It was a random Tuesday and my sister was back in New Jersey, so we decided to check out Razza Pizza Artigianale in Jersey City for a family dinner. We’ve heard nothing but good things and recently saw it in a travel show. The intimate pizzeria has also been featured in various articles and supposedly gives New York pizzerias a run for their money.
They do not take reservations, so we lined up about 45 minutes before their 5:30pm opening and managed to be the second party in line.
Doors opened 5:30pm on the dot. We walked into the small dark restaurant and were seated at a table near the open kitchen with a view of the magical woodburning oven. The entire place was quickly occupied and the line now extended around the corner of the block.
I ordered a glass of red wine and we started off with the Bread & Butter. Both the bread and butter are handmade. The creamy cultured butter comes from grass-fed Pennsylvania cow’s cream.
We also tried a couple salads. The seasonal Green Salad had locally grown mixed greens, goat cheese, and a simple chive vinaigrette. It was wonderful. The colorful Beet Salad had fire roasted beets, blue cheese, almonds, olive oil, and a delicious citrus vinaigrette.
We even tried the Ceci – chickpeas with California extra virgin olive oil and Parmigiano Reggiano – another delicious small plate. You’ll want to save some of the bread to soak up any leftover vinaigrettes and oils.
It was time to order what we mainly came for, the pizza! The artisan wood-fired pies feature seasonal high quality ingredients. The flour is milled in Clifton. Every ingredient is hand-picked. They even grown their own yeast culture. We ended up trying 3 different pizzas.
I loved the Pepperoni pie topped with a lovely tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, garlic, and flavorful spicy pepperoni that curls up after cooking. The crust was nicely charred and held up extremely well. No soggy crusts here.
The classic Margherita had tomato sauce, handmade fresh mozzarella, basil, sea salt, and a drizzle of California extra virgin olive oil. It was wonderful. Don’t be afraid to use the red pepper flakes and chili oil.
We also tried the Funghi which had fresh mozzarella, mixed mushrooms, scamorza cheese (a Southern Italian cow’s milk cheese), and shaved onion. It was another solid pizza and I love mushrooms, but didn’t find it as flavorful as the other two.
The majority of our pizzas were consumed and we made to sure to take home the few leftover slices.
We asked about a dessert menu, but the only dessert offering was the Salted Caramel Panna Cotta. We decided to share one. It was a yummy sweet and salty treat.
Dinner at Razza was fantastic. The service was prompt, but pleasant. The small plates and salads were great, and the pizzas were amazing. You can tell that they’re committed to providing the best pizza possible.
When we left, all the tables out front were occupied and there was a decent wait. I highly suggest going on a week day and lining up before they open. We were ready to head back home, but since we were in Jersey City we had to make one more stop.
Razza Pizza Artigianale
275 Grove Street
Jersey City, NJ 07302
(201) 356-9348
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