You don't even have to wait for it to get "cold" you can buy it that way!!!
I suspect it's not only a Philadelphia thing...but around here you can buy "real Italian tomato pie" which is sitting in the store in a box at room temp, never hot, and it's meant to be eaten at room temp, it's also supposed to have a thicker bready crust...authentic tomato pie doensn't even have cheese on it except for a light sprinking of course, sharp Parmesan. One of my fav lunch spots around here...the inimitable Tony's, sells a "tomato pie" that is also very good but it's served hot like pizza so this is not like the traditional pie I'm talking about.
There are a few bakeries around here that have made fantastic tomato pies for many years, these pies are distributed fresh daily to grocery stores and markets, so you can find them in quite a lot of places around this town.
