The New Jersey Pizza Hunt

Date: 10/17/2017 Location: Raritan, NJ Pizza ordered: Plain Website: www.deluciasbrickovenpizza.com/ DeLucia's Brick Oven is one of the oldest pizzerias in the country. One look inside their kitchen and this fact is plainly evident. The interior of the restaurant isn't overwhelming. There are very few pictures or decorations, save some interesting cartoon vegetables and pizza. The tables and seats are wooden and there is table service if you are dining in. My girlfriend and I went with a plain pie. The pizza was very good. The cheese was cooked to be crispier than many of the other locations I've visited, something I can appreciate, and the sauce is delicious. The crust on our pizza was crumbly in a few areas and had a bit too much flour, but the base of the pizza was pleasantly thin and crispy. Overall I enjoyed the pizza and am interested to try some of the available toppings, like the sausage.

Date: 10/12/2017 Location: Kingston, NJ Pizza Ordered: Margherita Website: www.osteriaprocaccini.com/ Osteria is a small, intimate Italian restaurant in Kingswood very close to the canal. There is a decent amount of parking both on the street and behind the restaurant. Now I actually haven't even been inside the restaurant because they have a beautiful and elegant outdoor seating area behind the restaurant where my girlfriend and I were seated and served. The service was excellent and the waitresses were very attentive. The restaurant is BYOB but also has a selection of Maine Root sodas that are delicious. We decided to order an appetizer of bruschetta (the sundried tomato pesto) which is some of the best I've ever had. The tomato pesto spread was truly delicious. The Margherita pizza was also very tasty. The sauce is rich in flavor and I really liked the soft and tasty crust. There was quite a bit of basil used, but that was no problem in my opinion, as I thought i...

Date: 9/11/2017 Location: Piscataway, NJ Pizza Ordered: Plain and Pasta Website: www.steltonpizza.com/ Stelton Pizza in a strip mall along a fairly busy road. There is plenty of parking and, once inside, plenty of seating. I don't recall there being many options behind the glass at the counter as far as getting slices to-go was concerned, but there was enough to make a selection. The staff was friendly and Halloween decorations were impressive and helped add to the atmosphere. The plain slice was flavorful with a good amount of sauce and a good amount of toasting of the cheese. The crust and base were crispy, though the crust did have a bit of excess flour that can be seen in my picture. The pasta slice was pretty good. I appreciated having the cheese over the pasta and I found that it helped contain the slice better than some others. I would definitely eat here again given the opportunity.

Date: 8/22/2017 Location: Manville, NJ Pizza Ordered: Plain and Chicken-Bacon-Ranch Website: www.manvillepizzaest1969.com/  Manville pizza is located along the Main Street in Manville with some street parking and a lot around back. There are two entrances for the customer's convenience. The restaurant itself was clean and there were plenty of decorations across the walls to give the restaurant a pleasant, neighborhood feeling. The staff was helpful and there was a tremendous selection of specialty slices behind the class at the counter. I decided to go with my usual plain slice and one of my preferred specialty slices, the chicken-bacon-ranch. The plain slice was pretty average with a crispy base and crust, and a good cheese-to-sauce ratio. Side story: I may be misremembering, but I believe the bowling alley that once existed behind where the pizzeria is now used to source their slices from this establishment and I always remembered that pizza being the greatest, most delicio...

Date: 7/12/2017 Location: Whitehouse Station, NJ Pizza Ordered: Plain and Penne Vodka Website: www.sorellaspizzerianj.com/ ​Sorella's Pizza and Pasta is located in a small strip mall along Route 22 in the Whitehouse Station/Readington area. There is plenty of parking outside and the atmosphere inside is warm and friendly. It seemed like the owner knew everyone's name and was a very engaging. He was genuinely interested in the customers and how their day was going and it's awesome to have an owner that cares so much about the customer. The pizza was fantastic. The plain slice featured quality ingredients with a flavorful crust. The pasta slice was out-of-this-world. Seriously, the pasta was awesome and the vodka sauce was delicious. The slice was overflowing with pasta and it definitely filled me up. Sorella's is a must try for anyone in the area or even the person just passing through.

Date: 7/12/2017 Location: Hillsborough, NJ Pizza Ordered: Plain and Sausage Website: www.bellapizza1.com/ Bella Pizza is tucked away in a small mall across from the YMCA. It is one of the last for me to review in Hillsborough, despite their aggressive social media presence that displays their delcious looking pizza all over my news feed. There is ample parking and a modest amount of indoor seating. There's also a fish tank inside, not something I'm used to seeing in a pizzeria, but a pleasant surprise. The selection of slices when I visited wasn't very large, but it had the staples which I was satisfied with. I went with a sausage slice and a plain slice. Also, bonus points for having Stewart's Birch Beer! The plain slice is a good representation of what your average pizza slice should be. Good sauce to cheese ratio, a tasty sauce, a crispy but also slightly fluffy crust, etc. It's exactly what you'd want in a slice. The sausage was pretty good too! It was...

Date: 7/25/2017 Location: South Orange, NJ Pizza Ordered: Plain and Works Website: www.startavern.net/ Star Tavern is a busy bar and pizzeria in South Orange, New Jersey. There is some parking at the actual building and there is a lot next door with additional parking (which you'll need to use if you go around dinner time). The wait staff is very helpful, polite, and works quick! The atmosphere is very cool and somewhat retro but also quite noisy as you'd expect a popular bar to be. There are arcade games, booths, plenty of posters, neon signs, and a bar seating area. The pizza is fantastic. Star Tavern has some of the thinnest crust I've ever experienced on a pizza. The base was super thin and pleasantly crispy. The ingredients were all delicious and I find myself agreeing with Pete Genovese when he calls this the gold--standard of thin crust pizza in NJ. Just remember that because the crust and base is so thin and because the pizza tastes so good, you'll likely ...