This was named the best pizza rustica in New Jersey

Even though people in New Jersey like to argue about everything, they save some of their most passionate debates for pizza. Who has the best is the common question; a question with hundreds of answers.

You may be familiar with the Facebook group Jersey Pizza (motto: if your pizza isn’t from Jersey, it probably SUCKS), started during the pandemic by Guy Madsen. The group now boasts over 100,000 members!

One of the things the group does to promote pizzerias in New Jersey is hold contests for best pizzas in the state or in a certain region of the state.

The most recent competition was to determine who makes the best pizzagaina, or pizza rustica. It’s a thick, savory pie stuffed with meat and cheese; it’s popular around Lent.

For the contest, they divided the state into sections.

Each section got a winner and then one of them was deemed to be the best overall.

The statewide winner is Massimo’s Deli in Kenilworth (they won the Central division, too).

If the name of the deli sounds familiar, it might be because they also won the crown of “best mutz” two years in a row. They obviously know their food!

According to TapInto Kenilworth (edited by Telina Cuppari, the Guinness World Record holder for most pizza collectibles), the other regional winners were:

Northern Jersey: Vilardo’s in Nutley

South Jersey: Boaggio’s in Mt. Laurel

The winners were determined by voting by members of the Facebook group.

Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.

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