3 likes
ryan.rutherford
They have multiple locations but this is the main attraction, open since the summer of 1956 on Boardwalk & 9th Street. There’s a fair amount of hype surrounding this pizza, mostly generated from loyal summertime followers who swear this is the best pizza at the Jersey Shore. Hard to tell from looking at the picture of this molten lava mess but the sauce is swirled on the pie, very similar to Maruca’s Pizza in Seaside Heights, NJ. Not particularly aesthetically pleasing, there’s also an uneven distribution of sauce. The dough is way softer than I expected, semi-tasty, with significant Jersey Shore floppage. The middle of the pie is rather soggy from the heavy cheese, compounded by the heat. The cheese is melty & creamy in the middle of the magma but tight and rigid near the crust. The cheese also has a sharp, rather funky, borderline sour taste. Their blend is more than just mozzarella, perhaps a pecorino Romano or Parmesan mixed in; whatever it is, it’s not appealing to my taste buds. The sauce has more of a bitter tang than sweetness. Mostly, oregano based, the taste is dulled as opposed to pies bursting with flavor that Jersey tomatoes usually provide; this is more of a tomato paste with added spices. The crust is easily the star of the pie; not super crunchy or crispy, but definitely a terrific texture and outstanding taste, on par with some of the best crust I’ve ever had, saving the overall score of the pie. The nostalgia of great memories & good times on the boardwalk in the summer probably boosts the ratings of this pizza for many of its loyal customers; but in the grand scheme of the pizza game, this is good, but not exceptional pizza. The overall taste isn’t to my liking and the texture comes up well short in the crispness department; but the crust salvages some pretty underwhelming boardwalk pizza. Falling well short of the 8s, this pie is fine if you spend your summer in Ocean City but it’s definitely not worth making a pilgrimage.
