Del Ponte's Coal Fired Pizza

This is the Jersey Shore’s version of Grimaldi’s pizza: coal-fired Margherita style pies; unfortunately, this tastes more like Grimaldi’s chain pizza than the original Brooklyn spot. Aesthetically, it looks like it’s going to be delicious but the ingredients pass the eye test and come up short in the taste department. Starting with the sauce, it’s lacking in both quantity & quality. It needs some zing or zip, it’s too light & slightly sweet but there’s definitely not enough on the pie to make a fair assessment of its flavor. The fresh mozzarella is easily the best component…creamy & tasty with great texture, it deserves a better supporting cast. In my experience, coal-fired ovens don’t get hot enough to produce crispy pizza. This is no exception. The smokey flavor and slight char aren’t enough to carry the super soft dough and chewy crust. The shredded basil classes up the pie but doesn’t add much other than colorful decoration. Spread on more sauce with a little extra pizzazz and find a way to make this pie crispier, then we can talk 8s; but as it is, this is decent local shore pizza that doesn’t live up to the hype and is not a destination spot by any means.