Searching for a Great Slice of Pizza

The current primary topic of interest in my food-obsessed mind is pizza. I’ve been thinking about it increasingly since having the great pie at Joey’s Pizza that I wrote about a couple weeks ago. And as you’d expect, I don’t want to settle for just any pizza. So I started researching the best current options in the Philly region with a special emphasis on places that sell by the slice. 

It wasn’t that many years ago that I would have known where to go for the best pie in the area. But the local pizza scene has exploded in recent years, with the number of takeout shops and restaurants putting out a top-flight product going through the roof in comparison to where it was for most of my life. And I’ve been sidetracked for much of that; first by the pandemic, which ended my many-years long streak of living or working in the city; then by my preoccupation with cheesesteaks. 

On top of that, many of Philadelphia’s new crop of elite pizza shops don’t sell slices. So I had to sift through a lot of Neapolitan, Roman, Detroit and various other styles of highly rated pizza online before getting to a couple places that looked promising as slice shops. One was in Center City – downtown Philly – while the other was in South Jersey.

Both are roughly the same length of ride from my home, and I thought I had settled on trying the one in Philly first, then going to the other place in the next week or two. But as I was getting ready to leave the house, my wife expressed an interest in having me bring some pizza back to her. As the shop in South Jersey has a menu with more options that are suited to her taste, I switched the plan and went there first. 

Brooklyn Original Pizzeria of Haddon Heights, NJ, has only been around since 2019, but the owner is from the pizza mecca of Brooklyn and a family with a history in the pizzeria business. He also puts a lot of passion into everything he makes if the biography on the restaurant’s website is any indication. 

The first thing one is bound to notice upon entering Brooklyn Original is the spectacular display of square pizza slices on the counter to the right. They bill themselves as the “Home of the Squares” and clearly emphasize their square pies. 

But I will have to return to try a couple square slices at a later date. My primary interest Friday was in having a slice of their traditional cheese pizza. I also ordered a small – 14” – round white pie with caramelized onions to take home for my wife and I to share. 

While the white pie was being made, I took my plain slice into their dining area to eat. It was the picture of a classic New York-style slice, which was exactly what I was hoping for. 

The crust was thin and crispy, but not rigidly so. There was still a bit of chew, again, as I prefer it. 

The sauce was extremely flavorful and also in perfect proportion to the Mozzarella cheese that covered it. The pizzas at Brooklyn Original are topped off with house-dried oregano, which adds an extra little flavor kick. 

All-in-all, it was a great slice of cheese pizza. I’ll see if I can resist having another when I return to try their square pie. As far as those go, whatever they call the white one with thinly sliced potatoes was calling my name. 

In the meantime, I wasn’t finished with their round pizza. There was still the white pie with caramelized onions to deal with. It had cooled off to lukewarm by the time I arrived home, but it still looked fantastic when I opened the box.

When I took my initial bite, the first thing I noticed was how powerful the garlic was. It overshadowed the onions, which were only mildly caramelized. Yet I didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I loved it. The crust was just a little on the well-done side, but again, it still had a nice chew. They also didn’t go overboard with the cheese. It was on there in just the right amount. 

After making it for the first time on Super Bowl Sunday, white pie with caramelized onions has become one of my favorite pizza flavors. The sweetness of the onions is more pronounced without the presence of tomato sauce.  Unfortunately, it appeared during my online menu-browsing that most pizzerias don’t offer caramelized onions as a topping. The fact that Brooklyn Original does was another factor that enticed me to drive over to Jersey to check them out.

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That was a great pizza lunch, but I don’t believe my craving is fully satisfied. I’ll get to that other slice shop I mentioned and report on it soon. I also have a big cheesesteak outing scheduled for Friday that I’ll post about either later that day or Saturday.