The New Jersey Pizza Hunt

Date: 12/20/17 Location: Somerset/Franklin Slices Ordered: Plain, Chicken Bacon Ranch, Margherita Website: piazzaorsillo.com/ Piazza Orsillo is located in a shopping center in between Somerset, Franklin, and Hillsborough. There is a large parking lot, but around lunch hours, this can fill up and it can be a challenge to find a place to park. Piazza Orsillo has a good amount of dining space, helpful and polite staff, and a tremendous assortment of specialty slices and foods available at the counter. I always give a lot of props to pizzerias that offer so many options at the counter, and Piazza Orsillo has one of the tastiest looking assortments I've seen in the area. The pizza overall is very good. The plain slice had a nice crispy base, good cheese and sauce, though a slightly burnt/dry crust. The chicken, bacon, ranch slice was packed with flavor and had great proportions of chicken to ranch dressing. The Margherita slice was also delicious and had more of the tasty sauce I ...

Date: 12/15/17 Location: Branchburg, NJ Slices Ordered: Plain and BBQ Chicken Website: ilfornorestaurant.eat24hour.com/ Il Forno Restaurant is tucked away in a small shopping mall by NJ-28. There is ample parking and a good amount of seating inside the restaurant. The decor and atmosphere are reminiscent of an Italian marketplace given the painting and the lights hanging from the ceiling. The staff was very nice and polite. The plain slice, while not appearing to look as appetizing as other pizzerias was actually quite fantastic. It had okay cheese, good sauce, and an excellent crust. The crust was pleasantly fluffy and definitely enjoyable. The BBQ slice was alright. It was light on the BBQ sauce, but overall the chicken and onions were decent, albeit lacking in flavor.

Date: 12/13/2017 Location: Somerset, NJ Slices ordered: Plain & meatball Website:  http://www.lubranospizzeria.com/ Lubrano's is your average NJ pizzeria. Located in a somewhat challenging-to-reach strip mall, this establishment services the hungry commuters that frequently take Route 287 and Easton Avenue. There's usually no issue finding parking and there is plenty of room to sit once inside. The staff is polite and friendly. There wasn't much of a selection to choose from, so I went with a meatball slice and a plain slice. The slices were pretty decent. The meatballs on that slice were pretty flavorless, but the slice was filling. The plain slice was salty and greasy, but overall not awful. It was a pretty average slice from a pretty average pizzeria. Cheap, reliable, and unremarkable.

Date: 12/6/2017 Location: Hamilton, NJ Slices ordered: Plain and tomato pie style Website:  http://www.brotherspizzaon33.com/ Brother's Pizza is one of the many fantastic pizzerias in the Hamilton area. There is ample seating available and the staff is very polite and helpful. I was happy to find such a large assortment of slices to choose from behind the counter. This is a big plus in my book. I ended up going with a plain slice and a tomato pie slice. Both slices featured crispy crust and base. The plain had stretchy cheese and a pleasant saltiness with a delicious sauce. The tomato slice also benefited from a rich, flavorful sauce with plenty of spices and a pleasant onion / olive oil taste. The crust and base on the tomato slice were exceptionally tasty. Overall, this is a great spot to try and I would definitely recommend it.

Date: 12/6/2017 Location: Metuchen, NJ Pizza ordered: Margherita Website: www.slicenj.com/  Antonio's is a small brick oven pizzeria in the heart of Metuchen. The atmosphere is casual and I really appreciated the various paintings, awards, and art hanging around the restaurant. This decor really added a level of comfort to the restaurant that gave it more of a friendly, neighborhood restaurant feel. While the restaurant is small, there is still a decent amount of seating. The service was quick and our server was very friendly. We decided to order the Margherita pie. The crust was beautifully browned in the manner that only a wood oven can do. It was fluffy and had a pleasant smokey flavor. The cheese was fresh and the tomato sauce was rich and tangy. The added tomatoes also tasted great and added a level to this Margherita pie, though they also brought an added bit of messiness, as they had the tendency to slide off of the slice. Overall, I was very pleased with the flavors ...

Date: 12/5/2017 Location: Hazlet, NJ Slices Ordered: Plain, Margherita, Chicken Bacon Ranch Website:  http://www.angelapizza.com/ I stopped into Angela's on the way to Atlantic Highlands and I was fairly impressed. First off, the exterior window was beautifully decorated for the holiday season. The inside is on the small side, but there are still a few tables for seating. The atmosphere is casual and friendly and the staff was quick to help. The chicken bacon ranch was deceivingly good. The slice looked like a pile of ingredients with some dressing, but the flavors melded together nicely with good quality chicken and a good ratio with the dressing. The plain slice was generic with a bit too much seasoning, but the crust and base were both pleasantly crispy. I also tried a Sicilian-styled margherita which was extremely delicious. The thicker base combined with quality cheese and a rich tomato sauce really brought the whole thing together.

Date: 12/1/2017 Location: Hillsborough, NJ Slices Ordered: Plain and Sausage Website: www.damianisoven.com/ Damianai's is the new guy in town located at the previously Sal's Gourmet Pizza location in the CVS shopping mall along Triangle Road. There is plenty of parking and the restaurant looks very similar with the kitchen, counter, and drink selection right as you walk in and a spacious seating area to the left. The atmosphere is warm and friendly, as is the staff. I decided to go with a plain and a sausage slice. The slices were average, with good cheese and a lingering taste of garlic and salt. The sausage was also decent but didn't stand out much compared to anything else I've had in Hillsborough. I'm sure I will stop in again to see if I've missed anything.