Highly Competitive ‘Pizza Bowl’ Declares the Best Pizza in New Jersey
And you won't find it in Newark or Jersey City.
Lou Anthony
In 2021, Food & Wine declared New Jersey the "best pizza state in America," and now, one town in particular has a lot to celebrate.
At this year's annual Pizza Bowl (yes, a real event), the recently opened Morristown pizzeria Coniglio’s Old Fashioned took home the top prize in the very, very competitive category of Best Pizza in NJ. The statewide event is organized each year by Jersey Pizza Joints in an effort to find the best slice around. Nino Coniglio, a seasoned pizzaiolo who has made a name for himself with six successful NYC pizza shops, opened the restaurant with his wife just a few months ago.
Lou Anthony
New Jersey-born Coniglio has been making pizza since he was 14 years old, and some of his most popular ventures have been just across the Hudson River, including Brooklyn Pizza Crew and Williamsburg Pizza. Coniglio's Old Fashioned, his first pizzeria in his home state, features pizzas like the Brooklyn (mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmesan Reggiano, basil), the Meatball Ricotta (housemade meatballs, tomato sauce, mozzarella, ricotta), and his famous square-shaped Upside Down Sicilian (mozzarella, tomato sauce, pecorino Romano).
Related:New Jersey Now Has an Official Pizza Trail, and You Should Go
His pizzas use local Jersey mozzarella, San Marzano tomatoes, and Caputo 00 flour with fermented yeast, which achieves a sourdough-like crust. The restaurant also serves non-pizza dishes, including heroes, eggplant, and chicken parm, and his family's spaghetti and meatballs recipe.
Lou Anthony
The third Annual Pizza Bowl took place on February 4. Over 250 pies were sampled along with 2,000 meatballs, according to Patch. Coniglio's pizzas were declared the best after assessment of 40 judges, including Goodfellas actor Joseph D'Onofrio.
The truth is, you can find superb pizza all over New Jersey. The newly created New Jersey Pizza Trail is a great way to explore the enormous diversity of pies found within the state, from the classically Neapolitan to boundary-pushing, new wave pies. If you want to take your pizza tourism a step further, visit the number one-ranked pizzeria in the world, Pizzeria I Masanielli, which is located in a small city outside of Naples.
