Barstool Sports founder and pizza reviewer Dave Portnoy has already visited DeLucia’s Brick Oven Pizza in Raritan, one of Somerset County’s oldest and most beloved spots for a slice.
On May 6, he finally made it to another storied pizza landmark for his One Bite Pizza reviews: Manville Pizza, which has been churning out pies on Main Street for more than 50 years.
“This is one of those neighborhood spots,” Portnoy said. “If you live in Manville, the home of men, you could eat this pizza happily your whole life and never know anything outside and be like, ‘Yeah, I love pizza.’ “
Manville Pizza was founded in 1969.
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Except for continuously calling Manville “the home of men,” Portnoy was right. (Manville is named for Johns-Manville, which was an asbestos company that essentially founded the town.)
Manville Pizza is known as one of the best pizzerias in the area. It makes its dough fresh every day and uses plum tomatoes imported from Italy.
But Portnoy’s rating of 7.5 reflected his preference for thin, crispy bar pies rather than the traditional New York-style pie that Manville Pizza is known for.
“Good sauce, good tang, good quality American pizza,” Portnoy said.
Pizza from Manville Pizza.
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Unlike many of the other pizzerias Portnoy has visited, the YouTuber met Manville Pizza second-generation owner Anthony D’Aniello before his review. They connected at a pizza expo in Las Vegas.
Portnoy featured D’Aniello and the Manville Pizza backstory in his review, also a rarity in his videos.
“That’s my dad Vinny who started this,” said D’Aniello in Portnoy’s review, pointing to a tribute of his dad, who died in 2022, on the wall. “He started this in 1969 and I’m simply carrying it on.”
Go: 31 S Main St., Manville; 908-526-1194, manvillepizzaest1969.com.
Jenna Intersimone.
Contact: JIntersimone@MyCentralJersey.com
Jenna Intersimone has been a staff member at the USA TODAY NETWORK New Jersey since 2014, although she’s a lifetime Jersey girl who considers herself an expert in everything from the Jersey Shore to the Garden State’s buzzing downtowns. To get unlimited access to her stories about food, drink and fun, please subscribe or activate your digital account today. You can also follow her on Instagram at @seejennaeat and on Twitter at @JIntersimone.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Dave Portnoy reviewed Manville Pizza in New Jersey