Star Tavern-what's the 'must have' pizza? archived

My personal rule for trying a pie for the first time is go for the plain, it's all about the crust and the sauce and the cheese, add details when you go next time.

But if you have to add, sausage and meatballs is can't go wrong ... unless you don't like sausage and/or meatballs.

The Pesto Pizza is really good - one time, I don't think it was "done" enough or maybe they put to much pesto on and it wasn't good. Other couple of times it's been great.

A couple of reviews said to make sure to order the pizza 'well done'.

johnlockedema said:

A couple of reviews said to make sure to order the pizza 'well done'.

Good advice. The crust is so thin (which I love), but you need a well done crust to hole the cheese and toppings.

Enjoy...I'm getting hungry just thinking about this pizza.

Plain, plain, plain. When you add toppings of any kind, the crust is just not the same. Star's is really about the balance of crust, sauce and cheese.

John,

I'm personally amazed by the buzz of this place.

The one we always order is The Bar Pie, limited as to when you can. Way cheaper but it is the basic, plain, crispy crust pizza. It, to my opinion is way, way too greasy, but both wife and daughter say it's the best they ever had.

I'll say that Arturo's is a more interesting pizza to me but there is this Buzz about The Star Tavern.

Best Regards,
Ron Carter

My favorite Star Tavern pie is the white clam sauce pie.

rcarter31 said:

John,

I'm personally amazed by the buzz of this place.

Me too. I am not impressed with it. At all.

johnlockedema said:

I've never been-any particular pie to recommend?

John, let me know what you think. I've been meaning to go myself, but the reviews are so love / hate. I am partial to a very thin crusted, greasy pie...

M

mbaldwin said:

johnlockedema said:

I've never been-any particular pie to recommend?

John, let me know what you think. I've been meaning to go myself, but the reviews are so love / hate. I am partial to a very thin crusted, greasy pie...

M

Another pizzeria with the thin crust greasy pie which epitomizes excellent NJ pizza is Joe's Drive In Pizzeria located at 2062 Springfield Avenue Vauxhall, NJ 07088 (Maplewood/Vauxhall border - Joe's Drive In can also be entered from its Millburn Avenue entrance.

How do these stack up to the Reservoir pie?

mbaldwin,
Don't know only been once to The Res for some pasta.
Best Regards,
Ron Carter

RealityForAll said:

My favorite Star Tavern pie is the white clam sauce pie.

Ditto.

My recollection is Joe's Drive In is the thinnest and greasiest )from the high quality Mozzarella) and then comes Star tavern with reservoir coming in third in this pizza competition.

Another vote for the white clam sauce pie. It's been a while since I've had it, but it was great then!

mbaldwin said:

How do these stack up to the Reservoir pie?

How is the Reservoir Pie? It is the only pizza in town that I have never tried.

Tempting to post a link to the same discussion we all had five months ago, but people seem to be enjoying themselves.

Star's is the best!
I don't like Star's.
Arturo's is the best!
Star's seems to be no different from Bunny's.
Star's seems to be no different from Reservoir.
At Star's, you have to have the plain pie.
At Star's, you have to have the [entire menu listed] pie.
New Haven pizza is better.

Is there cheese on the white clam pie? (Ashamed I don't know this.)

Star is awesome NJ pizza, but yeah, New Haven pizza is the best. Plain pizza is, of course, the only standard by which pizza should be judged.

My 90 year old MIL thinks Star Tavern's bar pies taste just like NJ "apizza" used to taste in the '40's. It is what it is!

Get a pepperoni. There's something to their pepperoni, little domes of tangy goodness.

I have heard that they use a higher quality pepperoni than most pizzerias.

of course, I probably heard that on the last pizza thread. ;-)

Had the white spinach & garlic the other night.... yummmm... also excellent sausage, onion & mushroom.

I like peppers and onions and jalapenos if they have them. Basically get your favorite pizza or get plain. There are other options besides pizza. I also love, love, love the broccoli and cavatelli but it has a gazillion calories so I don't get it unless I can split it with 8 other people. I usually get the Mista salad which offers a light crunchy contrast to the pizza/pasta.

They also have excellent garlic bread, if you need more bread. Finally, it should be mentioned that one of the major reasons to go there is to let your kids play on the pin ball and game machines while you get a few minutes to eat in peace. Bring lots of quarters, although they will change them at the bar. The atmosphere is old time working class neighborhood bar. Someone told me lots of cops go there.

I don't get Joe's on Springfield Ave at all. I ate there twice and had horrible experiences both times. This is not like me, because normally I put up with anything for pizza. The place was dirty and the pizza extra greasy and the staff cranky.

I also don't like Bunny's pizza (so shoot me). I like Bunny's garlic salad, which is unique and delicious and not even close to healthy.

drummerboy said:

I have heard that they use a higher quality pepperoni than most pizzerias.

of course, I probably heard that on the last pizza thread. ;-)

They use special pepperonis that curl up into crispy little grease boats when they cook. My favorite!

Okapi said:

Get a pepperoni. There's something to their pepperoni, little domes of tangy goodness.

I second this.
Star pepperoni pizza and a cold pint of sAm Adams = heaven in Orange.

I don't eat meat any more, but that pepperoni almost makes me start eating it again - it looks amazing.

I also love the white clam, and as much as I like a sausage & pepper pie (and theirs is great, too), I also think their plain is great.

Don't think well done is necessary, though; had lunch there just this week and our plain pie was nicely charred on the bottom.

Be aware they're small bar pies; it's not that difficult for a single hungry adult to eat a whole pie themselves -- if you're with someone else, maybe get one plain, one white clam, and take home the leftovers.

Here we go. We had the blooming onion, followed by a 1/2 plain half sausage pie. The waitress brought us the onion, and remarked-it should taste good, they just changed the oil! It was good, but the cajun dipping sauce tasted like the cajun seasonings added didn't have time to melt into the sauce, it was acrid and gritty. The onion itself was quite good, and gigantic.

Our pie arrived. Ooops. Wrong pie. We took it anyway, as we were running late. Half sausage and onion, and half mushroom. Burnt and soggy at the same time. The sausage was 'meh' and the mushroom part ok. The toppings slid off the pie too easily.

Overall it was decent, and I'd give it another shot. Not crazy about the paper plates, and although the base pie is pretty inexpensive it's not a normal size large pie so you're not really getting such a deal that you'd say you could deal with paper plates.