#92 Timber Pizza Co.

October 10, 2020

Washington, D.C.

We continued our pizza trip after Pizza di Joey and drove down to Washington, D.C. for a second stop. Timber Pizza Co. was ranked at #92 on the 2018 and the 2019 101 Best Pizzas list, and #95 on the new 2020 list. It’s not open for lunch – but it’s open for “breakfast” until 1 pm on the weekends, and then opens again at 4 for dinner. We made sure to get there before 1 pm on Saturday because we had other dinner plans.

We ordered two pizzas here, and brought them over across the street to a small park that was right next to a farmer’s market. We tried the regular margherita (Cheese Please), and then one with bacon, mozz, mushrooms, and smoked paprika (The Penelope). They usually have a variety of salads and empanadas also, but the menu is currently limited due to COVID and they are only doing take-out. You can order wine or beer to go.

Like Pizza di Joey, Timber Pizza Co got it’s start as a pizza truck. More specifically, as a wood-fired oven attached to a pickup truck. Their restaurant is small, order-at-the-counter, and is known as the best casual pizza place in town.

Somehow, James’s pizza shirt managed to stay clean even while eating this pizza. We weren’t able to finish these pies, but brought home a few slices to eat the next day. They were good pizzas, so we think they deserve their spot near the end of the list. The crust was decent, although nothing really special. The toppings and flavor combinations were unique, though, and many combinations we hadn’t seen before. We really liked the smoked paprika!

We were aiming to hit Inferno Pizzeria in Maryland on the drive back home, which has also been on the list a few years. When we called to order we heard that they were out of dough, which was disappointing. Apparently you need to call around 2 pm, and they are only open Wednesday through Saturday for dinner. Noted for next time.

Instead, we stopped back in Baltimore to Underground Pizza Company for some Detroit-style pizza. It was a good last-minute decision.

To visit:

Timber Pizza Co
809 Upshur Street Northwest 
Washington, DC 20011

#80 Pizza di Joey

October 10th, 2020

Baltimore, MD

After several months of staying local in NJ for our pizza adventures, we decided to venture out on a bigger pizza road trip with the two boys. We had been planning a trip down to Washington D.C. and Maryland to two pizza places from previous years’ lists back in April but obviously had to cancel those plans. Pizza di Joey is a new addition to the list in 2020, so we made it our first stop.

Pizza di Joey serves New York style, coal-fired pizza. They sell mostly by the slice, although you can order full pies if you’re ready to wait for them. It started out as a food truck in 2013 driving around the Baltimore City area, but then in 2019 opened its current location in the Cross Street Market .

We ordered three slices here. The slices are large (12″) and we were planning on making two more pizza stops this day. We ordered two slices of cheese, which they kindly cut for James, and one slice of the Caprese. The Caprese slice was unlike any slice we have ever seen – slices of fresh mozz, not melted, on top of hearty slices of tomato, all topped with basil and a splash of oil. The Daily Meal commented specifically on the buffalo chicken slice, but we aren’t huge fans of buffalo chicken and so went more traditional.

They also have some specialty slices that weren’t available when we showed up first thing after opening. We would have loved to try their Grandma slice or their “Drunk Grandma” vodka slice. Their panini menu also looked good.

The pizzeria is located at the Cross Street Market so there were plenty of tables to sit outdoors. We liked the whole atmosphere of the Market and it would be fun to come here again once the pandemic is over.

As for the pizza, they were pretty good NY slices. Our main complaint was that the crust was a little doughy. I’m not sure if this was because they were the first pizzas made of the day, but most of the photos we’ve seen online also look like the crust is colored pretty lightly. When we think of a good NY slice’s crust, we generally think of something a bit more crisp. The more doughy crusts tend to belong to those $1 slice shops.

Even if the crust wasn’t our ideal, the slices hit the spot after our 3 hour drive down. We’d definitely recommend a stop to enjoy the market and a slice if you’re in the area. The market is in a nice area of town to walk around, and it’s only a short walk from here to the waterfront. James got to see the boats and we got to stretch our legs before heading down to Washington D.C. for our second pizza stop of the day.

To visit:

Pizza di Joey
1065 S Charles St
Baltimore, MD 21230

#64 Pizza Den

September 12th, 2020

Princeton, NJ

When the new 101 best pizza places 2020 list came out, we immediately looked to see if any were within driving distance. We have been doing Saturday pizza drives to local NJ pizzerias for most of the summer, and we were happy to see Pizza Den was on the list at #64, and located nearby in Princeton, NJ.

Pizza Den opened in 2018, right on Nassau Street. It has small tables inside for dine-in, but it’s mostly take-out. That worked out just fine for us, as we’ve been doing take-out for all of our pizzas these days. It’s one of the new additions to the list that is partly woman-owned, as well as a family business, as it’s a wife-husband team.

We ordered two pizzas here, and took them down the street to a small park. Pizza Den said in an interview that their most popular pie is the Brooklyn-style margherita, so we ordered one of those (below). We also ordered one with ricotta and arugula (above). They have a red tomato pie and a white pie base also, and plenty of toppings for customization. The pizzas also come in three sizes, which we appreciate these days with a toddler who likes things “by his-self”.

Our thoughts on these pies were pretty mixed. We liked both pies, but neither of us was sure that they deserve to be on the 101 Best Pizzas list. There just wasn’t too much that was special about them. The crust wasn’t a stand-out, nor were the toppings. We’d expect a bit more at this point.

The motto of Pizza Den is “A good pie is personal”, which is why they don’t have any “specialty” pies on their menu and just have the basics, with optional toppings that you select yourself. That’s probably great for many people, but we like to try specialty pies more these days because they are what makes a pizzeria unique. Otherwise, we tend to forget them, especially after eating so many pizzas the last few years. If a pizzeria is going to stick to the basics, they have to be really good, and we don’t think this pizza is up to that standard.

We’ll never complain about having another option for pizza in NJ though, and it was a perfect Saturday for a picnic. James managed to eat most of the ricotta, although picked off most of the “leaves”.

To visit:

Pizza Den 
242 1/2 Nassau St.
Princeton, NJ 08542

101 Best Pizza Places 2020

Well, this was an interesting year for sure. After March, it was hard to travel to visit pizzerias on our lists. Pizzerias closed, and some reopened. Some adjusted to increased demands for take out or outdoor eating. Some are now open with limited capacity for indoor dining. Pizza tours stopped, online pizza classes became popular. Pizzas were delivered to front line workers. How would it be possible to pick the top 101 pizza places in the US this year? We didn’t know if there would be a new list.

We were excited to see the new list come out in September, right on schedule. This year, the list is slightly different. It’s focused more on women-run and Black-owned businesses, and the list isn’t as focused on the main “pizza cities”. The pizzerias listed on the 101 spread across the US more evenly, as you’ll see below. In many ways this is great to see, however, it also means that we probably won’t get to visit most of them, at least for a while.

101 Best Pizza Places (2020) : places in bold are new to the list in 2020!

#101 Settebello, Salt Lake City, UT
#100 Wilson Pizza and Grill, Kansas City, KS
#99 Adriano’s Brick Oven, Glenwood, IA
#98 DeLuca’s Pizzeria, Hot Springs, AR
#97 Moose’s Tooth Pub and Pizzeria, Anchorage, AK
#96 Pizza Paradiso, Washington DC
#95 Timber Pizza Company, Washington DC
#94 Cloverleaf Pizza, Eastpointe, MI
#93 Jay’s Artisan Pizzeria, Buffalo, NY
#92 Monza Pizza Bar, Charleston, SC
#91 Pizza Stone’d, Las Vegas, NV
#90 Micucci’s Grocery, Portland, ME
#89 Terita’s Pizza, Columbus, OH
#88 Frank and Helen’s, University City, MO
#87 Last Dragon Pizza, Queens, NY
#86 Slab, Portland, ME
#85 CRUST, Miami, FL
#84 Zoli’s NY Pizza, Addison, TX
#83 Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, Darnestown, MD
#82 Bonci, Chicago, IL
#81 Cuts and Slices, Brooklyn, NY
#80 Pizza di Joey, Baltimore, MD
#79 Pizza Bruno, Orlando, FL
#78 Pizza Delicious, New Orleans, LA
#77 Young Joni, Minneapolis, MN
#76 EVO Pizzeria, Charleston, SC
#75 Chef’s Cut Pizzeria, Louisville, KY
#74 O4W Pizza, Deluth, GA
#73 TriBecca Allie Cafe, Sardis, MS
#72 Ken’s Artisan Pizza, Portland, OR
#71 Zaffiro’s Pizza, Milwaukee, WI
#70 Perreca’s Bakery, Schenectady, NY
#69 Food and Drink, Reno, NV
#68 PizzaLeah, Windsor, CA
#67 Al Forno, Providence, RI
#66 Emmy Squared, Brooklyn, NY
#65 Cheese Board Pizza, Berkeley, CA
#64 Pizza Den, Princeton, NJ
#63 Pizza Shackamaxon, Philadelphia, PA
#62 Pepperoni Ray’s Cafe, New Orleans, LA
#61 Pizza Rock, Las Vegas, NV
#60 Serious Pie, Seattle, WA
#59 Mother Bear’s Pizza, Bloomington, IN
#58 Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza, Elizabeth, NJ
#57 Loui’s Pizza, Hazel Park, MI
#56 Home Slice Pizza, Austin, TX
#55 Triple Jay’s Pizza, Atlanta, GA
#54 Bambino’s Urban Pizzeria, Colorado Springs, CO
#53 The Missing Brick, Indianapolis, IN
#52 Plant Based Pizzeria, Atlanta, GA
#51 Audrey Jane’s Pizza Garage, Boulder, CO
#50 Metro Pizza, Las Vegas, NV
#49 Scarr’s, NYC, NY
#48 Pizzeria Mozza, Los Angeles, CA
#47 BAR, New Haven, CT
#46 Vito and Nicks, Chicago, IL
#45 Zuppardi’s Apizza, West Haven, CT
#44 Juliana’s Pizza, Brooklyn, NY
#43 Colony Grill, Stamford, CT
#42 Rubirosa, NYC, NY
#41 Cane Rosso, Dallas, TX
#40 Tilton House of Pizza, Tilton, NH
#39 Pizzeria Beddia, Philadelphia, PA
#38 L&B Spumoni Gardens, Brooklyn, NY
#37 Louie and Ernie’s Pizza, Bronx, NY
#36 Star Tavern, Orange, NJ
#35 Supino Pizza, Detroit, MI
#34 DeSano Pizzeria, Nashville, TN
#33 Angelo’s Picnic Pizza, Antioch, TN

#32 L’industrie Pizzeria, Brooklyn, NY
#31 Nomad Pizza Company, Philadelphia, PA
#30 Di Fara, Brooklyn, NY
#29 Tony’s Pizza Napoletana, San Fransisco, CA
#28 Apizza Scholls, Portland, OR
#27 Forno Rossa Pizzeria Napoletana, Chicago, IL
#26 Roberta’s, Brooklyn, NY
#25 Galleria Umberto, Boston, MA
#24 ZuriLee, Brooklyn, NY
#23 Cibo, Phoenix, AZ
#22 Lou Malnati’s, Chicago, IL
#21 Joe’s Pizza, NYC, NY
#20 Pizzeria Delfina, San Fransisco, CA
#19 Lombardi’s, New York, NY
#18 Patsy’s, NYC, NY
#17 Lovely’s Fifty Fifty, Portland, OR
#16 Modern Apizza, New Haven, CT
#15 Paulie Gee’s, Brooklyn, NY
#14 Pizzeria Bianco, Phoenix, AZ
#13 Cart-Driver, Denver, CO
#12 Prince Street Pizza, NYC, NY
#11 Smiling with Hope, Reno, NV
#10 Piece, Chicago, IL
#9 Sally’s Apizza, New Haven, CT
#8 Lucali, Brooklyn, NY
#7 Santarpio’s, Boston, MA
#6 Buddy’s Pizza, Detroit, MI
#5 Slim and Husky’s Pizza Beeria, Nashville, TN
#4 Razza Pizza, Jersey City, NJ
#3 John’s of Bleecker, NYC, NY
#2 Pequod’s, Chicago, IL
#1 Frank Pepe Pizza Napoletana, New Haven, CT

In general, this list is nearly identical to last year’s list. Most of the pizza places that were on the 2019 list have just shifted one spot up or down. There are a few notable differences, though, and 31 new pizzerias, which is many more than in previous years. This is probably because of the efforts of the team to include more diverse locations and owners.

There are also 5 new places that are in the top 25! Usually from year to year we would see one or two, max. In 2019, there were no new top 25 pizzerias. Slim & Husky’s looks good, but is it really top 5 material? I highly doubt that it’s better than some of the other pizzas that have now dropped standing. Smiling with Hope pizza looks legit, though, and has us thinking another trip to Nevada when Covid is over.

Actually, it may be a good time to take another pizza road trip across the midwest. Mom, Dad – want to take the boys for a couple of weeks while we do this??

Other changes: Coalfire, which was as highly ranked as #9, is off the list again. Last year it was solidly at #40. A few of our favorite NYC slice joints and pizzerias have been left off this year – Paulie Gee’s Slice Shop, Mama’s TOO, Totonno’s, Emily (which is so much better than Emmy Squared, in our opinion), and Una Pizza Napoletana. But there are plenty of others still solidly on this year’s list – L’industrie, Louie and Ernie’s, L&B Spumoni, Scarr’s, Lucali, Juliana’s, John’s of Bleecker. Pizzeria Beddia has fallen a bit this year, as has Di Fara. We haven’t been to either recently but they are always on our list of favorites.

And, as always, glad to see that Frank Pepe’s is still at #1. It’s the best pizza in the US, and there’s a reason that it was the one pizza that we drove to pick up during our early months of quarantine, essentially risking our lives. Still not quite sure why Razza is hanging in there near the top, though.

Quarantine pizza

Hello! We are back! It has been a while (almost a year, if you can believe it) since we’ve posted. We had plenty of pizza-related plans for the spring months, which unfortunately had to be cancelled with all of the dangers of travel. We stopped commuting to the city, so our pizza lunches stopped as well. When I had Keste on March 12th, I didn’t know that it was going to be my last NYC pizza for several months.

After a full 3 months or so of completely quarantining and making and eating our own pizza, we finally have started to venture out for take out pizza around New Jersey. This summer we were able to visit some more local pizzerias that we’ve heard of, which has been fun. I figured I’d highlight some below, in case anyone else lives in NJ and is looking for a fun road trip.

Florham Park Pizza

Florham Park, NJ

This restaurant is right down the street from us, but we had never been there! We ordered a Grandma Sicilian pie, which was better than expected, but on the sweet side. It wasn’t overly cheesy, either.

Arturo’s

Maplewood, NJ

For Father’s Day, we got take out from Arturo’s and ate it in a local park (wearing masks, of course!). We got a spicy sausage with chili oil, and a margherita. This is probably our favorite Neapolitan-style pizza that we’ve had locally.

Nunzio’s Kitchen

Sayresville, NJ

We hit some shore traffic driving down here, but the pies were ready for our pickup when we got here. We had a small plain and two medium (one white, one pesto). The small size was perfect for James, although he ate plenty of the ricotta off of our white pie.

Kinchley’s Tavern

Ramsey, NJ

This is super thin crust bar pie, but it’s probably one of our favorite bar pies that we’ve had. Almost as good as Star Tavern. We just got an original and sliced meatball. James has been asking for meatball on his pizza ever since he had the meatball here, it was that good. We loved the thin slices.

Ava’s Kitchen

Kennilworth, NJ

We had plans to try this pizza one weekend in August, but that didn’t work out quite as planned, since I ended up having a baby that weekend instead. 🙂 We made it about 10 days later, and ordered a margherita, one with fresh tomatoes, garlic, and basil, and a white mushroom. We were hungry, although we didn’t realize that they were going to be quite so big. The crust on these was really good – perfectly puffed and crispy.

Ralph’s Pizzeria

Nutley, NJ

Another thin crust pie, which we ordered plain. We all split one pizza here, and it was perfect size for the three of us. It was definitely heavier on the cheese than other thin crusts that we’ve had.

Pizza Den

Princeton, NJ

This pizza ended up on the new 101 Best Pizza Places list (post coming soon). I won’t spoil it here, and will write a full review, but we tried an arugula with ricotta and a “brooklyn style”.

Vic’s Italian Restaurant

Bradley Beach, NJ

We went to Vic’s because we wanted to take the boys to the beach after the season was over. Vic’s has been around for years and is also famous for its thin crust pizza, so that’s what we got. Another cheese and one with meatball (James’s request). It was maybe a little cheesier than the thin crust at Kinchley’s, and not quite as good, but still was a solid pie. James picked off all of the meatballs to eat himself.

Carmine’s

Netcong, NJ

We rarely go out this way in NJ, but we were going apple picking and so we stopped for lunch on the way. Carmine’s is best known for their stuffed pizza. Those slices are like a giant calzone, cut into square slices, and they are full of cheese and either veggies or meat (we tried one of each). I could only have a few bites of my veggie slice, but James happily picked out most of the spinach and broccoli and Eric ate the rest. The dipping sauce is really good, don’t forget it!

Bricco Coal Fired Pizza

Westmont, NJ

We took these coal fired pizzas to a park to enjoy. We tried the Ava Bella, with oven dried tomatoes, bread crumbs, and burrata, and the Sailor, which was a white pie with spinach. The crust on these was more charred, and the pizzeria had a number of pizzas that sounded good, and plenty of toppings for you to make your own.

We’re hoping to start up some more pizza trips soon – hopefully to some more on the list that are within driving distance. So we’ll be back to posting and reviewing. And of course, we hope to be back in NYC soon eating at our favorite pizzerias.

#39 Mama’s TOO!

September 27th, 2018

Manhattan, NYC

Every year, there’s a new slice shop (or two) in NYC that make it on the list. We could have guessed that Mama’s TOO would have been the new addition this year, which is why we went to it LAST year to try it out.

Mama’s TOO serves squares and regular slices. It’s maybe most famous for it’s pepperoni square, which is a mix between a Sicilian slice and a Roman al taglio slice, with a crunch Detroit-style-like cheesy edge. It’s also probably most famous for it’s crust, which is much thinner than a Sicilian or Detroit style slice. The owner, Frank Tuttolomondo, took his favorite parts of other styles of pizza and combined them to make his own take on a slice.

We tried a few slices, including the vodka slice, the bruschetta, a sausage and pepper, and a slice of the four cheese. Most of their toppings are made in house. All were excellent, and lived up to the hype.

The slice we had may have been a little charred, but we don’t usually mind a little burnt edge on our pizza.

Pete Wells at the NYT gave Mama’s TOO one star, ranking it up with other sit-down pizzerias in NYC. We think it’s worth a trip to the Upper West Side, and it’s a trip that we need to do again soon.

To visit:

Mama's TOO
2750 Broadway
New York, NY 10025 

#101 Arcaro and Genells

November 23rd, 2019

Old Forge, PA

Old Forge is known to some as the “Pizza Capital of the World”. You’ve probably never heard of it. We hadn’t, before we started our first year of traveling to the places on the list. That first year, Ghigiarelli’s eked on to the list at #101. It was missing the following year, and actually has since closed after the owner went missing (and is still missing). This year, another Old Forge pizzeria barely made it on the list at #101.

We made the drive back out to Old Forge last Saturday. We started out with a hike in the Delaware Water Gap area that was only sort of successful, but we were hungry for lunch by the time we got into Old Forge. We were seated right away and ordered a plain red pizza, with mushrooms on half.

As you can see, Old Forge pizza is unique. It has its roots back in the coal mining industry, when the cold miners would come home and their wives would make pizza on square pans with their bread dough, topping the pies with homegrown tomatoes. You certainly get a family feel at Arcaro and Genell’s – it’s your traditional old-school Italian restaurant and bar.

The taste of these pizzas is also unique. The crust isn’t like a traditional pizza crust. It’s more like a bread dough. It’s thicker than a Sicilian, but still tastes light. The sauce is full of chunks of onion, which we loved. There’s a lot of cheese, but it isn’t as much as some of the Sicilian places we’ve tried around NYC, and definitely not as much cheese as any of the pizzas we tried in Buffalo.

You may not like me saying so, but it’s similar to Elio’s frozen pizza. Fresher, but a similar mouth feel. Maybe like Elio’s if it had never been frozen, with better sauce. Eric said it was like a cross between Elio’s, Detroit style (without the crispy cheese edge), and a Sicilian slice.

It has been a few years since our last Old Forge pizza, but we think that we like this place better than Ghigiarelli’s. It was more flavorful. We’ve gotten a few other messages about other Old Forge pizzas we should try, so maybe we’ll be back, or maybe one of those will end up on one of the lists in the future. James liked this pizza as well, but he’s not so picky these days.

If you want to try it, I think they are one of the only Old Forge pizza places that will ship to you through goldbely.

To visit:

Arcaro and Genell
443 South Main Street
OLD FORGE PA, 18518 

#13 Una Pizza Napoletana (new location)

May 31st, 2019

Manhattan, NYC

We first went to Una Pizza Napoletana in September 2016, back when we were doing the original pizza trek around the US. We liked it then, and it was the first of several good neapolitan pizzas that we tried out in San Fransisco. Originally, Una started out in New Jersey, then moved to New York, and then out to San Fran, and now it’s back in NYC.

The New York location is in the Lower East Side, and apparently is bigger than the original Manhattan location, although we can’t personally attest to that. We showed up there around when it opened on a weeknight, James in tow. We got a table near the back where they were making the pizzas.

We tried two pizzas here. We had to try the original margherita pizza that we loved so much in San Fran, and we also tried the seasonal specialty pie that had sun-dried tomatoes and fresh tomatoes. Both were great, but the main standout on these pizzas is the crust. We remembered liking the crust when we went previously, but this time it blew us away. It was incredibly light and fluffy, with a touch of salt (just enough). There was some charring and bubbles on the crust, but not a lot. The pizzas were a bit soupy as Neapolitan pies tend to be, but they weren’t the worst that we’ve tried.

James liked the crust on these too. He didn’t like waiting for the pizzas so much, and we had to bring him outside to play with sticks on the sidewalk while we were waiting for the pizzas to come. He is definitely getting to the age where sit down dinners are hard!

There’s been a bit of a controversy around Una Pizza lately. When it originally came back to NY, it got only one star from NYT critic Pete Wells. Then, just under a year later, Pete Wells reviewed it AGAIN and gave it two. Apparently, he heard a rumor that Anthony Mangieri would uproot Una yet again.

Whatever the critics think about this pizza (and the reviews have been mixed), it’s quickly become our new favorite Neapolitan pizza in NYC. We’re looking for another excuse to leave our baby with a babysitter and come here again for dinner. The Daily Meal has ranked it higher than ever this year.

To visit:

Una Pizza Napoletana
175 Orchard St
New York, NY 10002

#15 Pizzeria Beddia (new location)

May 11th, 2019

Philadelphia, PA

Pizzeria Beddia is back! The last time we went there, we had to wait in line 3 hours before opening time to grab the first pizza out of their oven. If you read my last post, a new pizzeria is now open in that space, and making really good slices. We had heard rumors that Joe Beddia was opening a new pizza place at a larger location in Philly, so we were looking out for news.

It opened in March 2019, but we didn’t make it there until May. It’s much different from the original, mostly in the vibe. There’s a nice outdoor seating area, and you can sit and have drinks beforehand if there’s a wait (there was). We brought James here, too, and it wasn’t an issue at all.

We almost ordered the regular cheese pie here, just to see how it compared to the old Beddia. But, we ended up switching it up and ordering the tomato pie-like anchovy pizza. You may not like anchovies, or you may not think that you do, but they are worth trying on a pizza if you’re at a place that knows how to make them work. Also, our baby tried them, so you probably should too.

The menu here is still small – they serve only three pizzas and a tomato pie, and a few small plates. So the quality of the ingredients and the pizzas is still the same as the original Beddia. The difference is that Joe Beddia isn’t making the pizzas by himself anymore. He’s got a staff for that. I’m just glad that Joe Beddia is still making pizzas at all and that we get to eat them.

The Daily Meal realized this too, and Beddia is back on the list this year, at #15! I think this article summed it up pretty well: even though Pizzeria Beddia isn’t the same as it was, it’s still a fantastic restaurant in Fishtown. Go there, and be glad that you don’t have to wait hours for your pizza.

To visit:
Pizzeria Beddia
1313 North Lee Street
Philadelphia, PA 19122

#55 Bread and Salt

October 27th, 2019

Jersey City, NJ

If you hear “Jersey City” and “pizza” in the same sentence, you probably think immediately of Razza. Razza broke on to the Daily Meal list in 2017, and then bumped up immediately to #2 last year. There was a pretty famous NYT article about it being the “best pizza in NY”. We’ve never quite agreed. The pizza is fine, but it’s not better than many places in NYC, and we don’t think that it belongs in the top 10 of the Daily Meal list. We’ve gone back to try it subsequent times and are still not impressed. The point is, we won’t go back out to Jersey City for their pizza, specifically.

However, there is a new addition to the 2019 list from Jersey City, and this is one that we’d go back for. Bread and Salt opened in June of this year. It’s not in the main strip downtown Jersey City, which makes parking a lot easier, although it would be harder to get to from the PATH.

Bread and Salt is the third iteration of this restaurant from pizzaiolo Rick Easton. Previously, he opened in Crown Heights and then later in Pittsburgh, before coming to Jersey City. These aren’t traditional NY slices – they are Roman style, al taglio. If you’ve read my post on our trip to Italy, we got really into this style of pizza. Here, there are a variety of slices that rotate depending on the day. Constants are the rosso (back slices in the pic above), and the margherita (in the middle).

We came here on a Sunday, around 3 pm, for a late lunch. Our friends were visiting from London, and since they always bring me to try new pizza when I visit the UK, we figured that we should do the same. There were 4 of us, so we got to try a large variety of slices. Aside from the tomato pie and margherita, we also tried the mushroom slice, a calzone-like slice with ham and cheese, and the front right seasonal slice, which is a butternut squash sauce with sausage. They kindly cut the slices in half for us so that we could all share.

Our favorites were probably the margherita and the mushroom, but James was really into the pumpkin slice. I think we all would have liked a little more sauce on the rosso. The slices are small and light, so you can definitely try a selection of slices. Even better, they are reasonably priced (unlike Razza). And don’t forget about dessert! We tried a scoop of chocolate and a scoop of fig leaf and quince ice cream (on the house), and they were delicious. We actually had to keep James from eating it all.

The space itself is really open and friendly – the tables are almost family-style, and the whole front is open to the street. So even though it was raining outside, James still felt like he was running around in the fresh air. We’d definitely come back for these slices. They’re open on the weekends for lunch, but only for dinner on the weekdays.

To visit:

Bread and Salt
435 Palisade Ave
Jersey City, NJ 07307