Your eyes can tell you that there is no shortage of pizza places at the Jersey Shore. Most towns, even the smaller ones, are home to multiple pizzerias. A vast number of these restaurants make good, but unremarkable pizzas, and remain in business for years. Then there are the few standouts which have been serving up exceptional pizzas for decades and have a following which borders on fanatical.
Nunzio’s Pizzeria, on Westwood Avenue in Long Branch, is one such restaurant. First opened by Nunzio and Thelma Chiafullo in 1953, the operation had been carried on by their children, Lou Chiafullo and Veronica Falivene, until recently, when they sold Nunzio’s to Pat Trama, chef/owner of another exceptional restaurant, Trama’s Trattoria in Long Branch.
Any concerns about a new ownership continuing the specialness of Nunzio’s iconic pizzas are groundless. Chef Trama has engaged Lou Chiafullo to remain on as a long-term consultant to ensure that his family’s legacy is maintained, and a recent visit has confirmed that the pizzas are still conversation stoppers.
Trama has also added a few of his own remarkable dishes to the nightly Specials menu, which are equally delicious! We visited recently to see how the “new” Nunzio’s compared to the “original” Nunzio’s and the good news is that the transition regarding the pizzas and breads has been seamless, and the addition of some new treats makes the place even harder to resist.
We opened with a starter from the Specials menu: Just Whipped, House-made Ricotta, with Trama’s Garden Honey ($15). Yes, Chef Trama has his own beehives! It was served with an assortment of warm breads for dipping, which made it impossible to stop nibbling on.
A Focaccia di Ciro ($20) with Robiola cheese and white truffle oil was delicious. The already super-thin and crispy bread was somehow sliced into two equal disks and the inside of each was then coated with the creamy, tangy cheese/truffle mix. The contrast between the textures of the bread and the cheese alone made this a standout, but flavors took it up a notch. Recommended!
The 4 Cheese local mushroom pizza ($23) had a black truffle purée which added a whole new taste dimension. The signature Nunzio’s thin, crispy crust was the perfect foil for the toppings. This is one of the reasons that Nunzio’s has such a large fan base.
There were also a number of other pizzas offered on the menu, including NY Style, Margarita, Pomodoro, Louie Special (fresh sausage and green peppers) and P.P.P. (a 29-by-8-inch Pizza Peel Pie) in three different styles! There is even a gluten-free cauliflower crust available on request.
An appetizer of Arancini ($16) was offered in Bolognese or cheese variations. We opted for the cheese version and were rewarded with crusty globes of the fried rice stuffed with rich, melted cheese. A savory tomato sauce made for a perfect foil to the dish. There were other tempting appetizers also listed, such as Garlic Knots, Fried Calamari, Mozzarella or Zucchini Sticks, but there is only so much one can eat at one sitting, and we wanted to save room for the entrees offered.
Eggplant Rollatini ($22) was chosen from the Classics section.
The slices of juicy eggplant were rolled with a ricotta filling and baked with a tomato sauce that was, once again, delicious. The portion was so generous that we were able to all taste the dish and still have some to take home for a sinful lunch the next day!
We also really enjoyed the Chicken Scarpariello ($22), a mix of chicken, sausage, peppers and potatoes in a demi-glace sauce. It was a great mix of flavors and textures and kept inviting one back to eat “just one more bite.” We were so well fed by this point that we had to forgo trying a few other intriguing-sounding dishes on the menu.
There were four pastas listed: Penne Vodka and Rigatoni Pomodoro to name but two. There were also some tempting sandwiches on house-made ciabatta bread listed: Half Moon Calzone (black olive, spinach, ricotta and mozzarella) and Full Moon Calzone (Prosciutto di Parma, arugula, local mushrooms and oven-dried tomatoes), so these are on our list for our return visit in the near future.
Some appealing desserts, such as Italian cheesecake, Classic Tiramisu, Stracciatella Gelato and Tartufo were also listed on the menu, but my guests and I were too full to eat any more.
Nunzio’s is a BYO so we brought a 2021 Donnafugatta Anthilia, a white from Sicily that was fruity, but not sweet, and was a nice aperitif, as well as a companion to some of the dishes. For a red, we drank a full-bodied wine from Tuscany, 2011 La Regola, which is mostly Cabernet Franc, with some merlot and petit Verdot mixed in; a wine that was a great match for the Pizzas and the Eggplant Rollatini.
Diners should be aware that Nunzio’s is cash only; there is an ATM machine in the restaurant if the need arises.
So, longtime Nunzio’s fans, fear not; the food has not changed. The pizzas are still thin, crusty, and as incredibly special as before, and indeed there are even some new dishes which have been added to the original menu to make it even more appealing.
Nunzio’s remains a standout pizzeria!
Nunzio’s
230 Westwood Ave., Long Branch
nunziospizzalb.com
Bob Sacks, longtime food and wine buff, writes about food, wine and restaurants in this column. Follow him on Instagram @dinnerwithbob.
