could help me in other ways, but the resources that they had…led me back into the penitentiary.”
Over the years, he would be incarcerated two more times, ultimately spending 12 years behind bars. But through it all, food was a constant. From working in the kitchen at juvenile detention to enrolling in culinary school between prison stints, Carter knew his passion could become his purpose.
A mutual connection introduced him to Abdul-Hadi in August 2020, and the two clicked right away. Abdul-Hadi immediately felt Carter was the right fit for Down North Kitchen. “I consider myself somebody that has a great judge of character,” Abdul-Hadi said. “And as soon as I met Mike, I knew it just felt right.”
His instincts about Carter were spot on. But as Carter poured his energy into crafting Down North’s signature pies, Abdul-Hadi—who had never served time—found himself entangled in the very system he sought to reform.
He pled guilty to felony insurance fraud, conspiracy and theft by deception due to “doing business with the wrong people,” as he describes it in his book. So just months before the restaurant’s 2021 opening, he was placed on house arrest—and saw his empire of sober-living homes crumble and his ability to obtain new business licenses blocked because of his felony conviction.
The irony wasn’t lost on him—but it only strengthened his resolve.
“We’re showing you what can happen if you get individuals who’ve all been formerly incarcerated over their lifetime and put them in the environment that’s conducive to growth,” said Abdul-Hadi.
The growth is clear through the restaurant’s phenomenal success. Down North’s Detroit-style square pizza with a Philly spin landed it on the New York Times 50 best restaurants list in 2021 and the Washington Post’s Best Pizza in America list. But for Abdul-Hadi, the true reward is in serving and empowering the community. “We don’t do it for the awards…I feel like that’s my calling in life—serving other people—and I don’t take that lightly.”
Ever the entrepreneur, he’s expanding his service into another restaurant called Out West, which will specialize in breakfast sandwiches.
Reflecting on his life’s journey, Carter has a message for those who would write off people with his background: “offering hope is all most people need…present them with that opportunity after that and most people will thrive in it, if given the chance.”