Conte’s Pizza and Bar

Established in 1936 and serving pizzas since 1950, Conte’s is old school and one of the more historic pizzerias in NJ. Specializing in thin crust style, their small and medium pies are more bar pie-ish than their large pizzas. A lot of local love leads to strong scores and high hopes, especially seeing how many people are willing to travel for this pizza. The dough was shockingly floppy and super soft, leaving the slice limp when you pick it up. The undercarriage was completely covered in flour. Not sure if it was undercooked or just there to prevent moisture. The crust is also pasty white with excess flour, cracker-like with medium crisp. The sauce is pretty good, sweet, decent quantity, nothing special, could use more spices, but easily the best attribute of the pie. The cheese is middle of the road taste-wise, melted well, fairly standard. The slices are a little heavier than your typical thin crust bar pies, but I wouldn’t call this heavy pizza. I totally respect the history of this place but I’m afraid their pizza is a bit overrated by the locals, some travelers and Portnoy. Considering the wait is usually an hour or more, it’s decent pizza but not worth traveling for unless you just want to try it for yourself. I love my home state of NJ but my Central Jersey people have to try several pizzerias in Brooklyn before they decide where the best pizza resides.