Trenton’s Tomato Pies
Welcome to New Jersey Pizza Week on Good. Food. Stories., where we’ll cover two of the many regional styles that sauce up the state. New Jersey’s got a few surprises up its sleeve when it comes to food, from being the second-largest blueberry producer in the country or the lauded inventor of salt water taffy (read more about the state’s quirky culinary charms in my latest iVillage piece on classic New Jersey foods.) But today we’re talking pizza, and we’re taking it to Trenton.
When traveling through Trenton, the two magic words you need to know are “tomato pie.” A golden, crunchy, olive oil-brushed crust is first topped with mozzarella cheese and then a vibrantly red sauce, so brilliantly colored because it’s made from canned crushed tomatoes that haven’t cooked down for hours. Seasoned lightly, the tomato sauce doesn’t taste raw but simple and fresh, its bright acidity shining through even after the pizza’s brief stint in the oven. Tomato pie is often finished with an extra drizzle of olive oil, along with any toppings of choice.
For pizza lovers raised on doughy Sicilian or floppy New York-style slices, it’s a whole new way of looking at a pie. But which tomato pie do you try first? Though Trenton used to be lousy with mom-and-pop pizza shops, only three remain as purveyors of the original tomato pie: Papa’s Tomato Pies calls itself the oldest family-owned pizza restaurant in the country (and has a host of evidence to stake its claim) because it’s been continuously operating since 1912.
DeLorenzo’s Pizza on Hamilton Avenue is the upstart by comparison, not having opened its doors until 1938. (The first DeLorenzo’s, opened by the older brothers of the Hamilton Avenue location’s founders in 1936, closed its original branch on Hudson Street in January 2012 and now only runs its more modern restaurant (i.e., this one has customer restrooms) outside Trenton in Robbinsville.)
Take your pick and plot your route to Trenton, but know before you go: hours for lunch and dinner at the two in-town locations are so idiosyncratic that I’ve included a comprehensive list at the end of the piece on who’s open when; no slices are served, so you’ll have to go with a whole pie; and the wait for a table at peak hours can be the stuff of legend. Don’t be ashamed to roll up for an early bird dinner at 4:00 pm; by 4:30, you’ll be joined by a half-dozen other diners and by 5:30, every seat in the room will be filled.
A perfect day in Trenton (yes, it can happen) would be an afternoon at the Trenton Thunder ballpark scarfing Chickie & Pete’s crab fries while watching bat dogs Chase and his son Derby adorably working the field, followed by an early dinner at DeLorenzo’s. I’ll take my tomato pie with black olives, extra garlic, and a shake of red chili flakes, but it’s not a shame to eat it plain.
Hours:
Papa’s Tomato Pies
804 Chambers St., Trenton, NJ
Monday-Saturday: 4:00 pm-8:30 pm
Lunch on Fridays only, 11:30 am-1:30 pm
Sunday: 4:00-8:00 pm
DeLorenzo’s
1007 Hamilton Avenue, Trenton, NJ
Tuesday-Thursday: Lunch served 11:00 am-1:30 pm; Dinner 4:00 pm-8:45 pm
Friday: 11:00 am-8:45 pm
Saturday: 3:00 pm-8:45 pm
Closed Sundays and Mondays
DeLorenzo’s
2350 US Highway 33, Robbinsville, NJ
Lunch: Tuesday-Friday, 11:00 am-2:00 pm
Dinner: Tuesday-Sunday, 4:00 pm-10:00 pm
Closed Mondays
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Casey Barber
Casey Barber is the owner and founder of Good Food Stories LLC and a visual storyteller whose work often focuses on the intersection of food and culture. She is also the author of the cookbooks Pierogi Love: New Takes on an Old-World Comfort Food and Classic Snacks Made from Scratch: 70 Homemade Versions of Your Favorite Brand-Name Treats, and she couldn’t get anything done without the help of her executive assistant cats, Bixby and Lenny. Her favorite color is obviously orange.
We’ll be going to all three next time I’m in New Jersey, right?
Sarah, wait till Thursday’s post – we might have to do a multi-day pizza crawl.
Looks delicious!!
I can be in Trenton in 5 hours…anyone up for a pizza crawl?
mmmm… takes me back to the 1950’s when pizza was regularly called “tomato pie”, even in North Jersey! As my father liked to point out, pizza means “pie” so to say “pizza pie” is redundant! Looking forward to the next post, to see whether any of north Jersey’s pies are mentioned! Meanwhile, mangia bene!!
Where I grew up (south Jersey/Philly area), tomato pie was/is square (like Scicilian with thick crust on the edges) and only topped with tomato sauce. We always ate it at room temperature. You ordered it like you were ordering a sheet cake and while we hardly ever have it anymore, it’s still something that says “family gathering” to me—especially to warm up the stomach for a big plate of homemade pasta:) Thanks for bringing those memories back!
Oh my god.. that looks sooooo good..
I can almost taste those pies! I grew up eating tomato pies and learned later on that it was “pizza”. My mother has never called pizza anything else. A good closer to home place for this type of pizza is Ralph’s in Nutley.
Mmmmm mmmm mmmm. I just want to dive into those photos, Casey. If there’s one thing (other than friends like you) I’m grateful for about moving to the northeast, it’s being introduced to culinary treats like tomato pie.
Oh they look delicious!! I grew up in NJ but never had a tomato pie! How did I let this happen!!!
I don’t live in New Jersey, but this makes me wish I did. I’ve lived out East a few times and the pizza…well, the pizza is one of the reasons that makes it so great.
Don’t get me wrong, I definitely want some of that pizza the next time I’m in the area. But I’m stuck on Crabfries. CRABFRIES??
Not to burst your bubble, but crab fries don’t have any crab in them – they’re French fries dusted with Old Bay seasoning. Easier on the wallet!
Tomato pie is where it’s at… I’m ready to hop in the car and drive to NJ right now.
Ah, you’re killing this gluten free girl.
Trenton has thus far only been a sign on the highway. Next time, i’ll have to take the exit and find me some pizza!
These tomato pies make me feel compelled to visit New Jersey or pizza is pretty standard here in Ohio which is quite upsetting!