Review: Allday Pizza - Austin TX

How do you find the best pizza places? 

Slice mix at Allday Pizza

For the decades during which I lived within an hour or two of New York City, I was skeptical of the claims about how New York pizza is terrific. But my "research" generally involved being hungry somewhere in Manhattan and grabbing a slice from the nearest pizzeria. But, most pizza everywhere, including NYC, is mediocre stuff coming from bad chains like Sbarro or mom'n'pop joints using cheap Sysco ingredients.

Allday Pizza, Hyde Park

The internet changed all that, and I was able to discover the pizzerias in New York making the top-flight pies, such as Lombardi's and Totonno's and John's and Joe's and Denino's. While there are plenty of online sources for New York pizza, it gets more difficult in places like Little Rock, San Diego, and Austin.

Allday interior, Hyde Park

When I travel and want to try the local pizza, I rely most often on two sources: Eater and The Infatuation. They both have genuine professional food writers who can describe the pizza in sufficient detail to help you decide where to go. With those as my guide, I found that Allday Pizza kept appearing on the "best pizza in Austin" lists. When they expanded from a trailer operation to a brick-and-mortar restaurant in the Hyde Park section of town, I rounded up four friends for a visit. 

Allday Pizza was launched in March 2023 by east coast natives Dan Sorg (NJ) and Townsend Smith (CT).  Allday crafts their pies with dough that is cold-fermented for 48 hours from a blend of organic flours (including Austin's Barton Springs Mill flour). A helpful counter person shared with me that the sauce is made with Bianco DiNapoli tomatoes grown in California. Some pizzas contain decadently rich stracciatella house-made cheese; other cheese is from Wisconsin.

Allday is primarily a slice joint, offering huge slices (each pie makes six slices) that range from $4 for the no-cheese "Tomato Tomatoe" to $6 for slices featuring pepperoni, sausage, or the house-made stracciatella cheese. They offer a slight discount if you buy a whole pie of one type, but no discount if you order 6 mixed slices.

For our diverse tastes and dietary preferences (including two vegetarians), we chose to assemble two pies with these 12 slices:

• 2 Stracciatella (tomato sauce, mozzarella, fresh basil, Grana Padano, olive oil, stracciatella)

• 2 Classic Cheese (tomato sauce, mozzarella)

• 2 Vodka Baby (vodka sauce, mozzarella, Grana Padano, fresh basil, sesame seed crust)

• 2 Pep & Pepp (tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni, pepperoncini peppers, Grana Padano)

• 1 Spicy Margh (Calabrian tomato sauce, stracciatella, basil, olive oil, Tajín crust)

• 1 Industry (mozzarella, Verde sauce, pistachio dust)

• 1 Sweet Sausage (Ricotta cream, mozzarella, crumbled sausage, soppressata, red onion, Calabrian honey)

• 1 Pepperoni (tomato sauce, shredded aged mozzarella, fresh mozzarella, pepperoni

Based on the pics and review from The Infatuation, we also split a Goo-Mah sandwich ($15) three ways (mortadella, soppressata, stracciatella, Calabrian mayo, Allday relish on a house-made sesame-seeded roll). The sandwich was terrific, bursting with flavors. The bread was very good -- could be improved only with a sturdier/crisper outer crust. It was a little messy due to the stracciatella, but worth the struggle.

On to the pizza! Let's talk first about the most important element of any pizza - the crust. This was a perfect and brilliant rendition of a New York style crust. It had a crisped yet airy big cornicione that appealed to both the eye and the palate. The main body of the crust was thin and crispy, but pliable in that classic New York way that makes people want to fold it. (For the record, folding your pizza turns it into a sandwich and destroys the taste and texture profile. Don't do it! A slight V-shaped bend at the cornicione is fine to create rigidity.)

Permissable fold at cornicione

OH HELL NO

My first slice sampled (we cut several into smaller slices to taste more varieties) was the Pep & Pepp. Riding on that idyllic crust was a fresh tasting sauce, a generous but proportionate amount of mozzarella, and some top-line cup-and-char style pepperoni. Scattered on top was a sprinking of minced pepperoncini, adding a salty/spicy/vinegary note. It was a burst of umami on top of the pepperoni umami. This was one of the more conventional slices we tried and it was terrific.

The Pep & Pepp

The Sweet Sausage had the most eye appeal - a white pie with crumbled sausage and a big round of thinly sliced soppressata, and a Jackson Pollock-ish smattering of thinly sliced red onion. This was wonderful stuff, but a bit overly sweet (from the honey) for some in our group. This pie could be improved by using pinched Italian sausage that cooks on the pie instead of pre-cooked crumbles, and by dialing back the honey. But still a great slice!

The Sweet Sausage

The "slice that most tasted different than it looked" was the Industry Plant with the verde sauce and pistachio dust. I was expecting a straight-up basil pesto flavor, but I was getting a distinctly different herbal note. My guess was mint, but the helpful counter person shared that the verde sauce is made with green herbs basil, parsley, chives, and dill in addition to capers, miso, lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper. I loved this slice but probably wouldn't want an entire pie that way.

The Industry Plant

The "slice I never would have chosen but blew me away" was, hands down, the Vodka Baby. We ordered two in the mix of slices our vegetarians could eat. I think it was my favorite; the flavor of that vodka sauce was jumpin'. The sauce was so good that I didn't notice the mozzarella (apparently under the sauce). Bonus - a sesame seed crust! I didn't get a picture of a Vodka Baby slice on its own, but you can see it above on in one of the pics with all the slices on the serving tray.

More evidence of a perfectly crafted crust

I relish a regular cornicione on well crafted pizzas, but I also welcome some twists (yeah, I confess to enjoying a pretzel crust). Insider tip - you can get the Vodka Chicken Parm sandwich on that same excellent bread as the Goo-mah, but with a chicken cutlet, stracciatella, and that awesome vodka sauce.

Stracciatella slice showing off that airy cornicione

The Stracciatella was essentially their regular cheese slice, topped with a dollop of stracciatella cheese and a leaf of fresh basil. Great pizza, but in general I'm not keen on heavy and wet cheese on a pie. I'd prefer this wonderful cheese on a salad or with some other bread/cracker vehicle. There's only been one exception to this - the astounding Roman-style pies at Stracci Pizza in Arlington VA.

It's not easy to find good New York pizza outside of New York and New Jersey. Until now, the best New York pizza in Austin has been Home Slice, the venerable slice joint on South Congress Avenue. But Allday is Great Pizza, not only in the conversation for "best New York pizza in Austin" but also "Best Pizza in Austin."

Happy pizza eaters

It's not easy (or fair, really) to draw comparisons between the top Austin pizzas of different styles, such as the Detroit pizza at Via 313, the New York at Allday, the Roman style at Baldinucci, the Sicilian at Pedroso's, or the Neapolitan pizza at Jester King. But Allday is crafting brilliant and tasty pies; all five of us loved this pizza. Service was terrific and the interior had a pleasant vibe only mildly compromised by the drone of industrial synth pop played too loudly.

Six years into my Austin journey and still amazed that it's easier to get great pizza than great Mexican food here in the heart of Texas. 

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. 

 

Trenton Tomato Pie Showdown: DeLorenzo's vs Papa's

Backstory: I grew up eating pizza from the only pizzeria in a tiny town in South Jersey. It was spectacular pizza, and when it closed in the 1970s, I was cast into a pizza desert. All the other nearby pizza places made cheesy greasy floppy pies that tasted fine, but were a mere shadow of the crisp and balanced pizza I had know at Rose's in Riverside NJ.

Papa's Tomato Pie

Fast forward to 1983, when I was working in Princeton NJ and a Trenton-born colleague heard my tale of pizza woe and took me to DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies in "The Burg" -- the Chambersburg section of Trenton that was chockablock with mom and pop Italian restaurants and pizzerias.

The former home of Rose's Pizza, Riverside NJ

Was it as good as Rose's? To my shock and delight, it was better! It became my favorite pizza ("tomato pie" to purists and Trenton natives) for 40+ years counting. I bought pizza there for a few decades before I could ever coax a smile out of Eileen Amico, who usually worked the register while Gary Amico slung the pies. 

Eileen and Gary Amico, DeLo's on Hudson Street in 2012

I figured out exactly when to call to order the pie -- a few minutes before they opened, which was a few minutes after they would answer and say "we're not open yet" and a few minutes before they would take the phone off the hook because they already had more orders than they could handle. I learned to get a tomato pie every Thurday during Lent, when demand slackened because all the regulars wanted a meatless pizza on Friday.

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pie

When I couldn't get an order in at DeLorenzo's, my backup was Joe's Tomato Pies, which closed early in the 2000s. I shamefully didn't get Papa's Tomato Pies on my radar; I tried it for the first time in 2012 (at the former Trenton location on Chambers Street) and said in my review:

"On the Very First Bite, I knew that this pie was something special. Its crust did not look distinctive, and it had only a mild char underneath. But it was about perfectly thin, crisp, and sturdy. The cheese was good if a tad unremarkable, and the sauce had a nice savory zing. I really can't say precisely what sensory memory was triggered, but I was instantly transported to Riverside NJ and Rosa's Tomato Pie circa 1972. "

Papa's old Trenton location on Chambers Street

A few years ago, we visited Papa's at their new location in Robbinsville, and the pie was spectacular. So good, in fact, that for the first time I wondered if DeLorenzo's (also relocated to Robbinsville) had a legitimate challenger. But if you are familiar with recency theory (a psychological phenomenon where people tend to remember information presented most recently better than information presented earlier), then you may accept my Pizza Recency Theory, that the slice in your mouth is a strong candidate for "best pizza ever." 

The Hudson Street sign now inside at Robbinsville

What any pizza scientist needs is to eat different slices back-to-back to get a fully informed conclusion.

So three of us who love both Papa's and DeLorenzo's set off to visit both places consecutively for the definitive answer. DeLorenzo's seems to get more traffic than Papa's, so we arrived there at the 4pm opening time on a Wednesday in May.

Papa's in Robbinsville

We indulged in an Italian Tuna Salad for an appetizer - arugula, Italian tuna, tomatoes, onions, cured olives. We all loved it - in my notes I described it as "banging." 

Because we still had Papa's ahead, we ordered just one single pie, half sausage and half garlic There were no surprises with the tomato pie; it had the signature ultra thin and crisp crust, loads of chunky tomato sauce, and modest amounts of cheese. As with my prior Robbinsville visits, the pie seemed to lack the drizzle of olive oil that was common on Hudson Street. 

The sausage was superb, and the garlic hit all the right notes. Many folks say that the pies are not quite the same as they were in the Chambersburg location, and I agree. I suspect that the reduced/eliminated drizzle of oil is a key reason why. 

They are making many more pies with a bigger staff, so some variation is expected. Still awesome, but next time I'm asking for that olive oil! We each ate just two slices so that we could give Papa's a fair evaluation with not-yet-full stomachs.

Underside of the DeLorenzo's tomato pie

After the restraint we showed at DeLo's, we went all in and ordered two tomato pies at Papa's when we arrived just before 5:00pm (plenty of open tables). So many folks in the Facebook Jersey Pizza Joints group have been praising the mustard pie that we decided to get a regular tomato pie and the mustard variety. I have had the mustard pie and enjoyed it, so I wanted my dining companions to experience it.

Papa's interior

For the purpose of even comparison, the regular pie was the same as we had ordered at DeLo's - half garlic, half sausage. For the mustard pie we went with half pepperoni, half sausage. Let's begin with the mustard pie before we get to the main event!

Our regular pie at Papa's

We'll start with the bottom line: at best, the mustard was a distraction. For us, it made a great pizza taste like Philly pretzels or hot dogs or other things where mustard belongs. When I had a mustard pie at Papa's on Chambers Street  in 2012, I felt that the mustard was subdued, lending mostly an extra layer of salt that I enjoyed. Perhaps it was applied too thickly this time, but we uniformly agreed that the mustard pie came in last. Your mileage may vary! I get it that some folks love it. 

The mustard pie at Papa's

For both pies, the crust was wonderful. I felt that the Papa's crust was 95% as great as DeLorenzo's for most of each slice, but then even better at the cornicione. Papa's had a better sauce/cheese ratio and flavor; this was a perfectly balanced pie. The sausage, like the sausage at DeLorenzo's, was impeccable. It reaffirmed my preference for pinched sausage as the best topping.

Papa's terrific crust and cornicione

Just a few years ago at Papa's, I thought the garlic pie almost eclipsed the sausage pie; it was ethereal. On this visit, the sausage half was superior, and I think it's because the garlic came out of a jar. That's a no-no for any reason, but especially so on pizza this great.

Underside of a Papa's slice

Final verdict? There's a new sherriff in town! I cannot believe that after 40 years someone has dethroned DeLorenzo's, but here is how we ranked the three tomato pies we ate that day:

1. Papa's regular tomato pie

2. DeLorenzo's tomato pie

3. Papa's mustard pie

We ate pizza from JoJo's Tavern and Riccardo's Tomato Pies during the same week. All of these were wonderful and any of them could justifiably be your favorite.  

Even before I could drive, I loved the Reedman ads. This one from 1964 is on the wall at Papa's

DeLorenzo's was my oasis when I stumbled out of the pizza desert in 1983. It has filled my belly and it fills my pizza memories. I discovered Papa's decades too late, but I can reach one very easy conclusion: people within driving distance of Robbinsville NJ have extraordinary choices with these best-of-class pizzerias.