#specialty slice

Many moons ago I tried the Delizia in Dover and thought it was decently enjoyable. After being recommended the one in Boonton I decided to check it out and see how it compared. I've tried Boonton pizza multiple times and have never been impressed. Would Delizia be the one to finally change that? Nope, not at all. I got a very overpriced buffalo chicken slice ($4.50 for a pretty small size) that had pretty much nothing going for it. The sauce made everything about the slice wet including some very mushy chicken. The flavor was also watered down and just disappointing. I feel like everything else looked even worse though because they all looked super pasty. If it were much cheaper I might've bumped it up a point, but as is you can get better pizza for cheaper pretty much anywhere.

I noticed Carlo's Pizza a few months back and was hankering for a slice after stopping in the Home Depot down the street and figured it was the perfect opportunity to give it a try. I went in planning to get just a plain but the chicken penne vodka slice looked too good to pass up so I got both. The plain ended up being really good! It may have burnt my mouth from being scorching hot but I mean I still couldn't stop eating it. Normally I would have complained that it was just a little saucier than I like but the sauce was so good that I didn't even mind. That's saying something! Even though it spent the same amount of time in the oven, the chicken penne vodka just didn't heat up enough and was a little lacking as a result. I really enjoyed the flavor from the vodka sauce but it got old faster than I would have liked from only being warm instead of hot. Regardless, I would still highly recommend checking Carlo's out. I paid $8 something for the pair which is a little pricey but still worth it. Just maybe stick with the lighter slices.

On my latest sojourn to Princeton Record Exchange I decided to try yet another Princeton pizzeria and this time I went with Proof Pizza. Unfortunately, it seems to follow the trend of the other Princeton pizzerias I've been to by being mediocre at best. The plain was decent but nothing more. Good amount of cheese, a little too doughy, and just overall unremarkable. The buffalo was more disappointing as it had no flavor at all. No chicken flavor, no buffalo flavor....just textures. The slices WERE wider than usual which made the $8.50 price point a little more understandable, but still not worth the cost. These will definitely fill you up, but you will probably still leave unsatisfied.

I've been wanting to try Gio's for years now, but their early closing time (usually 7pm) has prevented this from happening...until now. At long last, I had my chance when I got out of work early. Unfortunately, it was still pretty close to closing so the selection was limited to a handful of slices, but there was still a chicken bacon ranch left so I jumped on it. Unfortunately, I was pretty underwhelmed. The ranch in particular brought it down. It was super heavy and creamy and the flavor just overpowered everything, especially with how much they dumped on. Honestly I couldn't even really tell you how the rest of the slice was because I couldn't taste much through the ranch besides the overly tough crust. For $4.50 this is an easy pass for me. Good mall pizza seemed too good to be true, and I guess it was.  I still had plenty of time to hit Crumbl after for a chocolate chip cookie and let me tell you...THAT is a 6/6 cookie.

I became aware of Joe's Meat Market after seeing it on a Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives rerun that featured their antipasto bread. Now, our boy Guy claimed it was a "destination meal" and, considering it's only a 15 minute drive from my job, I figured that alone made it a must-try for me. I went with full intentions of trying the antipasto bread, but upon walking in was greeted with a pretty stacked pizza counter featuring a daily special of any 2 slices and a can of soda for $5. You read that right...ANY 2 slices. I just couldn't pass that up. I settled on a margherita and...some kind of shrimp slice? Pricewise, this meal is a steal. The slices were big and filling with good dough (both crispy AND doughy) and plentiful toppings. Not a ton of flavor on either though, but it's still hard to beat paying less than $2.50 for specialty slices in 2023.

I did eventually go back to try the antipasto bread because c'mon how could I not, and it was tasty...but I don't know if I would consider it a "destination meal." It's pretty much a calzone on steroids packed with antipasto meats that would be pretty impossible to finish in one sitting on your own. I got through about half and even that felt like too much. Additionally, while I'm not usually a fan of dipping stuff like this in marinara sauce, I've gotta say that Joe's marinara was actually pretty good! All in all, I enjoyed my experiences at Joe's, but I don't think it's worth traveling great distances to try. If you're local to the area though, I recommend stopping in. They have a huge selection so I'm sure I'll be back to try some more menu items!