field trip to De Lorenzo's

On the way to Philadelphia for Thanksgiving 2.0, we made a detour and stopped in Trenton for some pizza, I mean tomato pies. DMR and I had been hearing about the greatness of De Lorenzo's for years now. Research led to me find two separate branches run by cousins and both called De Lorenzo's. We opted for the Hamilton restaurant mainly because the one on Hudson doesn't have a bathroom!

After a short wait, we were seated at a corner booth where DMR soaked in the decor: wood paneled walls, animatronic Santa and Mrs. Claus, servers in bow ties, a table of 5 dudes who had ordered so many pies that one had to be set on a chair. Good stuff.

Our large half sausage, half pepperoni, cut into 10 slices. To drink, two frosty birch beers served over ice in those red plastic cups. These pies are heavy on the tomato sauce and light on the cheese. The pepperoni pieces were normal sized circles, as opposed to the thicker sliced mini rounds that I generally prefer. The fennel studded sausage was distributed in good sized chunks. Total damage: $23 - $18 for the food and a $5 tip.

Close up of the crust, which was very, very crisp. It was also shiny and glazed from a brushing of oil to give it more of a crackling flatbread effect, which I enjoyed. We both agreed that this wasn't the best "pizza" we've ever had. I guess I'm a fan of less sauce. However, once you add in the ambiance and super nice service, the overall experience would easily rank very high on our lists.

Happy New Year, see you in 2009!