Pizza in New Jersey

[201]

Ah... screw it! I'm gonna be in Hackensack anyway and since they've got medium pies, I may as well try this Lido place today. Report to follow...

(I know, I know... it doesn't take much to twist my arm sometimes)

[thereuare]

Been to Lido many times growing up, and i had forgotten about it.... it's the type of place that if i remembered any of the waitresses, it wouldn't surprise me to see them still working there!

I too remember eating a very good thin crust pie there, and then having their specialty of the house, "open sliced steak sandwich (with cheese on top)."

Haven't been there in many years (10+), so looking forward to the report.

Fink,

If you like Lido's pie, you should check out Kinchley's, same type of style. May or not be worth trip depeding on where in NJ you are starting your jaunt from.

[201]

Damn you, Fink!!!

DAAAAAMMMMN YOUUUUUUU!!!!

For everyone else... Lido doesn't open until 5 pm. A little piece of information that Mr. Fink failed to note in his post, but I happened to pick up when I showed up around 2pm with saliva dripping down my chin from all the anticipation.

Ah well, another day.

[awbrig]

so why didnt you goto a bar and get the pizza a few hours later...

[201]

so why didnt you goto a bar and get the pizza a few hours later...

I don't drink and I didn't really have that much time to kill. Since it was going to be a meal between lunch and dinner (linner?) anyway, I decided just to skip it. I'm not really mad at Fink though, that reaction was meant to be too over-the-top to be taken seriously.

[awbrig]

i figured you werent upset...i was just kidding around too...

[tommy]

you could have went down to Changes and shot some pool with guys with less than a full compliment of teeth but more than a full compliment of inebriation. always a pleasure that Changes is. good table, though.

my mother-in-law tells me that Lido has been there forever. it's more of a restaurant than a pizza joint, no?

[201]

i figured you werent upset...i was just kidding around too...

Damn you, Sarcasm!! Damn you for not conveying very well on message boards!!!

[awbrig]

You are a pretty funny guy

So what did you eat instead of the awesome pizza?!?

[201]

my mother-in-law tells me that Lido has been there forever.  it's more of a restaurant than a pizza joint, no?

Well, since it's open only for dinner I would tend to think that's true. Of course, those New Haven places ONLY serve pizza (and drinks) and they aren't open for lunch either. Does your mother-in-law have any opinion of Lido?

By the way (yet still on topic), I saw another restaurant/pizza place advertising thin crust pizza today on my way through Saddle Brook. I want to go there just to shake the hand of the person who named the establishment (drum roll, please):

Pizghetti

(or something to that effect, the way young children mispronounce spaghetti... I don't recall exactly how it was spelled).

It's on Saddle River Road and I think it's new, but I also think the last time I was on that stretch of Saddle River Road was about four years ago. Anybody been there?

[201]

So what did you eat instead of the awesome pizza?!?

I just skipped that meal between lunch and dinner. Linner, lunner, dinch... whatever it should be called. Of course, if I had been really hungry or intent on having a meal, I probably would've headed over to Fink's. Which MAY have been his sinister plan all along!!!

Other options would've been numerous in the Hackensack area. There's no danger of me not finding somewhere acceptable to eat around there!

[thereuare]

Lido is more of a restaurant than a pizzeria, but it's SUPER casual, and of the "plastic checkered table cloth" variety.

[finker99]

"I probably would've headed over to Fink's. Which MAY have been his sinister plan all along!!!"

DRAT Foiled Again !!!!!

Pretty good pizza is available about 4 doors south of the lido at Victors, if I just wanna quick slice or pies for the staff I usually order from there.

Had the pie at Steve's Sizzlin' Steak House in Maywood, it was pretty good, but it is definately a restaurant, nice beer selection too.

I have been to kinchley's once or twice and liked the pie and the packed place attested to it's popularity (it was 2:00 in the afternoon)

I have heard that Hannah's on Main and River in New Milford used to be the Lido II and that the menu's are almost identical but have yet to try it out.

The waitresses at the Lido have all been working there since I started going, about 15 years ago. The Lido has been around at least 50 years, the story is on the menu, but I don't recall it. The decor would best be described as dark and dingy with lots of booths up front and scattering of tables in the rear. A juke box is in the rear area for music. They have liquor but no bar and the tables fill up every night; they are open to 11 I believe, maybe later on Friday and Saturday. The crust is so thin and nice, it is like a pizza "cracker" mmmmmm. Avoid the garlic bread though, unless you go in for the garlic powder variety. The Chicken Parm is also another hit.

[chopjwu12]

im not sure if anyone has said this allready but strawberries in woodbridge makes a great thin crust. It usede to be the absolute best but now it still really good and it still hold high rank around me.

[tommy]

Lido is more of a restaurant than a pizzeria, but it's SUPER casual, and of the "plastic checkered table cloth" variety.

i had a dream i went to Lido last night. my relationship with this board is certainly starting to get frightening

[NJ2FLA]

Ray's Pizza here in Verona I used to like when he opened years ago. He said he remembers when I was a kid.

I heard that Paulie Pizza on RT46 in Clifton was good. You pass that place all the time and never stop it. It's at the top of the hill coming west before you get to the Tick-Tock Diner. Anyone ever go?

I like the pizza at the Star Tavern in Orange but it's a bit salty.

A funny story is that we have a Domino's pizza here in Verona on Bloomfield Avenue and someone decided to open up a PaPa John's across the street. Personally, I think Domino's is crap. I had PaPa John's several times down in Florida and thought maybe it was the best of the take away/delivery pizza. Low and behold, the PaPa John's closed up several months later. The owner of Domino's was quite happy, he had even fought with the town to not allow the competition in. Like we don't have enough pizza places in Verona to begin with!

Some places that I know of in Verona:

Verona Pizza

Ray's

Domino's (Yuck)

Miele

Anna Capri

[Double 0]

NJ2FLA, Paulies is on RT3 in Clifton. Its a weird little place, big sign almost no room inside. The pizza is just OK. On RT46 you have Pizza Town(wonderful) and Lodi Pizza(also good, but not as good). There's also Brunos(great Sicilian and mussels). These pizzarias are all on the westbound side of 46. On the eastbound side is La Pizzaria(next to Krausers). The funny thing is that there seems to be more good Pizzarias and bagel places(anouther thread) in NJ than there are in NY. This comes from a guy who grew up in LI and lived in NYC for 20 yrs. I baked bagels for about 7yrs so I know the differnce.

[Rail Paul]

NJ2FLA,  Paulies is on RT3 in Clifton. Its a weird little place, big sign almost no room inside. The pizza is just OK. .

I'm drawing a blank on Paulie's. WB? Before the HoJo and Acura dealer, but west of where ADP used to be?

You'd think that area (south Clifton / north Nutley) ought to be awash in quality Italian and pizza...

Martha Stewart was born there, grew up there, went to school there, etc. Oughta be something to eat in the nabe.

[ngatti]

NJ2FLA,  Paulies is on RT3 in Clifton. Its a weird little place, big sign almost no room inside. The pizza is just OK. On RT46 you have Pizza Town(wonderful) and Lodi Pizza(also good, but not as good). There's also Brunos(great Sicilian and mussels). These pizzarias are all on the westbound side of 46. On the eastbound side is La Pizzaria(next to Krausers). The funny thing is that there seems to be more good Pizzarias and bagel places(anouther thread) in NJ than there are in NY. This comes from a guy who grew up in LI and lived in NYC for 20 yrs. I baked bagels for about 7yrs so I know the differnce.

Hi double OO,

As a fellow Brooklynite, I tend to stay out of these discussions about Jersey pizza. Being of the mind that there ain't any (pizza that is). If you've got some good recs for pizza like they used to make at home (Brooklyn), I'm all ears. Right now the nearest decent to me (Dumont) is a drive to Brooklyn's Coal Burning in Hackensack.

I like Big Tomato in that area just west of rockaway. The ritzy area on th peninsula east of Riis Park but west of Rackaway Beach proper.

Thanks Nick

[NJ2FLA]

OOo.. my bad it's Route 3 west bound over there. I always just call it Route 46 because I live west of where it splits off. Just and old bad habbit of mine. I have never been in Paulie's Pizza but I guess someone told me about it. My dad who gew up in Passaic said that there has pretty much always been some sort of pizza place in that spot for a long long time. In fact, he remembers that they used to have the famous 777-7777 phone number. (Clifton has that exchange).

Is the pizza town on Rt 46 (is that Elmwood park or Lodi area) the same as the one on Rt 22 in Springfield?

Speaking of bagles, I remember a bagel bakery down the street and one over from my grandmas house on Sherman Street in Passaic that used to have hot bagels in shopping carts and we used to go there and buy a dozen or so and they would be warm in the bag.. yumm! You would walk right into the bakery through a side soor. I don't even think they had a store front.

[phaelon56]

I've never tried NJ pizza outside of the tiny little borough of Rutherford (I've lived here in NJ for three years but spend most of my free time in NYC).

Here in town the only good pie I've tried is at Cafe New York and it is indeed tasty (and reasonably priced). It's Neopolitan style with dough brought in daily from their original Brooklyn location andf top quality mozzarella. Not think crust like the coal oven places in NY but thin enough with plenty of taste and chewiness in the crust. I really like this pie.

Just over the tracks in East Rutherford is the "new" Park Tavern. The friend who encouraged me to look at Rutherford as a good housing option swears by their meatball pizza. I finally tried them the other night and stuck to my standard of sausage and onion (to be sure I was comparing apples to apples). It's a very thin crust and hardly even raised at the edge. Good quality cheese, nice sauce and decent toppings. Cafe New York's pie is a bit chewier and more flavorful IMHO but this pie is far superior to any take-out slice I've ever had in NYC - worth trying.

[tommy]

does *anyone* remember CiCi's, at the Point Pleasant boardwalk? i have memories of this being the best pizza that i've ever had, anywhere. i would love to wax nostaglic with someone who remembers the damned place (the competition burned it down in about 1984 or so).

[spqr]

In today's Washington Post:

click me

[thereuare]

This is a repost of what i entered in the NY Thread, but i thought it appropriate to add here as well....

My Staten Island Pizza Journey

Well, after finally making a trek to Denino's in Staten Island and falling in love with their pizza, i've been hearing stories about "how it doesn't compare to such-and-such a place on SI" or that "it used to be great, but now is only 'ok', and now the GREAT pizza on SI is at ____". Well, i couldn't take it anymore and tonite did what i would call "The Great Pizza Run".

Our original plan was to go to Nunzio's, but as i started to search the internet and read reviews in an attempt to get psyched for great pizza, i heard a lot of great things about a hidden, undiscovered, gem called Lee's Tavern... decisions, decisions!!

Solution: We'll go to Nunzio's and split a pie, and then head to Lee's and split another one!

We make the trip from NJ to Nunzio's and located the place without a problem, but were a bit taken back when we found the place to be empty, there was only one table in the place that had customers seated, and this was at 6:45pm on a Saturday nite! How good could it possibly be if the place wasn't packed, like i'm sure Denino's would be at this hour. We stuck with the basics and had a plain cheese pie. The verdict: good, but it certainly isn't a "destination" pizza place! The crust was the right thickness but lacked flavor and crispiness, the sauce was good, and the cheese was fresh and creamy.... but the whole package didn't blend together. I liked the "no decor" style and the menu painted on the wall, but the pizza was only slightly better than average. We finished the pizza, paid the bill and hoped that our next stop at Lee's Tavern would better.

We drove down the road another mile making a few turns along the way courtesy of mapquest found our way to Lee's Tavern (hard to find as there is no sign outside the building announcing the name). Our hopes were raised as the place was pretty crowded, and we arrived at just the right time as a table was just becoming available from a departing family. I will paraphrase what a few others have said about this place which is entirely true and a perfect description, "It's a real neighborhood place, but you know right away it's NOT your neighborhood." We took our seats and waited for the one waitress in the place to take our order of a few drinks and a large pie, and i knew we'd be in for an even longer wait for our pizza as the place was full, yet only one table had any food in front of them! We waited patiently and finally a large (their description) pie was placed in front of us, and it's a good thing we just ate a pizza at the other place and weren't too hungry because i could have easily eaten this one myself. Their pizza is of a the cracker thin crust variety, ok cheese, and a slightly chunky sause on top of the cheese. Not bad, but once again, nothing great, and certainly not worth the bridge toll to get to.

We proceed to head home and as we get about 3 blocks from Lee's Tavern we see across the street "Goodfella's Pizza, 'Voted Best Pizza in America". We each talk about our level of stuffedness (<--my word) and figure that if it is indeed the best pizza in America we certainly couldn't pass it up, and we better try it now as we're not likely to be returning to the area for the other two places. We walk in and split a bar pie to go which we ended up eating in the car. Although the pie looks good, it's SEVERELY lacking. It tries to be a Patsy Grimaldi type of pizza, but the pie really had NO FLAVOR whatsoever... except for the runny and slightly too spicey tomato sauce glopped on top which reminded me of the NYC chain "Two Boots" (which i'm not a fan of either). I commented to my friend that i don't believe they have the best pizza in America, to which he said he didn't think they had the best pizza in a 5 block radius.

SUMMARY: Staten Island does have some of the best, if not the best, pizza i have ever eaten, but it is only to be found at Denino's, and not at any of these other places that i sometimes hear about that are supposedly "better". Staten Island is not that convenient for me, but Denino's is worth the trip and what i classify as a "destination" pizza place, and worth the hassle to get to. If you find yourself in the area, don't waste your time at any pizza place other than Denino's, as it just isn't worth it.

Next big trip for pizza will be to another NY Island... Coney Island, for my first taste of Tontino's, which i've heard rave reviews about. Worse case scenario is that it's bad, and we'll just have to stop at Denino's on the way back home :)

[Double 0]

Don't worry about it being bad, just go early, because when they run out of dough they're done for the day.