Established in Harrison, NJ in 1980 by Nino D’Angelo & his family, then relocated to this current spot, Nino’s is evidently known more for their Sicilian style squares than traditional round pies, something I didn’t know going into the review. Just looking at this aesthetic atrocity, I can clearly see why the squares are more popular. This is massive strip mall football pizza: giant, doughy, thick & weighty in every aspect, with such heavy ingredients, the box weighed a ton, as if it were filled with bricks. A visual abomination with no aesthetic beauty whatsoever, this pie is mega doughy & filling with a messy, sloshy, loose & sloppy pile of cheese atop, spilling over the crust, oozing into the upper left corner of the box. The old saying goes: “Don’t judge a book by its cover;” the same could be said for pizza sometimes as this pie is not nearly as terrible as it looks, with the taste actually saving the overall score. The dough is soft, thick, heavy & filling, firmer in some parts but flimsy, floppy & mushy in other areas from the cheese & sauce absolutely soaking the pizza. A mostly basic but extra thick shredded mozzarella blend, the cheese is very melty, oozing & flowing like lava, chaotically sloshing around the surface, slipping & sliding off slices. Way too heavy, the mozz feels like an extra cheese amount with far too much moisture emanating, adding significant weight to an already hefty pie. Moderately tasty, the sauce is infiltrated by the moisture of the mozzarella, rendering it watery, liquidy & loose, combined with a bit of grease creating a soupy consistency that lacks heartiness & substance, leaking through the cheese & into the dough. Overall, this is not a flattering pie visually, physically or texturally…mostly a monstrosity. But by some small miracle, this pizza is actually rather tasty, with decent flavor carrying the pie past its disgraceful appearance. However, presentation matters when factoring a rating. Dial back the cheese significantly to tighten this pizza up & crisp the dough substantially for a shot at a score in the 7s. As it stands, this pie gets saddled with a more-than-fair 6.8 final rating. If you decide to give this place a try, stick with the squares.
