Southern NJ Pizza

[rockhopper]

Philadelphia Magazine in thier current "Best of Philly" issue (which includes places in Southern NJ) listed South Jersey [sic] as the worst area for pizza. "When Bertucci's is the best you can do...". Yes there are Bertuccis at shopping mauls but so are McDonalds and you never hear people hold that up as a paragon of burgers. The interns writing the story simply made a hit and run snarky comment and didn't back it up with a list of pizza places - except for mentioning Bertucci's. It's almost as ridiculous as the Star Ledger's recent story on NNJ cheesesteaks.

So, where are your favorite SNJ pizza places?

I'll start a short list.

Tony's on Haddon Ave in Haddonfield. Both their regular Napoletano and the special Margherita are standouts.

Bruno's in Haddon Heights for Sicilian

Vitarelli's in Cherry Hill

[Andrew Fenton]

Well, Tacconelli's in Maple Shade is pretty terrific. Does that count as NJ or expat Philly?

[Rich Pawlak]

Excuse me, but Delorenzo's in Trenton. End of story. But Philly Mag is just too chicken to venture there. And I know of what I speak; I used to write for the Best of Philly issue.

But I will give ya Vitarelli's and Tony's; good pies!

[cdh]

Just made a trip to Trenton for some Delorenzos the other night... when a friend wanted to eat the best pizza available in the PHL area, that was where I thought to take him.

BUT-- does Trenton count as South Jersey? I'd say that it falls within Central Jersey, so the Philly Mag assessment could be technically right... no idea about where Haddonfield is, much less the qualities of its tomato pies... but if Rich gives them the thumbs up, then they gotta be tasty.

[Andrew Fenton]

Yeah, I was confused about the Trenton thing too. My first thought was "Huh? What about DeLorenzo's?" And then my second thought was "Nobody could be so stupid as to ignore that sublime pizza. Trenton must count as central Jersey."

But for all I know the infinite number of monkeys they have pounding out articles at Philadelphia Magazine just haven't made it up to Trenton yet. Pretty schtoopid.

[john b]

Tony's on Haddon Ave in Haddonfield. Both their regular Napoletano and the special Margherita are standouts.

Tony's is my lunch spot about twice a week. The Margherita is REALLY good, as is his "plain old pizza."

If you haven't tried his chicked parm sandwich, try it. In addition to the food, Tony is a very nice guy.

Ralph's, on Station Ave in Haddon Heights, makes a square tomato and garlic pizza which is very good--medium thick crust topped with crushed tomato, cheese, fresh chunks of garlic and parsley. Their regular Neapolitan is rather ordinary.

Passariello Pavillion, on Main St in Moorestown, has pretty good Neapolitan pizza.

Has anyone tried the Marlton outpost of Pietro's? It was better than most of the local pizza, but I thought the cheese/sauce/toppings were too heavy for the crust.

[rockhopper]

no idea about where Haddonfield is,

A wild guess without checking mapblast.com would be southern NJ

Thanks for the Ralph's rec John. I haven't been there yet. I'll give it a try.

Tacconelli's doesn't travel home well. I'm about a 10 minute drive from their Moorestown location and the pie was pretty soggy by the time I got home. Much later I tried one there in their dining room and it was pretty good.

Edited August 22, 2004 by rockhopper (log)

[john b]

Tacconelli's doesn't travel home well. I'm about a 10 minute drive from their Moorestown location and the pie was pretty soggy by the time I got home. Much later I tried one there in their dining room and it was pretty good.

Are you my neighbor??

(I'm ten or so minutes down Lenola Rd from Tac's)

[CoolPapaBell]

Pizza Fresca in Marlton.

[John]

Which place did Philadelphia Magazine name as best cheesesteak? I think last year it was Chick's in Cherry Hill.

[howard88]

My nomination goes to Maruca's on the boardwalk at

Seaside Heights.

It is as close to perfection as you can get for thin

absolutely perfectly balanced pizza.

It is as close to the outstanding pizza served up

in Naples.

[South Jersey Epicurean]

Viterelli's is just okay & lousy service. Take it from someone who grew up in Cherry Hill. Delorenzo's in Trenton is mighty fine for tomato pie, but I'll add Restarante Feminina's in Medford as having one of the best "normal" pies I have ever tasted. (Their Italian food is fantabulous & different too!!)

[corvus]

Which place did Philadelphia Magazine name as best cheesesteak? I think last year it was Chick's in Cherry Hill.

←

It may have been 2003's best.

I went there this week. The cheesesteak was the best I've had since Sophie's lunch trunk left Penn's campus a few years ago.

They don't do pizza however, just sandwiches, plus a few deli salads (potato, macaroni, cole slaw, seafood).

Chick's is also highlighted in the book 'A Food Lover's Guide to New Jersey', by Peter Genovese.

[jmbrightman]

I haven't tried too many S. Jersey pies (I am S. Philly spoiled), but I do enjoy Big John's pizza, both the red and white. For an over-rated pie or slice, I nominate Vito's off Rt. 295 exit 32 (not sure of the road). too doughy, almost undercooked, and way too expensive.

[CoolPapaBell]

I absolutely add Tacconelli's along with Pizza Fresca. BTW, as far as far as screw Philly Mag, I have found South Jersey Magazine shockingly accurate for a fairly small time publication. http://www.southjersey.com/best/

I have used them as a source for I guess three years and clearly they have a serious foodie or two on their staff.

Edited July 13, 2005 by CoolPapaBell (log)

[john b]

Where is Pizza Fresca?

[CoolPapaBell]

Where is Pizza Fresca?

←

It's on Old Marlton Pike in Marlton: http://www.luigispizzafresca.com/

[FoodieRD]

What about Mac and Manco's on the Ocean City Boardwalk?