Santillo's Brick Oven Pizza

Al Santillo’s family business started as a bakery and is now one of the best and most beloved pizzerias in New Jersey. The pies at Santillo’s are baked to order in a brick oven (6 minutes for a soft crust, 10 for brown/black) and the menu features lots of varieties, from tomato pie to thin pie and “American style” (soft crust) to Grandma-style square pies. Santillo tells us his pizza is “healthy” because he lets the dough rise twice. He uses heavy steel pans, some of which are 100 years old. “That’s how you can get the crust so crispy,” he says.