Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
By Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
This story was originally published on Oct. 10, 2018
America - make that the entire world - simply cannot get enough pizza.
We've done a statewide search for N.J.'s best pizzeria, a list of the best pizzeria in each of N.J.'s 21 counties, the 18 best pizzerias you've never heard of, and more.
There can't possibly any new angles, right? Wrong.
Here are N.J.'s 20 best new pizzerias (open about two years or less). I ranged far and wide across the state, visiting 35 pizzerias. Only the best made this list, which is also based on prior pizza experience.
Fatto Americano, New Brunswick
No, Fatto Americano does not mean "fat American,'' it means "American made.''
The owners of hot dog legend Destination Dogs are behind this venture; it opened this April in the space formerly occupied by the Dillinger Room and Makeda.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Destination Dogs is all about first-rate hot dogs, sausages and brats, so it's no surprise the meat toppings at Fatto Americano are equally good. The Fatto Supreme combines house-made sausage, pepperoni, red onions, San Marzano tomatoes and mozzarella, while my favorite here, the Lady Liberty (photo), is a choice combination of mortadella and smoked mozzarella.
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Centanni Pizza & Italian Grill, Collingswood
Open for several months in a house formerly occupied by a Cuban restaurant and doctor's office, Centanni is a welcome addition to Collingswood, South Jersey's best dining destination.
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They sure do love their white pies at Centanni; a mere 18 are on the menu. The quattro stagione (photo) is a never-do-us-part marriage of prosciutto, artichokes, black olives, mushrooms, mozzarella and romano cheese. Even better is the traditional square, a soft-doughy delight.
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Houdini Pizza Laboratory, Fanwood
Houdini Pizza Laboratory lays it on a bit thick - "Harry Houdini had the rare ability to make the impossible seem effortless ... we share this same level of commitment and a remarkable flavor for life with Houdini'' - but there's no doubting the skill here.
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I see the words "spicy pork loin,'' and I'm ordering it immediately, even if it's on ice cream. The Habanera (photo) at Houdini combines mozzarella, tomato sauce, habanero pepper oil, and cured spicy pork loin. The Camorra is a bit soupy, but the bufala mozzarella, oven roasted peppers and tomato sauce make for a tasty trio.
AMA Pizza, Hillsborough
AMA is somewhat in the middle of nowhere, which makes its charm all the more appealing. Owner Achille Confuorto learned how to cook from his mother. There's a small, cozy dining room, an outdoor patio, and the menu also includes appetizers, pastas and homemade desserts. Love the round pizza boxes, from Ultra Green.
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The Capricciosa at AMA (photo) boasted artichokes, prosciutto cotto, and quality mushrooms and olives (I am picky about my olives). The Dulce e Piccante is an attention-grabbing mix of ricotta, tomato sauce, roasted red peppers, Neapolitan spicy salami and spicy honey.
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Napoli Wood-Fired Pizza & Bakery, Cliffside Park
Neapolitan-style thin crust is not a thing, at least in New Jersey, but that's what you'll find at Napoli Wood-Fired Pizza. The oven (photo) is a wood-burning type from Naples. They make their own mozzarella, and the pizzas include such creative offerings as a white pie with date spread and prosciutto, and a Nduja (spicy Italian salami) pizza.
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I'm mad about mushrooms, so I couldn't resist Napoli's Four Mushrooms pie, with standard, portobello, shiitake and white mushrooms. I also have a hard time staying away from sopressata, and the Sopressata pizza (photo), with red onions, homemade mozzarella, pecorino romano and extra virgin olive oil, is highly recommended.
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Magpie Pizza, Ocean City
Magpie Pizza has probably the most peculiar pizza ordering system in the state. You cannot call your order in, or order when you're there; you must fill out an online form and wait for an e-mail confirmation of your desired pick-up time. It's easier than it sounds, in any event, and my pizzas were ready minutes after my pick-up time. Open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays only, and the schedule may be scaled back in the winter. Note: It's cash only for pizza.
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At Magpie, I ordered a plain pie, nice and tomatoey, and a sausage pizza (photo), with maybe the biggest chunks of sausage on any pizza in New Jersey. Top-flight sauce. Both pizzas turned out to be runny, messy, juicy and oily runaway successes.
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Nicky's Oceanport Pizza, Oceanport
Thin-crust is not exactly a Jersey Shore staple (Vic's, Pete & Elda's, etc. are more the exception than the rule) so it's heart-warming to see it at Nicky's, open about a year. It's a tiny place; you'll want to do takeout.
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Clump sausage is almost always a sign of good sausage (as opposed to pellet or curl sausage), and it's on the pies at Nicky's. A half sausage, half mushroom (photo) was a thin-crust standout.
Nocella's Pizzeria, Haddonfield
I'm still mourning the loss of Angelo's Pizzeria in Haddonfield, one of 10 finalists in our search for N.J.'s best pizzeria (owner Danny DiGiampietro has re-located to Philadelphia), but Nocella's is new in town, and I feel better already. Besides pizza, there are Italian specialty sandwiches, salads and homemade pastas.
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I have seen enough tired old ricotta on white pies over the years, so imagine my surprise when I popped open the Nocella's pizza box and took one look at the Nonna pie, with creamy-fresh ricotta, homemade sausage and oven roasted Roma tomatoes. The Burrata Special (photo), with garlic, olive oil, burrata, asparagus, grape tomatoes, prosciutto and aged balsamic vinegar, is nearly as good.
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Gio's Artisan Pizza, Rockaway
Good mall pizza? Say it ain't so! If Gio's Artisan Pizza at Rockaway Towne Square falls short of the "artisan'' label, it is surely among the top two or three Jersey mall pizzas. The Jersey Devil (photo) is bit too runny, but the combination of hot sopressata, Calabrian chile, mozzarella, honey and oregano pushed all my pizza buttons.
Rosie's Pizza, Point Pleasant Beach
The menu at Rosie's in "Point Beach'' is short and sweet: pizza, calzones, salads, meatballs and breadsticks. It's a bright, casual place in a town with great and varied dining options.
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At Rosie's, ordering is simple: choose either a grandma or round pie, and add toppings. All pies are cooked well done, and finished with pecorino cheese, basil and extra virgin olive oil. The Grandma (photo) is more a Sicilian, but they can call it what they want; excellent sausage and cheese and a slightly charred crust make for a mighty pleasing pizza.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Organico Pizza, Marlton
Organico's sourcing sets it apart from most of the competition - organic tomatoes from Italy, mozzarella from a family-owned company that doesn't use bovine hormone rBST in dairy, chicken from a certified organic farm in New York state.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Sometimes you want a pizza with just fresh tomatoes, one of the two I ordered at Organico. It was sooo good. Even better is the Grandma (more like a Sicilian, in photo), with mushrooms, fennel-streaked sausage, and a thick, slightly crunchy crust I could eat from here to next week.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Basille's Restaurant, Middletown
Basille's boasts serious pizza cred; owner Dominick Basille's brother, Sal Basile, and cousin, Francis Garcia, opened legendary Artichoke Basille in NYC, known for its artichoke pizza.
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Always pay need to your pizza guy's pro tips. "Don't tip the box,'' the counter man at Basille's said, handing over my artichoke pizza (photo). Indeed. The creamy artichoke sauce will run all over, say, your car seats if you don't keep it level. It's a delight overall, even for those who don't like artichokes.
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Pizza Bene, Wayne
Grandma pizzas - square or rectangular-shaped, thinner than Sicilian pies - are starting to pop up all over the New Jersey pizza landscape. Most I've tried are pretty boring. Not the one at Pizza Bene. It's thicker than most, and seriously oily/runny, but I could eat that crust all day.
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Pizza 206, Tabernacle
Prize-worthy pizza in the middle of the Pine Barrens? Here it is. Pizza 206 shares a strip mall with Dunkin' Donuts and a hair salon. There are pan pizzas, Sicilian pizzas, Sicilian thin-crust pizzas, margheritas, tomato pies, white pies and more.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The margherita at Pizza 206 (photo) looks lovely - all shimmering oil and fresh basil - and tastes just as good. Also recommended: the Provonella, a twist on the usual Sicilian, substituting provolone for mozzarella.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Chew Chew Pizzeria, Short Hills
Chew Chew is a great name for any pizzeria located within walking distance of a train station; the Short Hills train station is right down the street. Chew Chew opened in the summer of 2016; the owner is Michael Colombo.
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The sauce at Chew Chew is so good that if they bottled it, I'd slurp it up with a straw. The Grandma (photo) is one of the best of its kind anywhere, with an irresistible buttery, oily sheen.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Classico Tomato Pies, West Windsor
Love the painting of the cheese-crazed kids on the wall (photo) at Classico Tomato Pies, open about a year. The tomato pie, that Trenton-area favorite, is on the menu, but you can also get Sicilian, grandma, margherita and other pizzas.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Sauce is the star at Classico, with nice clumpy tomatoes serving as the backbone to both the Sicilian and the half-sausage, half mushroom (photo).
Low Fidelity Bar, Jersey City
Low Fidelity is a cool, chill bar - it placed seventh in our ranking of 50 Jersey City bars - but the attraction for pizza lovers is the Detroit-style pizza. "Lo Fi'' is one of the few Jersey pizzerias to offer the pizza. Time will tell if it catches on among the nation's most demanding pizza critics.
So what's Detroit-style pizza? Call it a squarish cross between a Grandma and Sicilian, crispier than either, with one significant difference: the cheese is placed directly on the dough, making for a lightly fried texture from the dripping cheese. It's different, it's daring, it's Detroit.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
Medusa Stone Fired Kitchen, Asbury Park
It's not easy making a pizza name for yourself in Asbury Park, with major players Talula's and Porta in town, but Medusa, open about two years, has done it. The owners are Aimée McElroy and Lauren Castellini, who met at Porta.
There are about a dozen pizzas on the menu at Medusa; try the Fennel & Spicy Sausage, with ricotta, mozzarella, chile oil and fennel fronds, or the one with local mushrooms, ricotta, mozzarella, rosemary and thyme.
Urban Tomato, Palisades Park
Open several months, Urban Tomato is owned by two former employees at Brick Oven Pizza in North Bergen. It's both pizzeria and coffee bar; they use Brooklyn-based Toby's Estate.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
When I single out the pepperoni on a pizza (90 percent of the pepperoni out there is boring, mass-produced stuff), you know it's good. The Special pizza at Urban Pizza is a meaty marriage of pepperoni, sausage, onions, olives, mozzarella, shiitake mushrooms. Even better: the Spicy Honey (photo), with mozzarella, provolone bechamel, parmesan Reggiano and Mike's Hot Honey. The photo doesn't do it justice, trust me.
Valentina's Trattoria Italiana, Northfield
Paula Pasano and Neapolitan-born chef Rosaria Conti are the guiding lights at Valentina's, in a strip mall minutes from the Parkway. Homemade pastas, imported meats and cheeses, fresh-baked bread and Neapolitan-style pizzas in a wood-fired oven are the mainstays.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
If there were burrata in the world, or at least on Jersey pizza, this would be a wonderful world. The uber-creamy cheese, with an outer shell of mozzarella and an inner one of stracciatella and cream, is the headliner of the Burrata pizza at Valentina's. Add smoked prosciutto and cherry tomatoes, and you have a standout.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
What's your favorite new pizzeria?
Scores of pizzerias have opened in New Jersey just in the past two years, and many worthy ones were left off this list. What's your favorite new pizzeria? Let us know in the comments section.
Peter Genovese | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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