New Jersey has six entries on the ‘best pizza’ list

Every year, the Daily Meal ranks the best pizzas in the country, and this year New Jersey placed six pizzerias on the list of the 101 best.

Bread and Salt in Jersey City is #55, Papa’s Tomato Pies in Robbinsville is #52, Santillo’s in Elizabeth (which is a staple of every best pizza list) is 47th, DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pies in Robbinsville is #37, the Star Tavern in Orange is 32nd, and Razza Pizza Artigianale in Jersey City ranks all the way up at #3 (okay, I’ve never heard of that one).

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve only eaten at one of those New Jersey establishments, the Star Tavern, but it was really good. Santillo’s gets mentioned every time we talk about pizza so it is near the top of my need-to-go food pilgrimage list (right after Krug’s in Newark for their hamburger).

How did the Daily Meal arrive at their rankings? By assembling “a blue-chip, geographically diverse list of pizza panelists — chefs, restaurant critics, bloggers, writers and other pizza authorities” to vote for their favorites (but only if they’ve actually eaten there). That means there are a lot of different types of pizza on the list, including deep dish (Illinois has more restaurants on the list than New Jersey does- California does, too), although I mention that just to see if Jeff Deminski’s head will explode when he reads it.

The number one pizzeria on the list (again) is Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana in New Haven, Connecticut. As a side note, Joe V’s favorite pizza joint, Joe & Pat’s in Staten Island is #41.

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