This bike ride was inspired by Trenton Cycling Revolution’s ride for the area’s best Trenton tomato pie. I will miss the 2026 version with 9(!) stops, so I decided to organize my own mini version.
Eight riders. Three pizzerias. A slice apiece.
Which would we deem best?
Let’s start by saying that New Jersey has lots and lots of great pizza places. I’m not going to get into it with Connecticut and its Pizza Trail, but I dare you to go down the rabbit hole of this Jersey Pizza Joints group on Facebook. Or even just this NJ.com list of the best 125 pizzas in the state for 2026.
I picked three stops within 2 miles of each other in Mercer County: Papa’s Tomato Pie (oldest continuously family-owned pizza place in the U.S.), DeLorenzo’s Tomato Pie in Robbinsville (not to be confused with some other DeLorenzo’s pizza spots and a regular on lists of best pizza) and Marcello’s Pizza-Grill, a relative newcomer just across the line in Hamilton.
The idea was just tomato pie, no sausage or other toppings to distract us.
What’s a Trenton tomato pie? Cheese first, then tomato sauce. The reverse of most pies. Sorry, Philly, our tomato pies aren’t just sauce, and our crusts are thinner.
Our bike ride started about 10 miles away, at Van Nest Park in West Windsor; take time while you’re there to see the memorial to the 1938 version of “The War of the Words” and the Martian “landing” that happened down the road. Here’s the route.
First up: Marcello’s
We started here because it opens the earliest — at 10 a.m. (We probably arrived around 10:30.) This is only one of the three that does slices as well as whole pies. It’s a small spot with no sit-down seating, though there was a counter for those who opt to stand inside and eat. But I’d wager most of its business is take-out.
We ordered the Tomato Pie Corleone, a square pie that costs $1 more than the Old Fashion Tomato Pie. There’s a lovely story behind the Corleone-style pies that goes back to Marcello’s childhood in Sicily and a pizza maker from Corleone who’d come to his village once a week.
This crust was the thickest of the three pies we tasted, but it seemed thinner and less doughy than what I associate with Sicilian pies. The airiness and the crunchiness on the corner slices won raves. The sauce had a lovely tang. I found the cheese and sauce a bit gooey and they slid off the crust a bit, but that didn’t seem to bother anyone else.
It’s No. 82 on the NJ.com list. Dave Portnoy, who goes viral with some of his pizza reviews, says 8.1 out of 10.
Next: DeLorenzo’s
I’ve been here on a Sunday evening when the line was out the door, so I was nervous about what we’d find on a Wednesday at lunch. Thankfully, plenty of empty tables.
DeLorenzo’s lets you ask for light or well-done pie, so I figured we’d try well-done. The crust is thin, not cracker-hard but also not as airy as I remembered.
We liked it plenty, but we didn’t rave about it. One person thought the sauce needed salt. Maybe? It felt a little flat. I was surprised because so many people rave about this place. Portnoy gives DeLo a 9.2.
Fwiw, that NJ.com listing for 2026 puts the clam pie at No. 26 and notes there’s no need to travel to New Haven. (Sorry, Connecticut.)
DeLorenzo’s only opens at 4 p.m. on weekends; will it ever be a stop on Trenton Cycling Revolution’s pizza rides?
Finally, Papa’s
OK, we broke with the idea of just plain tomato pies. Half of the group had never tried the mustard tomato pie and really wanted to. Some of us had loved it on this bike ride for “weird” pizza.
What’s mustard pie? It’s got a thin swirled layer of spicy brown (not yellow!) mustard between crust and cheese/sauce. I have found it amps the flavor of the sauce. But if it’s exposed, with no toppings, you definitely get a mustard flavor.
This is a pie that can evoke strong feelings. Definitely a hard no from one in the group. NJ.com ranks it No. 6 among all the pizzas in the state.
And the rest of us? Was it because this was our third pie in 2 miles? Somehow even those of us who loved it the first time (when it was our first of three pies) weren’t as excited this time.
Portnoy gives the classic tomato pie an 8.6 (or maybe an 8.9 ; he kinda fudged it) and calls Papa’s a “bucket-list pizza place”.
And the winner is…
Marcello’s, then DeLorenzo’s, then Papa’s. With the caveat that the order could change if the order of the pizza-eating changes.
Three pies, all very different even if they all have that Trenton tomato pie label.
It was my first time at Marcello’s. I think I need to go back for a slice of something else.
More pizza: Wild trolls and great pizza: A bike ride around Mount Holly
