Review: Riccardo's Pizza and Italian Restaurant - Browns Mills, NJ

Many who grew up Trenton tomato pie are fiercely loyal to this take on pizza. So loyal, in fact, that they bristle when you call it pizza. If you're new to the concept of a Trenton tomato pie, click HERE for a primer on what "tomato pie" means in Philly, in Trenton, or in Charleston SC. It's a different baked delicacy in all three areas, and one isn't even a pizza!

Tomato pie at Riccardo's

Back in the 1980s, the only place you could get a true Trenton tomato pie was ( ... drum roll ... ) in Trenton, NJ. Trenton was full of fine Italian pizzerias (ahem, tomato pie joints) and restaurants, many of the true mom and pop variety. At the top of my list was DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies on Hudson Street (not to be confused with DeLorenzo's Pizza on Hamilton Avenue) and Joe's Tomato Pies (closed in 1999). There were many others, including my current favorite, Papa's Tomato Pies. DeLorenzo's and Papa's have both relocated to the Robbinsville suburb.

Riccardo's exterior

Even though Trenton itself no longer has any tomato pie joints or legacy Italian restaurants, the Trenton Tomato Pie is thriving in the suburbs. It has spread northward to Titusville at It's Nutt's, southward to Burlington County at Mateo's and Lillo's, and eastward to Browns Mills at Riccardo's. You can get a Trenton tomato pie at the wonderful pizza trailer Pedroso's in Austin, Texas. You can find it on the menu at Tony’s Pizzeria Napoletana in San Francisco and at Pizza Rock in Las Vegas. But let's talk about Riccardo's, the booming restaurant in Browns Mills.

Riccardo's interior

Browns Mills is a sleepy unincorporated burg in Burlington County on the edge of the Pine Barrens, and historically it was a source for modest housing for families of military folks stationed nearby at Fort Dix and McGuire Air Force Base. But now it is home to the tomato pie restaurant generating the most buzz on social media.

The real Pine Barrens

Note: if your knowledge of the Pine Barrens comes from the Sopranos episode bearing that name, you should know that the show did a great injustice by filming in a hilly area with tall trees, so obviously NOT the Pine Barrens, which are Kansas-style flat with short scrubby pine trees.

My God, these aren't even pine trees!

The Facebook Group New Jersey Pizza Joints is a high-activity forum on pizza, and Riccardo's is in heavy rotation there, garnering praise from just about all who visit. I had a long list of pizzerias for a recent trip to New Jersey (staying in Ewing, a Trenton suburb), and Riccardo's was high on that list.

Our party of four arrived just before 5pm on a weekday, so we faced no wait to get a table. The inside is big with about 30 tables, not the smaller layout you might find in a pizzeria. We decided to go big with our order - we chose a House Salad ($10.95) to share, the Browns Mills Tomato Pie ($23.95 plus $4.95 for pinched sausage topping), and the "Skinny Minnie Thinnie" which the menu describes as a pizza with a "cracker crust, super thin, baked in a rectangular pan, topped with mozzarella and San Marzano tomatoes, baked crispy" ($23.95 plus $4.95 for "roni cups" pepperoni and hot honey).

The House Salad

A word about the salad - made with iceberg lettuce, carrots, tomatoes, red onions, green olives, cucumbers and croutons, it was big enough to serve four. But the downside of arriving before 5pm is that our salad was probably prepared for the day before, because there was a bit of brown lettuce. It was a little dried out, not an ideal tone setter, but not a big deal either.

The Skinny Minnie Thinnie with "Roni Cups"

Both pies came to our table about the same time, and they were gloriously beautiful creations. We came for the Browns Mills Tomato Pie, but let's talk first about the other pie. Ordinarily, I steer clear of gimmicky menu items, especially in a pizzeria. This is not the time or place to be vegan, gluten-free, counting calories, etc. Those are all legitimate dietary concerns, but any such twists will (for me) diminish the essence of a great pizza. Don't go putting buffalo chicken (or even fresh mozzarella) on my tomato pie! 

A slice of the Skinny Minnie Thinnie

Hence, the idea of a "Skinny Minnie Thinnie" pizza seems like a pie to skip right over. But one thoughtful reviewer (again, on the Jersey Pizza Joints group) had mentioned it and shared pics. We took a gamble on it and I'm glad we did. 

Beautiful char under the Skinny Minnie Thinnie

This pizza was  indeed cracker-thin, but its crust was sturdy enough to give proper support to its substantial cheese payload on top. Even though the menu says that the cheese is whole milk mozzarella, we detected a flavor that reminded us of the pizza at JoJo's Tavern in Hamilton Square NJ, where the cheese blend includes cheddar (according to some reviewers).

"Skinny" may decribe the thickness of this pan baked delight, but it surely cannot refer to the calories, because this pie was dense with cheese and the lovely oil from cup-and-char style of pepperoni. That pepperoni was absolutely top grade. The hot honey (which we asked for on the side) was a lovely complement for this pie, which already had an overload of umami burst.

Some edges sported a beautifully caramelized cheese border. One member of our party noted that this Skinny pie tasted like the pizza at Quincy Hall (Arlington, VA) even though the crust at Quincy is more of a New York - Neapolitan hybrid style. At any rate, don't sleep on this one. It's not a gimmick, despite the name suggesting that it's some kind of "diet pizza."

The Browns Mills Tomato Pie

The main feature, the purpose for making the drive out to Browns Mills, was of course the tomato pie. Just one glance and we knew that this was legitimate Trenton tomato pie despite its Browns Mills moniker. The crust was perfectly rigid, not even a hint of tip droop here. The pie was well-done, right up to (but not over) the edge of being burnt. I accept - even embrace - that many of the best pies are going to have some char spots.

Underneath the tomato pie

We observed some corn meal under the crust. I am among those who enjoy the slight textural changes that corn meal introduces. And when making pizza at home, I surely appreciate how it keeps the pie from sticking to the peel on the way into the oven.

No tip droop!

This pie was hitting all the right notes. The thin-yet-crisp crust with a flavor of its own, the slightly sweet sauce (less chunky than DeLorenzo's), the ideal balance of the sauce-to-cheese-to-crust ratio, and even the lovely fresh basil on top. The pinched sausage was indeed the ideal topping, and it was top quality stuff.

This is spectacular tomato pie. All the elements were in perfect harmony. Full legit in every aspect, and it's better than my old standby, Joe's Tomato Pie. This was flawless. Riccardo's deserves every bit of the praise it's getting online. 

How does it compare to the Robbinsville pies of DeLorenzo's and Papa's? It deserves to be in the conversation, but based on eating all three over two days, I rank them Papa's, DeLo's, then Riccardo's. But the quality differences are tiny. Yes, each tomato pie maker has its distinct character, but you can easily defend putting any one of these three at the top of your list.

Beyond superlative pies, we had excellent service. This is not bargain tomato pie; $29 for a pie with meat toppings is surely on the high end, but it's still a great value. The tomato pie and the Skinny were both so good that by now I'd have been back to try the Grandma and Detroit style pies if I lived nearby.