When it comes to pizza and Italian food, we have our fair share in Hoboken. But sometimes — juuust sometimes — you want to expand your horizons a bit when it comes to Jersey City {especially when you hear that there is a spot for GLUTEN-FREE THIN CRUST PIZZA}. Yessss, you heard correctly. Thin crust gluten-free pizza. But anyway, back to expanding horizons: We visited John’s Pizzeria, also known as John’s of Times Square which is a family-owned business located in JC — and here’s how it all went down.
When you hop off the Exchange Place PATH in Jersey City, it’s a short walk {about 5 short blocks} to the pizzeria, located at 87 Sussex Street. And before you say wahhhh, I don’t feel like taking the PATH and walking, then Uber. It’s basically the price of a coffee + a light rail ticket, and totally worth it.
The JC spot of John’s Pizzeria is actually pretty large in size — two levels, an outdoor eatery, and a small bar make up a majority of the space — which in Hoboken terms is HUGE. Of course, there’s a big coal-fired oven where all the magic happens, too. The OG location is in — you guessed it — Times Square, and it’s noted by Trip Advisor as one of the most popular spots that tourists flock to in the theater district for pizza {for good reason}. Pretty natural that they’d move their next space to a place in New Jersey {in an adorable neighborhood to boot}.
We planted ourselves outside since it was a nice summer night, and I must say — it’s a cute little outdoor spot, perfect for a casual night with a big group, family, or even one-on-one. If it’s nice out {but sunny}, they have a tented area that you can sit under as well, so you never have to feel directly overwhelmed by the sun if you forgot your SPF {gotta stay young forever, obviously}.
As far as drinks, the restaurant serves wine by the glass or bottle, beer {draft and tap}, and they also serve a variety of mixed drinks — so you’ll pretty much please everyone in your dinner party. Cocktails range from $9-$16, pretty standard.
We went ahead and ordered apps along with our drinks — the fried mozzarella and the fried zucchini — because why not? Both were very good, and the sauce that accompanied was flavorful and a perfect off-set of the salty goodness of the fried cheese. And really, when can you ever go wrong with fried cheese?
Since we knew we were being indulgent with apps, we opted to share a Caesar salad and the thin-crust gluten-free pizza, and it was SO so good. Both of us aren’t even “gluten free,” and were in luuuurve just the same. Let me give you a rundown in all of its delicious glory: thin crust, tasty sauce, fresh, savory melted cheese. Sounds simple, but trust me, if you’ve tried your hand at making or even ordering thin crust gluten-free pizza, it’s not. You don’t want it mushy, and you don’t want it too crunchy. John’s made it perfectly. I’m still searching for that perfect thin crust in Hoboken, and so from now on, will be making pilgrimages to Jersey City.
Thin crust in all its glory!
For dessert, we went with limoncello pudding and a molten chocolate cake. Because when in Rome…serious yum though, FYI. We ate it too quickly to take a photo unfortunately.
Throughout our dinner, the waitresses were very attentive, ready to give us water, clear plates, etc., and from the other patrons around, you could tell that was the norm.
In chatting a bit with one of the staffers, we found out that John’s Pizzeria was founded in 1997 in Times Square by a local family, and quickly became so popular due to its unique pizzas, that it became hard to contain just to NYC. All pizzas are made-to-order in the 800-degree coal-fired brick ovens {which have no thermostats to control heat}. Now, the Jersey City location {in the Paulus Hook area} is expanding the biz, and just like in NYC, their pizza handlers {totally just made that up} have gone through months of extensive training in how to manage a coal-fired brick oven.
All in all, an awesome family spot — perfect for a post-work pizza date in JC {or a trip for the fam}…especially for that gluten-free goodness.
Have you been to John’s Pizzeria? What did you think?
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