💎HIDDEN GEM ALERT💎 This diamond in the rough opened in 1981, founded by owner, operator & basically one-man-band John Musso. He makes all the pizzas, all the sandwiches & other menu items, answers the phones, runs the register & essentially doesn’t stop from open to close. An old school, cash only, “IYKYK” spot, named after the Italian puppet that appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960s, the name “Topo Gigio” loosely translates to “Louie Mouse,” which is the mouse logo on the pizzeria’s sign out front. This is a classic traditional round pie; better than most South Jersey football pizza across the river from South Philly. Delightfully thin, very firm & terrifically tasty, with a beautifully charred undercarriage, the dough has very light crisp to go along with a thick, heavy, pillowy soft & doughy crust, a surprisingly tolerable texture in the absence of crunch. A pretty typical shredded melty mozzarella, the cheese is creamy & delicious with an oozy & gooey consistency & modest flavor that compliments the dough nicely. Somewhat subdued, the sauce doesn’t make a strong first impression upon first bite; but it’s actually sneaky superb. A combination of sweet & savory, the flavor eventually shows up & shines. There does seem to be a strange balance as the sauce in the center of the pie (tip of the slice) is sweeter than the sauce near the crust. Not sure if it’s volume-based or perhaps some oregano or seasoning closer to the crust slightly dulling the sweetness. Overall, this is sneaky delicious pizza from a sneaky solid spot in South NJ that only the locals seem to really know about for now. With over 40 years in the business, I think this spot is worth checking out; but this is as close to good as a football pizza gets to being travel worthy without making the cut on the rating scale. A crispier pie would be a shoe-in for the 8s; but as it stands, this is tremendously solid pizza that doesn’t quite knock your socks off but is guaranteed to leave you satisfied.
