New Jersey’s 125 Best Pizzas Were Just Ranked, and There’s No Number 1
New Jersey has no shortage of opinions about pizza. Still, a new ranking has put one particular pie at the top of the list.NJ.com has released its expanded ranking of 125 of New Jersey’s best pizzas for 2026, and this year’s No. 1 spot went to a relatively new addition to the state’s pizza scene. Pollara Pizza in Red Bank took the top position with its ricotta pie.
The ranking updates an existing NJ.com pizza guide. Rather than simply naming the best pizza restaurants, the publication evaluates specific pizzas and allows only one pie from each pizzeria on the list. That makes the list particularly interesting because some of the entries come from businesses with decades of history, while others are newer arrivals.
A Red Bank Ricotta Pie Took the Top Spot
Pollara Pizza’s ricotta pie is the big story of the 2026 ranking. The Red Bank restaurant is located at 76 Monmouth Street, and its current menu describes the ricotta pie with tomato sauce, ricotta, basil, and olive oil. The Asbury Park Press also covered the restaurant independently before the ranking was released. That report highlighted chef Jon Smulewitz and the restaurant’s ricotta made daily.
Pollara’s No. 1 ranking is notable partly because it represents a newer restaurant competing against pizzerias that have served New Jersey communities for generations. One detail is worth keeping straight, however. Different reports have used different descriptions of Pollara’s pizza style at different points in its opening period. The research brief recommends confirming how the restaurant currently describes its style before labeling the winning pie as Roman style.
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What NJ.com Was Actually Judging
NJ.com’s food team selected and judged the pizzas based on four stated considerations: taste, texture, originality, and whether writers would come back for another slice. The publication also limited each pizzeria to one pizza on the list. The distinction matters. A restaurant appearing at No. 50, for example, shouldn’t automatically be interpreted as the 50th-best pizza restaurant in New Jersey. The ranking reflects the specific pie each business selected.
The list also isn’t presented as a statistically representative assessment of every pizzeria in the state. NJ.com’s methodology does not disclose a numerical scoring formula, the total number of pizzas considered, standardized tasting conditions, or a formal value-for-money category. In other words, this is best understood as an editorial ranking based on the food team’s tasting judgments. Those judgments vary widely.
From 1917 Bakeries to 1969 Pizzerias
One of the most fun things about the ranking is seeing established New Jersey institutions alongside newer businesses. DeLucia’s Brick Oven Pizza in Raritan ranked No. 125 for its pepperoni pie. The business traces its history to a bakery founded in 1917, with pizza added in the 1930s. Its current menu also lists pepperoni as a topping.
At the other end of the state, Big John’s Pizza in Bridgeton was ranked No. 103 for its double-thick pie. The restaurant says it has served the community since 1969, giving it more than half a century of history. Those entries illustrate why reducing the ranking to a simple list of restaurant names would miss part of the story. The judges were looking at specific pizzas, and those pizzas represent very different traditions.
The List Goes Well Beyond Plain Cheese
The ranked pizzas cover a surprisingly broad range of styles and toppings. The list includes classic options, including plain pies, pepperoni pizzas, and traditional margheritas. But the ranking also includes more distinctive combinations. Pompilio’s in Westwood appears at No. 121 for a mashed potato pie. Lila’s Fritay and Pie in Union ranked No. 70 for a jerk BBQ chicken pie, while Emily’s Hearth in Sussex ranked No. 48 for a pistachio pie.
Several examples of New Jersey’s familiar pizza traditions also appeared. Maruca’s Tomato Pies in Seaside Heights was ranked No. 52 for a margherita pie, Tacconelli’s Pizzeria in Maple Shade took No. 47 for its margherita, and Slice House in Toms River came in at No. 44 for an upside-down Sicilian. That variety is one of the ranking’s strongest takeaways. New Jersey pizza isn’t represented by just one style.
The Ranking Stretches Across the State
The entries also demonstrate how widely the pizza conversation extends across New Jersey. Northern examples include restaurants in Ramsey, Little Falls, Montclair, Newark, and Sussex. The available ranking includes central and Shore communities such as Princeton, Red Bank, Neptune City, Brick, and Seaside Heights. Southern entries include Bridgeton, Atlantic City, Maple Shade, Tabernacle, Somerdale and Ocean City.
The list includes both familiar names and new additions. NJ.com says 16 pizzas are new entries, identified with asterisks in the ranking. That makes the 2026 edition more than a simple repeat of an older list. It gives newer pizzerias a chance to join the conversation while keeping longtime establishments in the mix.
What Pizza Fans Should Take From It
The biggest lesson from NJ.com’s ranking may be that choosing a pizza destination isn’t necessarily about finding the restaurant with the highest reputation. It can be about ordering the specific pie that earned recognition. That could mean a ricotta pie in Red Bank, a pepperoni pie from a century-old Raritan bakery-turned-pizzeria, a double-thick pie in Bridgeton, or one of the many distinctive tomato, Sicilian, grandma, or specialty pies scattered throughout the state.
And while Pollara Pizza now has the bragging rights of holding the No. 1 position, the ranking is ultimately a snapshot of NJ.com’s food team’s preferences under its stated criteria, not a universal declaration that settles every New Jersey pizza argument. For anyone planning a pizza road trip, though, that’s probably part of the fun. New Jersey has 125 ranked pies to argue about, compare, and, perhaps most importantly, eat.
