Bill Doyle’s pilgrimage to a nationally celebrated pizzeria in NJ

I have heard (and written about) Razza Pizza Aritiginale in Jersey City, which has been named one of the best pizzerias in the country, as well as being named the best pizza by the New York Times, but I had never been there.

Now I have.

I was afraid it wouldn’t live up to the hype; I was prepared to be disappointed. I was not.

The restaurant itself is in an unassuming building on Grove St. in Jersey City, but inside, the pizza is amazing.

The first obstacle was deciding which pizzas to order; they all sounded so good. Check out some of the offerings:

My son, Sam, and I debated a.) which to order and b.) how many to order. We were taking the train to the Devils’ game afterward, so taking leftovers home wasn’t an option. That’s why we only ordered two.

We decided to keep it basic, ordering a Santo (Sausage) and Pepperoni.

First, the Santo:

I’m a big fan of sausage pizza, and this was the best one I’ve ever had. I was afraid my palate wouldn’t be refined enough to notice the subtleties of a gourmet pie, but I could taste the different components, the cheese, the sausage, and the chili paste. The sausage itself was phenomenal. We polished off the whole thing easily.

The second pizza we got was a pepperoni (we decided to keep it basic on my first trip):

Again, you could taste the fresh mozzarella and the pepperoni; it was the best pepperoni pie I’ve ever had. Even better than the Star Tavern, which had been my favorite.

We also had a visit from our former producer, Joe Votruba:

The food was incredible, and I can’t wait to go back and try some of their other pizzas!

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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