Pizza Review
New spot. Cheesy. Greasy. Good crust.

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Pizza Review
Open since 2019, this West Caldwell spot is 1 of 2 Mandara’s pizzerias in New Jersey along with the Wyckoff location. This pie is Jersey strip mall football pizza to a T: thickish, doughy & rather large, what they call “NY style” pizza. Despite the absence of crisp & char, the undercarriage is fairly firm & mostly soft, with minimal crunch in the crust. I like the flavor from the dough; it’s very tasty but the texture leaves a lot to be desired if you like a crispier pie. The shredded mozzarella cheese appears to be of cheaper quality, producing a significant amount of oil & grease. Pooling atop the surface of the pie, giving off a bright orange glow, the saltiness from the excess oil intrudes upon the flavor of the cheese, infiltrating the sweetness of the sauce as well. Despite leaning more savory than sweet, the sauce has terrific tang to go along with quality zest, zip & zing. Although somewhat watered down, likely from the gushing grease, the sauce lacks heartiness but is still flavorful enough to make a positive impact. Overall, this is pretty typical strip mall football pizza, about what you’d expect from this area. A decent joint to grab a slice for lunch, a fine Friday night pizza and a solid spot to take the family for Sunday dinner as their other Italian fare looks fantastic. Not a destination pizzeria as is; but if they upgrade the cheese blend, crisp up the dough & control the heavy oil flow, there’s potential to score in the high 7s & push for the low 8s.
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