The Works: My Pizza Journey
I was going to title this blog post, “Another One Bites the Crust”, but I thought that would be a bit cheesy. My pizza journey started when our son Eric recommended we try a new pizza place in New York City. L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele was established in Naples, Italy in 1870 and was featured in ‘Eat Pray Love’ when Julia Roberts’ character said she was having a relationship with her pizza.
I enjoyed a Negroni with Robin in this romantic, stylish, quiet restaurant. Just as our pizza arrived, a loud, large group was seated almost on top of us. They were on a pizza tour led by a charismatic and informative guy, wearing a bright red Scott’s Pizza Tour sweatshirt and hat. The leader of this team building event apologized for encroaching on us and offered to buy us a round of drinks. That was quite nice of him, but we just enjoyed our margherita double pizza while absorbing a plethora of pizza factoids.
I chatted with Scott when he led the group on a tour of the imported wood-burning pizza oven. He told me he has a massive pizza box collection. Robin gave me a look and I assured her that I won’t embark on any new collections besides those involving Mr. Peanut. I did let her know, however, that I’m going to conduct my own personal pizza tour and blog about it. Little did I know that I would visit over 45 more pizzerias in the next three months.
I learned so much as I immersed myself in the world of pizza. Here’s my story:
My protocol:
· Dine in vs. takeout: I always sampled the pizza at the restaurant. Once the pizza is placed in a box, it starts to degrade. It will lose some crispiness, and the cheese may shift depending on the smoothness of the drive home.
· Less is more: I usually order a plain (cheese) pie. I felt the best way to judge a pizzeria was to sample their pie without lots of toppings. I’m not a fan of baked ziti or a chicken Caesar salad on my pizza. Some have so many toppings it reminds me of those over-the-top bloody marys with burgers, shrimp cocktail and a Nashville fried chicken sandwich all attached to a stalk of celery like some kind of bizarre Edible Arrangement.
· Whole pie vs. slices: When you order a whole pie, you’re ensuring that it will be made fresh and served right out of the oven. Slices may around for hours before getting reheated.
· Pizza & beer: I sometimes enjoy having a beer with my pizza. For restaurants that don’t serve alcohol, just assume they are BYOB. A guy on Reddit said, “In my eyes, any establishment that doesn’t serve liquor is BYOB. So yes, you can transform any pizzeria into a tavern.”
I brought some beer to Papa’s in Robbinsville, NJ to enjoy with their mustard pie but was seated across from two state troopers. I decided to ask their permission before cracking open some Peronis. They nodded approvingly yet they still conducted breathalyzer tests on us after we peeled out of the parking lot an hour later. I know what you’re thinking – What’s a mustard pie? They spread a thin layer of spicy brown mustard before adding the cheese and sauce. It wasn’t overpowering and added some good flavor just like mustard on a soft pretzel. Okay – back to my protocol.
· Be observant: I’m not very religious, but I do consider myself to be an observant Jew. I try to notice all sorts of things at a pizza place. Who is making the pizza? Establishments where the owner is in the kitchen ensure the pizza is way better. Is it crowded? (Usually a good sign) Are the proprietors friendly? Is the place clean? I would talk to people at nearby tables or on the line. Regulars can provide great input.
· How much to eat? I generally have two slices. Pizza isn’t a diet food. Some places were so good that I had to eat that third slice!
· Leftover pizza: I found that heating leftover slices in a cast iron pan worked the best. Once the cheese starts to bubble a bit, it’s done. If the pizza is thicker, you can pour a few drops of water in the pan and cover it for a minute to melt the cheese. Microwaves should have no part in the re-heating process!
· What places to try? I visited my favorites, those recommended by friends and family, places on top pizza lists, highly reviewed establishments, and those touted by the pizza pundits/influencers. I even asked owners of pizzerias that I enjoy, what other pizzerias they would recommend for my journey.
Dave Portnoy
I can’t write about reviewing pizza without mentioning Dave Portnoy, the owner of Bar Stool Sports, a bro culture sports blog read mostly by Gen Z and Millennials. He has a few aliases; El Presidente and Davey Pageviews, and his net worth is reported to be in the neighborhood of 200 million dollars. Most importantly, for this blog, he runs “One Bite” pizza reviews and has visited over 1,500 pizzerias throughout the world. He posts videos of his pizza reviews on YouTube and has quite a following. If you’re not familiar with him, watch at least one of his reviews.
He shows up at pizzerias with his video guy, Frankie, orders a plain pie to go, walks outside and samples it on camera, giving each place a rating from 1-10.
A single review from Portnoy can make or break a place. He gave DeLucia’s Brick Oven Pizza in Raritan, NJ a 9.4, and since then there have been lines wrapping down 1st Ave around lunch, and dinner time, and their phones often ring unanswered.
He can be a bit controversial. The New York Times wrote about Portnoy but instead of focusing on pizza, they concentrated on his “bro humor” and faulted him for promoting unhealthy food when so many Americans are battling obesity. The reader’s comments highlighted his misogyny, high carbon footprint (driving and flying all over to sample pizza establishments when he has perfectly great local pizza within walking distance from his home). Then they got political and described him as the Donald Trump of pizza; a loud, self-centered, obnoxious, shrill, carnival barker, who is both self-indulgent, self-promoting. Hey - I resemble those remarks; you have to be a bit self-centered to create, and then incessantly promote a Substack blog.
I think Portnoy would have a bit more credibility if he were Italian vs. Jewish. I bet his mom (just like mine), made spaghetti with ketchup and butter, and then sprinkled some Kraft brand grated cheese on it. It was kept in the cabinet with the other two spices (salt & pepper).
Hate him if you may, but he has a huge following and has made pizza eating more popular than ever. Many of the hardworking folks working in their family’s pizzeria are quite thankful for the attention Portnoy has brought to the space.
His reviews follow this standard script:
He walks out of a pizzeria with a pizza box and says, “Hey Frankie – We’re here at [insert name of establishment] in [town and state]”. Half the time he mispronounces the name of the place or the town, but usually says the state correctly. “One bite! Everybody knows the rules.” Then he opens the box, describes the pizza a bit, and is usually apprehensive about burning his face off from the steaming hot pie.
His pre-bite description usually consists of commenting on the flop. The flop isn’t a poker term, but the degree a slice of pizza bends forward when holding. A slice that’s totally straight has no flop and is highly preferred by Dave. Personally, I like a bit of flop and if you fold it like a typical New Yorker does, it should correct slices with a bit of flop like a good orthotic. A more significant flop is symptomatic of a pizza is either undercooked or overloaded with cheese and sauce.
Then he examines the undercarriage. I always think of the guy at Jiffy Lube who after raising your car up on the lift, calls your name over the intercom, and after you nervously report to bay five, he says, “Some bad news Lar. You definitely need a coolant flush. Luckily, we’re running a $69.99 special today!” Portnoy lifts up the slice and looks for some decent color on the bottom of the pie. A pale white underbelly indicates an undercooked pie, and too much charring means your pie may be a bit burnt.
Then he repeats his “One bite! Everybody knows the rules.” tag line a few more times, drops an “F” bomb or two, and proceeds to take no less than five bites. The second or third bite is usually on a side of the crust. That’s kind of like biting the bottom of an ice cream cone after your third lick, but who am I to judge? He’ll sometimes focus on a factor outside of the owner’s control, and kvetch about it. E.g. “This pizza better be good. It’s a three-hour drive from my home.” This is literally Portnoy’s complaint😊
Everybody’s an expert.
I joined a private Facebook group, Jersey Pizza Joints, that shares pizza experiences and reviews in the Garden State. These people are definitely not shy about putting out their opinions as evident from the group’s tagline, “if your pizza isn’t from Jersey, it probably SUCKS”. I posted a list of the first 35 places I visited and asked the group if they could suggest five more. I received over 450 comments within 24 hours including these gems:
· SMH Your list sucks
· I’m so surprised Nunzio’s* Pizzeria isn’t on your list (submitted by Nunzio*) *-not his real name
· You been to all the spots but the best ones
· What the f*ck do you have against Hudson County?
I added the places most suggested by the group members to my list, and it quickly expanded to 47! For the past three+ months, I’ve been totally obsessed with pizza. Cue up some “Always something there to remind me” music. I see life through pizza-colored glasses whether I’m watching a Simpson’s episode featuring Crusty the Clown or Sauce Gardner making an interception during a Jets game (which they still lost). I even changed my starting Wordle word to PIZZA!
I just want to apologize for the length of this post (and you’re only a third of the way into it). I am submitting this piece to the New Yorker magazine and they are known for their long-form journalism and I don’t want to disappoint them. That’s also why I’ve transformed what could have been a three paragraph list into an erudite essay.
Notable pizza experiences:
Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza – Elizabeth, NJ
Al Santillo’s grandfather Lou started making pizzas in Elizabeth in 1957. I heard good things about Santillo’s, but they don’t have any seating, and I didn’t want to eat a pie out of the back of my car on a cold winter’s day. They have a relationship with a nearby bar that allows you to bring in their pizza. I was told it was very close to the Goethals Bridge which connects Elizabeth to Staten Island. I really looked forward to sampling this pizza and having a beer with my buddies under the shadows of the bridge. I was a bit concerned that my EZ Pass would rack up charges being so close to the toll booths and my friend Mike joked that the pizza is reasonably priced, but the tolls are killer.
Plans were made, and I was stoked to visit Santillo’s on January 7. Sadly, and ironically, a fire broke out the day before and our plans were dashed. In fact, this seemed so ironic that I can still hear Alanis Morrisette lamenting “And who would’ve thought, it figures”. Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the greater pizza community has supported Al as he begins the rebuilding process. Nino Coniglio invited Al to continue to make pizzas on Sunday afternoons at his Morristown establishment, Coniglio’s Old Fashioned. This gave me the opportunity to sample Santillo’s and order his 1964 style pie (Standard pie garnished with extra virgin olive oil and parmesan), and chat with Al who was extremely personable. Kudos to Nino for stepping up!
Pete & Elda’s Bar/Carmen’s Pizzeria – Neptune, NJ
I was a bit confused as I pulled into their parking lot and wondered if Pete & Elda’s was a separate entity than Carmen’s Pizzeria. I almost mistakenly walked into a house that was adjacent to the parking lot. I figured a pizzeria wouldn’t have a prominent “No Solicitors” sign on their front door.
The pizza was quite thin, crispy, and flavorful. You can win a free t-shirt if you eat an entire XXL pie within 30 minutes. I think I could have easily won the t-shirt but was trying to stick to my two-slice protocol.
Some reviewers describe it as a matzah crust, but I’ve had matzah pizza during Passover as a kid in the Catskills and this sir, is not matzah pizza. This, unlike real matzah pizza, was delicious and should be characterized as more of a cracker crust, like those fancy flatbread crackers. You’re probably thinking to yourself, “What does Pete & Elda’s crust have to do with the Inca ruins in Peru?”. “No, that’s Machu Picchu, not matzah pizza”
.
Nancy’s Town House – Rahway, NJ
Nancy’s Town House was packed at 1:30 p.m. on a weekday and we were lucky to get a table. There was a well-stocked bar with lots of tables with a real ‘70s vibe including dark wood paneling. The aroma was enticing, and the thin crust pie was addictive. Robin noticed that she was one of the only women in the place. It seemed like most guys were eating an entire pie themselves! This was one of my visits where I broke my two-slice limit.
I don’t usually make a habit of taking pictures in men’s rooms, but I thought this was a photo-worthy opportunity. A “Wash Your Hands Ya Filthy Animal” sign is way more effective than the standard “employees must wash hands” sign as it closes the loophole that so many retirees, consultants, and unemployed folks have regularly taken advantage of. I think the original sign read “You Filthy Animal”, but management tweaked it accordingly to “Ya Filthy Animal” to make it even more implicit. I asked Robin to see if a similar sign was in the ladies’ room, but it seems like Nancy’s management team didn’t think a sign was warranted for their female patrons.
Lucia Pizza of SOHO – New York City
My son Eric just happened to walk by, the day this well-known Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn pizzeria opened an outpost in SOHO, and said I MUST try it. It was crowded and only served slices. There was a tiny counter with room for barely three people to stand over with their slices. The others just stood with their slices on paper plates in the tiny vestibule. I had a plain slice, took a walk around the block, and returned to try their vodka slice. Their pizza was sublime.
Happy Pizza – Plymouth, PA
Robin had a business trip to Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to showcase how bad pizza can be outside of the pizza belt; that magical swath of land traversing the I-95 corridor from Philadelphia up to New Haven that contains what culinary pundits consider the best pizza in the United States. It would also give me the opportunity to check out some local Planters Peanuts history, the topic of my last blog post.
Wilkes-Barre is not included amongst lists of culinary destinations. In fact, when I was there on a business trip, my group’s leader asked our host where he can get some decent food. The Wilkes-Barre resident asked where he was from and when my colleague said Greenwich Connecticut. He said that would be a good place.
I selected a perfect establishment that would easily validate my “bad pizza” theory. It’s called Happy’s Pizza – not very Italian sounding. Their website boasted that they had the absolute best Pagach in all of the Wyoming Valley. Are we in Pennsylvania or Wyoming? What is Pagach? I did some research. Pagach rhymes with Oshkosh B’gosh. It’s a Slavic meal served during Lent. It consists of mashed potatoes, onions, dough, and cheese and is also known as pierogi pizza.
I was escorted to a booth in a dining room that seemed frozen in time from the 1970s. A large dog-themed mural that rivaled the Star Wars bar scene hung on the wall. The menu was clearly printed on a dot-matrix printer using non-genuine printer cartridges. The pizza section was extensive. It had the familiar pizza toppings, but then listed bacon, beef, Thick Pizza, Pineapple & Ham, Taco, and listed last was Pagach.
I ordered the Pagach. The waitress nodded confidently and boasted that Happy’s is the only place that uses real mashed potatoes, not instant. About 15 minutes later, something started to smell really good. Shortly thereafter, the waitress delivered a huge metal tray with what looked like a giant calzone with lots of oozing cheese. I was a bit apprehensive. I cut off a small corner and tasted it. The crust was crispy, kind of like a fried potato knish. The mashed potatoes contained lots of crunchy chopped onions and were reminiscent of the ones that adorn White Castle burgers. The cheese was not mozzarella, but sharp cheddar. I took another bite and was simply amazed. This was f’n delicious!!! Oh my gosh, Pagach!!!
Pizzeria Beddia – Philadelphia, PA
Since we were in Fishtown, I was compelled to order the “tomato, anchovy, garlic, oregano, old gold” pie! Nothing fishy about this place!
Domino’s - Somerville, NJ
I wondered how larger pizza chains like Domino’s could even exist in pizza rich New Jersey, but there are a few of them. I was compelled to try one and was amazed at how bad the pizza actually was. It wasn’t even cut into regular pizza slices, but random squares like at a seven-year-old’s birthday party. The sauce tasted weird. The clientele was quite strange and reminiscent of those that frequent White Castle, except lacking refined palates.
Unlike the small family-owned shops, Domino’s leverages their corporate resources to deliver efficiency and advanced technology. There was a cool digital screen showing all the orders in real time and their current status. I asked a guy who was waiting to take a picture of me in front of the elaborate Domino’s Tracker featuring my completed order. He seemed quite annoyed that I was asking him to do something and said, “You can do it yourself” assuming I’ve never taken a selfie. I let him know I was familiar with the concept, but had to hold the pizza box too. He said “Okay, I’ll do it this one time” and begrudingly took the photo. This isn’t an issue, as this will be my last time at a Domino’s. I received multiple emails and texts within hours of my order with all sorts of discounts and offers. No thanks! I quickly unsubscribed and Domino’s secured last place on my rankings.
Pizza Ratings
Crust: Is it complex, crispy, chewy, pillowy, foldable, too thick, too thin?
Cheese: Is it tasty, stretchy, creamy? What kind of cheese? Shredded mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, or both?
Sauce: Is it flavorful, tangy, garlicky, sweet, spicy, chunky? Is there too much sauce, or not enough?
There are, however, a multitude of factors to consider when rating a pizza besides crust, sauce, and cheese.
I ranked all the pizza places I visited, but it quickly became apparent to me that most of the places I tried were very good. If a pizzeria in the pizza belt isn’t good, they won’t be able to stay in business.
Some people blindly follow pundits like Dave Portnoy, or articles showcasing the top 100 pizza places in the United States according to Yelp Elite Reviewers (by the way, they had only one New Jersey pizzeria on their list). These opinions are useful in determining what you may want to try, but ultimately, it’s up to you to rate a pizza according to your own standards. Don’t rely on somebody else’s opinion for something so personal and important. There are a few highly rated pizza places that I wouldn’t go back to, and a few low rated ones that I would revisit even if I had to sit in traffic for 90 minutes and eat it alone.
Other Factors:
· Atmosphere: Ambiance - Is it cozy? Is there nice décor, is it vibrant or just noisy?
· Price/value
· Are you eating a whole pie or just grabbing slices? I heard a guy who may have overdone it the night before say, “I ain’t drinking tonight, just beers”. Robin said, “I ain’t eating pizza tonight, just slices!”
· Quality of the ingredients
· Is the owner on premises making the pizza, or at least supervising the process?
Emotional connection:
· Does it evoke comforting childhood memories? As a child, I spent a lot of time in Trenton, visiting my grandparents. Many visits ended on Hamilton Avenue with pizza at DeLorenzo’s. The pizza I tried on my journey from Lilo’s, Papa’s and especially DeLorenzo’s in Robbinsville brought back many delicious memories and explains my fondness for Trenton-style tomato pies.
· I didn’t have the opportunity to sample any deep-dish pizza for this blog post, but over the years, I’ve enjoyed Chicago pizza at Giordano’s, Gino’s, and Lou Malnati’s when in town for business. My son who is 27 now, fell in love with Lou Malnati’s as a 10-year-old, and still refers to it as Lou Ferrigno’s.
Personal preferences:
· Do you prefer Neapolitan (not the chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry ice cream kind), Sicilian, tomato pies, bar pies, grandma, Detroit style, deep dish?
· Some pizza appears greasy. It’s either because of low quality cheese that can separate (bad), or because of a generous drizzle of high-quality olive oil (good). I’ve seen people blot their slices with a napkin. If you’re eating with me and don’t care for the extra oil, I’d suggest you hold your slice at an angle, so the grease drips, preferably onto my slice.
Situational factors:
· Are you out with friends, or that special someone?
· Are you starving, or did you just eat a huge lunch two hours ago?
· Are you trying to impress someone? (first date, taking out an important client)
Appetite:
· Pizza will taste even better when you’re starving!
Your hunger can even affect how different slices from the same pie taste:
· Slice one is very good but be careful not to burn the roof of your mouth or have piping hot sauce drip on your chin. You’re generally going to eat this slice too quickly.
· Slice two may be the best slice – It has cooled slightly, and you can concentrate on the flavor and textures while savoring it more than how you gobbled up the first slice.
· Slice three isn’t as good as slice two, slice four isn’t as good as slice three. At some point you’ll have to choose between eating that last slice or bringing it home. It will clearly not taste as good as the first slice, but at a good pizzeria, it will still taste pretty good – for all you math majors out there, this can be represented by the following formula:
E(n) < E (n-1) where E is the Enjoyment factor of a pizza slice and n represents the number of slices available to eat. If I thought of pizza back in my Comp Sci days at Rutgers, maybe I’d understand what Green’s theorem was all about and wouldn’t have had to repeat 4th semester calculus.
Since pizza ratings are so subjective, I don’t see the value in providing a numerical rating for each one. What separates one pizza from another is mostly personal taste. There are way too many factors to consider, and I’d only be letting you know what I think. I don’t know what you like or which components are most important to you.
I’ve begun to seek venture capital funding to develop a tool; The Personal Pizza Profiler (patent pending). Think of it as a dating app. You input all the factors and their importance to you by filling out an extensive survey, and it will recommend places that would be best for you to visit.
Example 1.
Example 2.
I’ve fine-tuned my pizza criteria over the past few months of intense pizza eating. Here are the factors that are most important to me:
Flavorful, robust, chunky, garlicky, spicy tomato sauce
Thin, crispy, yet chewy crust with some char
Vintage old-school vibe
Greasy (in a good way)
Good beer selection
Partial to Trenton-style tomato pies
Not a fan of Sicilian-style pizza
Given my input, the Personal Pizza Profiler tool would create a visualization of a slice showcasing those attributes most important to me along with an alphabetical listing of the top 15 places I should visit.
Coniglio's - Morristown NJ - Nino is an expert baker - best crust I’ve had - fun vibe
De Lorenzo's - Robbinsville, NJ - A taste of my childhood - This is what a Trenton tomato pie tastes like
Federici's - Freehold, NJ - Flavorful thin crust pizzas
Happy's Pizza - Plymouth, PA - Worth the two-hour drive to go back to the seventies for some tasty comfort food
Johnny's - Mt Vernon, NY - Tight parking, line of people before it opens, thin crust, great flavor
Lucia's - SOHO, NYC - Probably the best slice I’ve ever had
Nola's - Garwood, NJ - Marc is an artist serving up flavorful pizza
Nancy's Townhouse - Rahway, NJ - Cool vibe, pizza aroma hits you as soon as you enter - delicious!
NY Pizza Suprema - NYC - If you have 20 minutes before your train leaves Penn Station, go out to 8th Ave and get a slice - it’s worth waiting for the next train
Patsy's Tavern & Restaurant - Paterson, NJ - Old school tavern and great pizza - amazing crust - like going back in time
Pete & Elda’s/Carmine’s Pizzeria - Neptune, NJ - Addictive ultra thin cracker-like crust
Pizzeria Beddia - Philadelphia, PA - Enter through an alley in Fishtown - cool vibe - high quality gourmet pizza
Prima Pizza Kitchen - Somerville, NJ - Their eggplant marinara pizza is a game-changer - my local favorite
Star Tavern, Orange, NJ - Quintessential bar pie, I’ll just inhale one more slice
Tony's Baltimore Grill - Atlantic City, NJ - Old-time AC staple, quite dark, so nobody will see if you eat another amazingly tasty slice with sausage and cherry peppers
Home Grown:
During the pandemic my son started making his own pizzas. He would send me almost daily photos of his gourmet pies. I got some good pointers from him and sought to perfect my pizza game. I had a number of mishaps, like cracking my pizza stone on my gas grill because it got too hot and then too cold too quickly.
I ended up making pizza in a cast-iron pan by cooking one side of the crust on the burner, then flipping it, adding sauce, cheese, and toppings and then cooking it under the broiler for a few minutes. I used the best ingredients and made sauce (which surprisingly is not cooked) with high quality San Marzano tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, crushed garlic, and fine sea salt. After the pizza is out of the oven, I sprinkle it with dried oregano, a chiffonnade of basil, grate some Pecorino Romano over it, and add a quick drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
My recipe and process is a combination of Joe Beddia’s pizza recipe and the one Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich used at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria in Greenwich Village. Batali’s restaurant closed shortly after he was canceled for allegations of sexual misconduct. I have a crisis management team on standby in case anyone we have over for pizza takes issue with my recipe sourcing.
My latest creation was a Trenton style pie using Grande mozzarella which is the brand of cheese most pizzerias use that isn’t readily available to the public (I know a guy). Although it doesn’t compare to those in my top 15, it’s pretty good for not having to leave the house, and only costs about $2.50 per pie.
I recently had my annual physical and was told I now have prediabetes. I didn’t tell the doctor that I’ve been eating about three to four pizzas a week for the last few months as this may have broken HIPPA compliance rules. Because of this and the fact that our paper recycling bin is always overflowing with pizza boxes, I will need to cut back on my pizza eating. I will continue to visit my favorites and look forward to trying new places, but at a more reasonable pace.
I do have tentative plans to visit a pizzeria with a former work colleague who raves about Baci Trattoria and Pizzeria in northern Westchester County, New York. They’re takeout only, so we’ll have to wait until the weather warms up so we can enjoy their pizza at a nearby picnic table. I’ll bring my blue-tooth speaker so Margherita and I can listen to Margaritaville, while trying a Margherita pie, and sipping a few margaritas.
Did I miss your favorite pizza restaurant? Let me know. I encourage you all to embark on your own pizza exploration and hope I’ve provided you with some valuable insight. Let me know what you encounter and if you discover a new favorite place. Hit me up as I’m always happy to meet up for a few slices!!! Buon appetito!
Appendix:
The 47 pizza restaurants I visited while researching for this blog post:
10/22 - AMA - Hillsborough, NJ
10/28 - Coniglio's - Morristown NJ
11/8 - L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele - West Village NYC
11/11 - Reservoir Tavern - Parsippany, NJ
11/12 - Prima Pizza Kitchen - Somerville, NJ
11/14 - Vic's - Bradley Beach, NJ
11/17 - Manville Pizza, Manville, NJ
11/20 - Mamas Too - Upper West Side, NYC
11/24 - DeLorenzo's - Robbinsville, NJ
11/26 - Panatieris - Flemington, NJ
11/28 - Delucia's Brick Oven - Raritan, NJ
11/29 - Happy's Pizza - Plymouth, PA
12/1 - Tony's - Stockholm, NJ
12/4 - Papa's Tomato Pies - Robbinsville, NJ
12/9 - Pete & Elda’s/Carmine’s Pizzeria - Neptune City, NJ
12/12 - Conte's - Princeton, NJ
12/22 - Kinchley's - Ramsey, NJ
12/24 - Dominick's - Somerville, NJ
12/26 - Star Tavern - Orange, NJ
12/29 - Nomad Pizza - Princeton, NJ
12/30 - Federici's - Freehold, NJ
1/3 - NY Pizza Suprema - NYC
1/3 - Rosie's - NYC
1/4 - Johnny's - Mr. Vernon, NY
1/4 - Pizza Fenice - Pelham, NY
1/5 - Angeloni's - Caldwell, NJ
1/7- Giovanni's -Whitehouse Station, NJ
1/9 - Il Forno a Legna - Raritan, NJ
1/11 -Joe Beddia, Philadelphia, PA
1/15 - Sciortino's Harbor Lights - South Amboy, NJ
1/18 - Lillo's Tomato Pies - Hainesport, NJ
1/20 -Pizzaland - North Arlington, NJ
1/20 -Lucia's - Tribeca, NYC
1/21 - Tony's Baltimore Grill - Atlantic City, NJ
1/27 - Zupko's - Dunellen, NJ
1/28 - Ralph's - Nutley, NJ
1/30 - Nancy's Townhouse - Rahway, NJ
2/1 - Patsy's Tavern & Restaurant - Paterson, NJ
2/10 - Nola's - Garwood, NJ
2/11 - Santillo's @ Coniglio's - Morristown, NJ
2/14 - Brooklyn Square - Jackson Township, NJ
2/16 - Razza Pizza Artigianale - Jersey City, NJ
2/21 - John's of Bleecker Street, NYC
2/22 - Mancini's - East Brunswick, NJ
2/23 - Reservoir Restaurant, South Orange, NJ
2/24 - Domino's - Somerville, NJ
3/4 - Casa D Pizza - Denville, NJ
Enjoyed your blog post and your sense of humor. Living in a pizza desert, literally, it's especially poignant.
A labor of love for sure