The New Jersey Pizza Hunt

Date: 1/3/2018 Location: Skillman, NJ Slices ordered: Grandma and plain Website: verapizzanj.com Vera Pizza is located next to the iconic Montgomery Cinemas and shares their parking lot with a variety of other businesses including Thomas Sweets and Shop Rite. Parking is never usually an issue and there is plenty of interior seating available. The restaurant has a clean look and the decor is warm and inviting. There was a good selection of slices to choose from and I ended up deciding on the plain and the grandma. The staff seemed nice enough and I appreciated being served my slices on a ceramic plate. That's something I'm not used to and, though it was a small detail, it added to the homeliness of the restaurant. The pizza overall was not bad. The plain was a bit on the greasy side, but had a pleasant buttery cheese and good flavor. The Grandma slice featured good sauce and cheese with fresh basil that rounded out the taste nicely. The crust on both slices was just averag...

Date: 1/3/2018 Location: Skillman, NJ Slices ordered: Plain and Sausage ​Website: montgomerynjpizza.com/ Genteel's Brick Oven Pizza is located in a tiny storefront inside a busy strip mall. The parking lot has a decent amount of spaces, but can be nearly full during peak hours. Inside the restaurant, there are a few tables to sit and eat at, as well as a long wooden ledge you can sit at if you're getting slices. It's a small, but cozy restaurant. The pizza was pretty average. The base and crust were a bit dry and slightly overcooked. Sauce and cheese were okay, but nothing to brag about. The sausage slice was also generic and featured an uneven distribution of the topping. Overall, there are better places to go in the area for quality pizza, but if you're hungry and in need of a quick bite, this establishment will do.

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 ...