#personal pie

Paul has been telling me to check out Riko’s for months now and on a recent trip to Long Island I had the chance to stop on my way to Massapequa. I made sure to not eat a lot earlier in the day since I knew Riko’s was a pie only place so I went in hungry for some slices. I know LI likes to jack up their prices so I was pleasantly surprised to only be spending $11 on a pretty big personal pie. I was able to finish all 6 slices, but would have been more than content with 4.

I went for the hot oil pizza (Paul’s recommendation) which is Riko’s claim to fame. It’s a plain pie made with spicy oil and a stinger pepper in the middle. I had mixed feelings about the hot oil. While it did have a nice kick, it was not distributed very well, leaving some bites with no spice and others with way too much. Honestly I might have preferred a plain pie because the cheese and sauce were great! Thin crust with a nice layer of cheese and that light, unseasoned sauce that I love. I would like to return eventually to try some other items, I hear they have a dope hot oil hot dog....

                                       this one’s from Paul’s visit!

I recently saw Barstool Sports list of the best pizzerias in NJ and had some time to kill, so I decided to visit Princeton Record Exchange and check out a Princeton spot from the list - Conte's. Let's just say, I have no idea why this place made the list. First off, what a ripoff. I paid $15.50 for a small plain pie, and it wasn't even good! Nothing had any flavor to it. It was like I was eating dense, stretchy cheese with no flavor on top of crackery crust. It was pretty filling, but maybe that was just because I was sick of eating what tasted like nothing. This is just further proof that Barstool's reviews are whack. Don't waste your time.

Denis sent me a review of this “Colorado Style” pizza joint and it sounds....a little less bad than I would have anticipated? Check out the review below!

My good friend Denis recently moved to Wyoming and while I miss overeating hot dogs with him, I am excited to have a pizza correspondent out in Mountain Time! This is a picture of Denis’ first Wyoming pizza experience, Alibi Wood Fire Pizzeria. He said, “it was good. Not the best I’ve had. Crust was kinda weird texture. I’d give it a solid 4.” Honestly better than I would ever expect from Wyoming! Be on the lookout for when he tries some more...”typical” pizzerias.....

Ah’Pizz is a mini-chain that used to have a location in Denville. Seems they closed up shop recently. Too bad too, because the pizza was pretty tasty! When I went, I got a lunch special (personal pie and soup) for $9 which, for a full pie place, seems pretty reasonably. Usually they charge like $14 for some tiny pie and it doesn’t even fill you up. This was a different story though.

I decided to get a topping of soppressata, which ended up kind of being a waste of $2 because they barely put any on. Looking at the picture, I didn’t even remember I had gotten it until I read my notes. That’s my only real gripe though. The crust was chewy (in a good way), the cheese and sauce blended together perfectly, and the sauce wasn’t overly seasoned. On top of that my chicken soup was good, though a little oniony. Overall, a well spent $9 for a filling meal. Unfortunately, you’ll have to visit one of their other locations now, but they aren’t too far away - Wayne, Montclair, or Harrison. Recommended!