Bradley Beach's Vic's Italian Restaurant has been making excellent pizzas since 1947

Pizza can be traced back to the Roman Empire. Pursuit of excellence goes back further — at least to Aristotle who said: "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."

The bar pies at Vic's Italian Restaurant in Bradley Beach are excellent and, according to one of its two general managers, Travis Semblewski (the other is his brother-in-law, Edward Dolive, Jr.), since Vic's went from bar and grill to an Italian restaurant in 1947, four generations have maintained the habits needed to stay in the top echelon of pizza-making.

In fact many of Vic's recipe cards from its founding are handwritten by Carmella Giunco, wife of the establishment's founder, Vic Giunco, or their son, John. That includes Vic's lovely pizza sauce and dough mixture.

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"The pizza hasn't changed in all that time," Semblewski said, adding there have been "adjustments" because suppliers have changed, but their commitment to only buying top-notch ingredients has yet to waiver.

The sauce

With the exception of the tomato brand he uses, which, given the volatility of the food-service industry, Semblewski has to switch more frequently than he'd like, the sauce with its secret combination of herbs and spices fundamentally hasn't changed since 1947.

It helps that Andrew Hankins, the cook who blends the aromatics for the sauce, has been doing it for 45 years and Keith Kohlmann, the person who actually cooks the sauce, has been with Vic's for more than 25 years.

"Consistency is key," Semblewski said.

The dough

We've talked to more than a dozen pizzamakers, all at the top of their game, and everyone has his own recipe. They all use some kind of high gluten flour, various types of yeast, but Vic's was the first we've spoken with that uses sugar in its pizza dough.

Semblewski said it helps caramelize the crust and gives the pie its crunch. He also said the dough is made daily and sometimes twice a day when volumes go through the roof.

He recalls that, right after Bar Stool's David Portnoy gave him a rave review in 2021, the kitchen dedicated solely to producing pies (there are two kitchens at Vic's) made a mind-blowing 989 pies in one night.

"We probably did more than a thousand all together, if you count the pies we fed our staff," Semblewski said.

The cheese

Like the sauce, Semblewski said he won't go into how they blend the cheese. It, too, is a family secret, but, he added, it's a mix of mozzarellas. Like many pies, Vic's does sweat a fair amount of oil from the cheese, but that is by design.

"Fat is flavor," he said.

The oven

As does their neighbor to the north and west, Federici's of Freehold, Vic's pizza kitchen utilizes a conveyor belt, except Vic's is a triple decker.

The conveyor allows for greater consistency of cooking and the extra decks allow for a greater volume, which is crucial. Come summer weeknights, Vic's routinely cranks out 500 pies and more than 700 on weekends.

"We have six guys working, just making pizza," Semblewski said. "It's crazy."

Good to know

Vic's has outdoor seating and a liquor license with good local beers on tap. Besides pizza, patrons are especially fond of the antipasto (chopped salad or salami and provolone plate), which we didn't try. Semblewski said the pepperoni is sliced in-house and is a bit thicker than most pepperonis. He also said Vic's is not just limited to the bar-style pies it makes. On request they will make a thicker crust, essentially just adding a second thin crust, which, he said, he treats himself to every once in a while.

The bottom line 🍕🍕

Excellent pies. If you are in the area, by all means pop in. We don't think you will be disappointed.

Go: 60 Main St., Bradley Beach; 732-774-8225, vicspizza.com.

Ratings are: 🍕🍕🍕 Exceptional (worthy of a pizza pilgrimage); 🍕🍕 Excellent (if you are in town, make a stop); and 🍕 Worth It (good if it's your neighborhood joint).

About this series

In My Big Year of Pizza, Matt Fagan is on a quest to rate as many of New Jersey's close to 3,000 pizzas as possible and let readers know where they fit in the state's pizza pantheon. He's trying for two pizzerias per month and to taste pies from Salem to Sussex counties.

The idea for this big year of pizza comes from the 2011 movie "The Big Year," starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson. The difference is they were funny and, as amateur bird watchers, they searched for birds instead of pizza.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Vic's Italian Restaurant has been making excellent pizzas since 1947