Date: 09/11/2016
Location: Skillman, NJ
Pizza Ordered: Peppers and Onions Pie
Website: www.newworldpizza.com/

New World Pizza in Skillman, New Jersey is a hidden gem for sure. This pizzeria is my favorite of the local pizza shops near my home town. The owners of this establishment are phenomenal people and the staff is always extremely friendly. I come often enough that they know what I'm going to order before I even ask. New World Pizza is located just down the road from Montgomery High School. While parking can be somewhat limited, I've never really had a problem finding a spot. The inside has some seating, but since the kitchen takes up a large portion of the pizzeria, there is only enough room for about twenty people. There is a nice patio area outside that offers some outdoor seating during the summer months.

​I have tried a variety of slices over the years of coming to this pizzeria including the stuffed cheese-steak slice, the stuffed chicken Parmesan slice, margherita slices, pepperoni, sausage, peppers and onions, etc. My girlfriend's favorite is the peppers and onions pizza and my favorite item off the menu isn't actually pizza at all, it's the pepperoni roll. The pepperoni roll is incredibly delicious. The bread is crispy and flavorful and the cheese is always fresh. The sauce is a pleasant combination of spicy and sweet and pairs excellently with the bread of the roll. As for the pizza, the peppers and onions are always fresh and cover a generous portion of the pie. The crust is fluffy on the inside and crisp on the outside The sauce is deliciously sweet and tangy. While the cheese can often stretch to great lengths upon biting, it tastes great and doesn't pose too much of a problem. If you're interested in one of the famous stuffed slices that New World offers, my room mate's favorite is the chicken Parmesan slice, which is fantastic in my opinion. The cheese-steak stuffed slice is also a favorite of my friends. 

New World Pizza even has delicious desserts ranging from mousse to cheesecake to Italian ices. But the best part about New World Pizza is their state of the art pizza trailer. Their pizza trailer does weddings, birthdays, and other special events. If you thought the pizza from the store is good, the trailer pizza is EVEN BETTER. I love the pizza from the shop, but the pizza trailer pies are my favorite pizza I've had to date. Sometimes, they have home grown hot peppers from their garden and if you're lucky, you can enjoy a delicious smores or nutella dessert pie. New World Pizza is a fantastic establishment and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone in the area. 

Pictured on the left: Peppers and Onions Pie and Pepperoni Roll from New World Pizza. 
Pictured on the right: Margherita Pie from the New World Pizza Trailer. 

Lenny's Pizza and Pasta is located in a small mall close to the Municipal Building in Hillsborough, NJ. The location seems small from the outside, but has a much more spacious interior. There are a wide variety of slices on display behind the counter, so the options are plentiful. I decided to go with the Grandma and Margherita, two of my favorites. The pizzeria has a fairly nice dining area if you choose to eat in and has different sized tables and booths to accommodate different crowd sizes. 

The pizza itself looks very tasty, but wasn't very flavorful. Their margherita slice uses no sauce, only tomatoes, which is one style that I don't mind, but in order for that to work, the tomatoes have to be flavorful. The crust was dry and bland and the cheese left much to be desired. Even the spices added to the margherita slice didn't really provide. The grandma slice too lacked much flavor. Yes, there was adequate sauce and cheese, but no taste that stood out. When I do end up ranking all of the Hillsborough pizzerias, I doubt Lenny's will make it very high (even their plain pie, which I've eaten many times is not even close to Joe's or Victors). I suppose I can blame the lack of flavors on the fact that my slices were re-heated, though I hope that the fresh slices are much better than what I experienced. 

Usually I avoid chain pizzerias like the plague, but Carrabba's and Bertucci's are different beasts entirely. Carrabba's is an Italian grill in it's own right. The main courses of pasta, chicken, fish, etc. can stand alone by themselves, but I find their pizza extremely delicious. Carrabba's also has the best bread, oil and spices as well as mozzarella sticks. Their restaurants are very similar no matter where you go, as I have been to several NJ locations and one in South Carolina. They have ample seating consisting of booths and tables and usually have a bar top table that overlooks the cooking area. The staff is always very friendly and the atmosphere is comfortable. 

As far as the pizza goes, it's the perfect size. I have always preferred spicier sauce over tangy and Carrabba's really delivers. The cheese is well distributed and very fresh. The crust and bottom of the pizza are sufficiently crispy, with great flavor. The roasted red peppers are mild and provide a nice balance when paired with the onions and fresh pepperoni. Maybe it was because I had a rather disappointing pizza for lunch or maybe it was the delicious sangria I had along side this dish, but this was one of the best pizza's I've ever experienced and I look forward to my next visit. 

Though this restaurant is not in New Jersey, I just had to post a review on it. My girlfriend and I were in Wisconsin for a wedding and out flight out was cancelled so we had to scramble last minute and got a flight out of Chicago early the next morning. After driving to our hotel, we decided to go into the city to see the Chicago Bean (or more correctly known as the Cloud Gate). While in the city, we decided it would be sacrilegious if we did not try a true Chicago Deep Dish pizza. After a bit of research and a desire not to walk or drive far, we settled on Pizano's, a fairly large pizzeria only a block from the park. The interior was busy with customers and waitstaff. There were photographs that adorned the walls and the seats were very comfortable. The pizzeria also housed a bar and several TVs where people could watch the latest sports games. Everything felt very authentic. The waiter informed us that the deep dish would take about 45 minutes to reach our table and, at first, I thought this was because of the high population in the restaurant. It wasn't until later that I realized that truly fantastic deep dish pizzas take a longer time to cook than the New York style I'm used to. 

Now before seeing or trying the pizza, I have always joked with people that New York Style pizza is the dominant pizza style in the US. I always joked that Chicago Deep Dish was just a cheese casserole. After seeing and tasting the delicious creation brought to the table, I still think Chicago Deep Dish is a cheese casserole, but it is a delicious one at that. The cheese was so molten, it strung right off the slice as I cut it. The sauce was rich and tangy, but also slightly spicy. The crust was thick and fluffy, but crispy on the outside. This pizza was extremely filling and extremely satisfying. I was worried, at first, that we wouldn't get one of the better, authentic Deep Dish pizzas the area is known for, but after tasting this pie, I know that we made no mistake going to Pizano's. While I am not a local from the area and I don't argue that there are likely even better locations to enjoy Chicago Deep Dish, my girlfriend and I were definitely not disappointed with the pie we got. And though I'm still partial to New York Style, I definitely won't be so hard on Chicago Deep Dish from now on.