Big Apple Sports Bar and Restaurant

Name of Restaurant: Big Apple Sports Bar and Restaurant

City, State: Bayonne, NJ

Specialty pizza: Salad Pizza, Taco Pizza, Shrimp Scampi, Philly Cheese Steak

1. Crust (flavor, crispiness, how well it holds the ingredients, how it was cooked?): 1-5

0.5 thinness; very flimsy but comes in handy because it’s easier to fold. Hard to taste the flavor of the crust because its so thin. 3 ½ stars

2. Sauce (flavor, quantity, viscosity): 1-5

3 stars; Good flavor, not a lot of sauce on the pizza but good balance with the cheese.

3. Cheese/Toppings (flavor, quantity, technique used): 1-5

Loved the seasonings that they added on top of the cheese it gave it extra pizzazz. Cheese was good but so greasy we had to drain it all off before we could eat it. Not recommended to eat in the car (especially if you are driving and don’t want to ruin your pants); 3 stars

4. Overall quality/Taste: 1-5

Good flavor and balance overall; 3 ½

5. Presentation of the Pizza: (how it’s sliced, served):

Big slices, don’t know how it was served because we got it to go!

6. Ambiance/Décor of the Restaurant/Friendliness of the staff:

Not sure…because we got the pizza to go, however Maurio said that when he was there before he was impressed.

Star Tavern

Name of Restaurant: Star Tavern World Famous Pizzeria

City, State: Orange, NJ

Background of Restaurant: “The Star” as it’s called is owned and operated by the Vayianos family for 27 years. Their popularity is a result of generations of families who are regulars and the delicious, consistent and moderately priced food that they serve.

Specialty pizza: Sicilian, White/Red spinach, Eggplant, Three Cheese

1. Crust (flavor, crispiness, how well it holds the ingredients, how it was cooked?): 1-5

3.5-4:thinness, held ingredients well, not flimsy good flavor, 2 ½ stars. Since we ordered a bar pie the crust was thicker than the regular pie, it was still crispy on the bottom but slightly burnt around the edges.

2. Sauce (flavor, quantity, viscosity): 1-5

More sauce than cheese, pretty flavorful although I found it a little salty (Maurio didn’t though); 2 ½ stars

3. Cheese/Toppings (flavor, quantity, technique used): 1-5

Cheese was flavorful and not too greasy, absorbs the sauce and blends with it; 3 stars

4. Overall quality/Taste: 1-5

Overall it was a pretty good slice of pie but I don’t think that it was all that it was made out to be but that was probably because we ordered the bar pie instead of the super thin regular pie (our mistake). 2 ½ stars

5. Presentation of the Pizza: (how it’s sliced, served):

Small bar pie, 12” with 8 pieces, served on metal plate

6. Ambiance/Décor of the Restaurant/Friendliness of the staff:

Bar type place with TV’s, nice and friendly atmosphere. A great place to hang out with friends, have a few drinks and a couple slices of pizza.

De'Lorezo's Tomato Pies

Name of Restaurant: De’Lorenzo’s Tomato Pies

City, State: Robinsville, NJ (the original is in Trenton, NJ)

Background of Restaurant: In 1936 the De’Lorenzo family opened one of the first pizza (tomato pie) restaurants in Trenton (which to this day doesn’t have a restroom inside). In 1947 Alexander “Chick” De’Lorenzo established De’Lorenzo’s at 530 Hudson St and worked with his wife at this restaurant for 40 years. De’Lorenzo’s restaurant in Trenton was named in the top 25 pizza joints in New Jersey.

Specialty pizza: Clam pizza (which we didn’t try unfortunately)

1. Crust (flavor, crispiness, how well it holds the ingredients, how it was cooked?): 1-5 overall; 1-10 (1=thinnest, 10=thickest)

5-on a thinness level, thicker type crust, a little bland, 2 ½

2. Sauce (flavor, quantity, viscosity): 1-5

3- chunky with a fresh taste but a tad bit on the bland side. Not very sweet, Whole pieces of tomato, more sauce than cheese.

3. Cheese/Toppings (flavor, quantity, technique used): 1-5

Good, fresh flavor but would have liked a little more cheese; 3

4. Overall quality/Taste: 1-5

2 1/2; Good flavor, fresh and not greasy, too bland for me though. It might have been a totally different experience if we visited the location in Trenton though

5. Presentation of the Pizza: (how it’s sliced, served):

Cut in cookie cutter shapes, which was a unique and interesting attribute that makes De’Lorenzo’s stand out against other pizza shops.

6. Ambiance/Décor of the Restaurant/Friendliness of the staff:

Very new and clean looking, pictures on the wall. The owner was very nice, actually chasing after us to make sure we were coming back since they were about to close. De’Lorenzo is BYOB which is nice because you can bring in wine or beer and enjoy the pizza without blowing a lot of money on alcohol.