There are many things that New Jersey is renowned for, but when it comes to food, no other US state can match NJ when it comes to pizza. However, everyone has a different conception of the perfect pizza.
Finding the best pizza slices and pizzerias in New Jersey is therefore no easy task. Last time we visited 3 pizzerias in New Jersey. We shared our experience here: Pizza Taste Testing in NJ
Today I am sharing some more pizza experiences with my family in NJ.
Keep reading to find our favorite pizzerias and pizza pies.
Tom’s Delicious Pizza Review- Union City
I tried Tom’s Delicious Pizza on Summit Avenue in Union City. After 15 minutes of a fast-paced trek down Summit Avenue in Union City on a partly overcast day, I was 500 feet from “Tom’s Delicious Pizza.”
This pizzeria seemed part dine-in, half in-and-out, with several dining tables but not much room.
I saw one of the cooks producing specialized pizzas beside the display window, and he appeared like a professional by his fluidity in movement.
Before reviewing Tom’s crust, I must mention the unusual ingredient used.
Tom’s Delicious Pizza butters their crust. The taste snuck up on my taste receptors like a youngster trying to be a ghost with a white sheet over them. Over 15 pizza reviews later, we finally found a restaurant with a buttery crust.
With decent dough components and a thick, almost Wetzel Pretzel-like shell. Despite that, the crust remained fresh and crunchy after a few nibbles, which complemented the buttery flavor.
What sauce! Tom’s Delicious Pizza in Union City offers the greatest pizza sauce we’ve had in New Jersey.
The pizza sauce had a powerful taste, like Pizza Republic’s basic slice. Halfway through the pizza, a tinge of sweetness was felt. The pizza sauce’s richness and sweetness made for a terrific match.
Smooth texture. Tom’s supplied more than the correct quantity of sauce, tasted in every bite. Despite having enough pizza sauce for a second slice, this slice didn’t seem heavy thanks to the superb components.
Cheese! This is frequently the most significant aspect of a cheese pizza.
This cheese reminded me of a hot, fresh Dominos pizza. In high school, I would sometimes pick up a Domino’s Pizza and eat it straight out of the oven. The cheese was buttery, garlicky, and fresh with a cheese pull. This memoir tasted like Tom’s Delicious cheese, but better.
In 2022 and beyond, we urge ALL pizzerias to add a little “razzle dazzle” to the pizza’s recipe to stand out from the competition and make consumers happier.
This cheese’s texture was great. The cheese pulls on this slice indicated high-quality cheese, which made this experience twice as good as mediocre mozzarella cheese adhered to the crust like a jellyfish on a rock.
This visit to Tom’s Delicious Pizza was shocking because it was our first of many excursions to Union City for a basic slice of cheese pizza.
We didn’t anticipate this parlor to ‘hit it out of the park’ like that, scoring the highest slice we’ve had since June. We’re convinced by the favorable evaluations of Union City pizza.
Tom’s Delicious Pizza in Union City is one of New Jersey’s best pieces only $2.50. This pizza is good. Most pizzerias charge this much for ordinary slices, but this pizza wasn’t normal, so you felt like you got a good deal.
Pizza Republic Review- 406 Washington St, Hoboken, NJ
Pizza is one of New Jersey’s most popular foods, especially in Hoboken, 10 minutes from NYC. We visited Pizza Republic, a 13-year-old pizzeria that looks here to stay like earlier pizzerias in the city.
Hoboken’s Pizza Republic launched in 2009.
When they launched, they concentrated on producing a credible slice of pizza with 21 other pizzerias fighting for everyday business.
The proprietor soon began serving his Wisconsin macaroni and cheese. After great comments, he designed his macaroni and cheese pizza, making him unique in Hoboken.
I was in Hoboken, New Jersey, on a bright day looking for the greatest plain piece of pizza in New Jersey. After passing many coffee shops and bars, I saw a red banner reading ‘Pizza Republic,’ signifying my next pizza review location.
I saw the proprietor seemed overburdened with online, call-in, and walk-in orders with just 2 other staff in the kitchen. Pizza arrived in 2 minutes.
Pizza Republic’s dough combines the textures of a New York-style and brick oven pizza. Although the crust was slightly scorched and brick-oven crunchy on the exterior, the interior was soft and fluffy.
This crust’s texture held the cheese and sauce wonderfully together.
This pizza’s crust was fresh from beginning to end, unlike a stale one. Small seeds gave the crust a baguette-bagel flavour.
This crust wasn’t bad, but it could’ve used butter or garlic. Fresher crust was needed.
Pizza Republic’s simple cheese pizza lacks sauce for some reason. This slice was disappointing. Lack of sauce was disappointing because it tasted so good.
Rich and strong, this pizza sauce reminded you of a Domino’s pie when you were ten. Thin texture. Not sure if there wasn’t enough sauce or if it was soupy.
As beautiful as this cheese is, it wasn’t our favorite. We know there are numerous grades and varieties of cheese, with mozzarella being the most popular in New Jersey.
I took many tastes of this pizza’s cheese to properly evaluate it. Fresh mozzarella tasted bland. Pizza Republic’s mozzarella isn’t the best we’ve had.
Like their crust, the recipe could have used additional ingredients. As noted, this slice’s mozzarella was hot, stringy, and delicious. It’s better than ordinary, but not perfect.
Pizza Republic’s $2.75 slices are worth every penny. One piece has a thick, crunchy dough, fresh mozzarella, and pizza sauce. Every mouthful has a nice mix of components that may persuade you to eat pizza plain forever.
Pizza Stop in Paterson, New Jersey
Pizza Stop in Paterson, NJ opened in 1988, according to businessfinder.nj.com. This pizzeria, like a few others in the city, is historic. Since 1993, they’ve been open 10:30am-9pm.
This pizzeria has been in operation for years, so I knew it was the best in Paterson.
The pizzeria appeared nonexistent at first because it’s in a small spot in the mall. I see a white sign with red and green letters, the Italian flag colors, after a few feet.
There are a few eating tables to the right of the entrance and a cash register and kitchen doors ahead.
As they were just opening, the personnel looked preoccupied with prep, so my simple slice was no problem. I paid cash for my slice and left to rate it.
Pizza Stop’s dough was unlike any we’d tasted.
This slice’s crust remained firm when held with one hand. The inside of the crust was soft and not heavy, like a new dinner roll. After biting into the top of their crust, I was pleasantly pleased by how thick and healthy the inside was.
First nibbles of this slice’s crust tasted like artisan bread. The flaky crust made eating feel more ethnic, like Neapolitan-style pizza from 50 years ago (at least).
Like other pizza crusts I’ve had, this one has a bit of sweetness that makes it taste like a warm artisan bread roll.
New Jersey pizza has numerous sauces. Every pizzeria seeks to please its original customers and traditions. This prevents pizzerias from changing any ingredients, even pizza sauce.
So was this pizza sauce. This sauce was delicious. This sauce was lacking on the crust.
The flavor was like stewed tomato soup. The sauce wasn’t thick and powerful like some parlors, but its delicacy worked perfectly with the cheese.
This mozzarella has a good cheese draw. Several pizza parlors we’ve visited had stale, fresh mozzarella. Pizza Stop’s pizza contained stringy, flavorful mozzarella cheese.
Despite slipping after a few nibbles, this cheese was still fresh. The pizza’s cheese was fresh, stringy, and thick, which we liked.
This pizza was tasty, but the cheese wasn’t the freshest. Torna’s Pizzeria in Hoboken, NJ. Their soft, creamy cheese complemented the pizza. Pizza Stop’s slice was inferior.
After eating a Pizza Stop simple cheese slice, we say it’s worth it. A $2.25 pizza piece is better than some $2.50 and above. Authentic ingredients make this pizzeria’s pizza taste more Italian and less mass-produced.
If you’re at 9th and Madison in Paterson, New Jersey, try this slice. Pizza Stop has the best basic slices in Paterson’s riverbank region.
Torna’s Pizzeria Review – Hoboken
The city of Hoboken will always be remembered for its dazzling Manhattan Skyline Views. Another great view in Hoboken is being face-to-face with a sizzling hot cheese pizza slice, being rushed straight out of a pizza oven that was last seen in Rocky II.
With that being said, we at thedelicious.net recently visited Torna Pizzeria in Hoboken, New Jersey for a plain slice of cheese pizza, in hopes of continuing to witness their 7-and-up rating streak in this town.
When approaching the front entrance of this restaurant, I instantly thought of ‘Little Italy’ for some reason. The small gate, outdoor barstool chairs, and the red, white, and green colored sign all came together. Had I not had my phone in my hand for the GPS, I would’ve breezed smooth past this parlor; it’s slightly out-of-sight.
Walking into Torna Pizzeria, I must say that there were no customers in sight. As the seem-to-be delivery man sat hunched over in the corner, the employees were in the kitchen, so I had to wait 2 minutes until a young male appeared at the cash register.
After ordering my slice, I examined the room to get a clear picture of the pizzeria. There was definitely some cleaning to do, to say the least, but I did enjoy the historical pictures that were framed on their wall. They could easily be accepted as stock images of the 20s, but it wasn’t clear who was actually in those old-school downtown city photos.
Surprisingly, this plain slice of cheese pizza looked fantastic, the opposite of how the inside of the restaurant looked. Everything about this slice was interesting but we will definitely stick to our roots and begin with the crust.
Fortunately, this crust tasted as good as it looked. With the brick-oven finish on the crust, there was a charred-like taste on the outer ends of the crust, which was a plus for us. Countered with the slight sweetness from the well-baked dough, I can eat that crust by itself with ease.
The texture on this crust was thick but filling on the inside. Biting into the interior of the upper section of the slice, the slice was baked long enough to actually crunch down on the crust instead of eating a cardboard-like substance for a crust.
This is exactly what’s expected from a real brick oven pizza that caters to pizza crust texture for the eating experience.
While almost perfect, a buttery or garlic crust with a slightly thinner texture would’ve been superb for this plain slice.
Torna Pizzeria’s pizza sauce tasted very well. The sauce packed richness in high-quality tomato flavor that was easily detected after the first bite into this pizza. After inspecting the sauce to see why else it tasted so rich, I spotted some herbs and spices. That might’ve been the perfect touch to this plain slice of cheese pizza sauce’s taste.
As far as texture goes on this sauce, the thick, smooth running paste was perfect for this thick, brick oven slice. This pizza sauce’s chunkiness made the overall slice a more savory one, with flavors rushing to your tongue like a mall sneaker-cleaner vendor trying to get a sale.
While being evenly spread out, you can tell the chef purposely made a thicker-than-usual sauce at this pizzeria in comparison to the others. because of the actual consistency in thickness.
As thick as this sauce is, it was perfect for this plain slice, and could not see how it could be better in this scenario.
Lastly, we must speak on the cheese here at Torna Pizzeria.
Starting off with the texture of this cheese, it was pretty fresh. The cheese pull was definitely present, but it wasn’t that stringy. The cheese, just like the sauce, was also thicker than most pizzerias we tried previously, most notable would be Pizza Town in Elmwood Park, as their cheese is very well-tasting but is more on the thinner side.
Tasting this cheese will send you into a frenzy because of the molten-like texture from that brick oven. Yet, not crispy, the cheese was well-done enough to the point where you can taste every part of that wholesome mozzarella cheese Torna had provided on that slice.
Almost similar to a buttery taste, this cheese had a great aftertaste in my mouth, also another sign of some fresh, well-kept cheese.
We did not expect to receive a slice like this one after initially walking into the old-fashioned pizza parlor on 9th street, but were pleasantly surprised with the outcome.
We definitely deem this plain slice of cheese pizza worth it. Excluding the high rating Torna received from us today, this was the best brick oven pizza we have tasted thus far in our ‘Best Plain Slice in New Jersey’ journey.
As I’m sure the best is yet to come, this slice just raised the bar for future brick oven parlors we plan on trying, as there are a few more in the compact city of Hoboken.
If you’re ever in Hoboken near 9th street by the park, be sure to stop by Torna Pizzeria for a thick, rich, brick oven slice to sink your teeth into for a fulfilling bite!
Tutti Mangia Pizzeria & Grill | Paterson NJ
Although I visited NJ a lot, there are still some plain slices of pizza I never tried in Paterson. Despite my frequent visits to New Jersey, there are certain basic pieces of pizza I’ve never had in Paterson.
Most inhabitants consider the ‘Silk City’ to be a little planet, yet it is actually a large, sectioned city. So, today we’re going to Tutti Mangia on Main Street in Paterson, New Jersey.
When I was originally encouraged to sample this pizzeria’s basic slice, it was the pizza spot across the street from Saint Joseph’s hospital on Main Street in Paterson. A pizza business across the street did not show in my mind when I envisioned the front entrance of Saint Jo’s.
I was also told that this was maybe the greatest pizzeria in Paterson. Although I was immediately intrigued after hearing these intriguing words, no one else recommended this establishment in terms of obtaining the BEST basic piece of cheese pizza in New Jersey.
Nonetheless, I was excited to try this slice because we made a point of visiting Tutti Mangia Pizzeria and Grill.
Tutti Mangia’s website was checked, and I went to the ‘About Us’ section on the home page. Aside from the operating hours, not much information regarding their background was provided (Open 11 am to 8 pm Monday through Friday.) as well as an uplifting Latin quotation
I decided to look at their Google Reviews after scanning various Google sites and not seeing anything. Tutti Mangia’s initial review was over a year ago, leading us to believe that this was a brand-new pizza in Paterson.
Because of the air conditioning, my initial impression of the establishment was reassuring. As a customer, the AC makes me want to take my time and look at everything on the menu because of the store’s warmth, which made me feel welcomed and comfortable after the intense heat.
The shop was likewise as clean as a whistle. That can be a warning indicator with certain pizzerias, as classic great-tasting pizzerias are sometimes unclean parlors meant to have people in and out.
However, after spending enough time in the store relaxing in luxury, it was time for me to return outside and taste this slice.
The crust on any type of pizza is likely the least crucial aspect of a slice, as some pizza aficionados discard the crust once the remainder of the slice has been consumed.
To say the least, this pizza crust was unique.
Even though the crust appeared light and flaky at first glance, biting into it revealed a small solidity, as the crust was filling on the inside rather than airy like some crust. This crust was also not too doughy on the interior, giving it an artisan bread-like quality.
The flavor was good. Because the crust was not overly doughy, it had a mild flavor, giving it a pleasant eating experience thus far.
In terms of ratio, this slice had an excellent mix of cheese and sauce, similar to Giovanni’s in Paterson, New Jersey.
In terms of texture, this sauce, like their crust, was clean and light. The sauce was neither too rich nor too thick for this simple slice of bread. It also maintained a nice consistency throughout the slice, giving each mouthful the same level of deliciousness as expected from a pizza slice.
The flavor was light and pleasant. Other than the tomato paste, I couldn’t taste any other components in the sauce, but it felt great to have a light sauce on a pizza to complement the mix of cheese, sauce, and dough, with no flavor being overpowering.
I was impressed by the sight of the cheese alone. The entire slice was coated in cheese, which is occasionally uncommon on a basic piece of cheese pizza. That indicated to me that the chef is concerned with the overall dining experience of the consumer.
To say the least, this cheese was delicious. This mozzarella clearly had flavor, leaving a clean, light, and nice aftertaste in my tongue.
This cheese has a good texture. I’d be lying if I said this was the freshest cheese we’d ever tasted, but it may be the best cheese in Paterson thus far (comparable to Broadway Pizza’s cheese in Paterson).
The cheese was not overly stringy because it was healthful, but there was still cheese pull evident, indicating freshness. This cheese was also not too greasy, and we loved it.
