Hoboken Food Guy: Torna's Pizzeria

If you live in Hoboken, it's not unlikely that you have walked by Torna's Pizzeria without noticing it. Despite the new (non) fancy sign and some stools on the outside of the place, Torna looks like any basic Hoboken apartment. The food that comes from the small restaurant, however, is anything but ordinary. Many Hoboken residents consider Torna to be the town's best pizzeria.

Torna, a tiny pizzeria, can comfortably hold a dozen people at most. Upon walking into Torna's, you'll see a few tables to the left and a small counter to the right. Behind the counter is one of the most visible restaurant kitchens in Hoboken, a kitchen that could be picked up and moved to any apartment in town (minus the large oven, of course). You'll always find an interesting menagerie of individuals working behind the counter, all of them extremely polite. Included in the mix, if you're lucky, will be a woman the wife and I affectionately refer to as "Momma T." We're convinced that she hand-makes every piece of food that comes out of Torna, and we refuse to believe otherwise.

Hoboken is a town full of delis, and each one claims to have the best (insert specialty here) sandwich in town. Having been to every Hoboken deli and eaten several varieties of restaurant and homemade eggplant, I can confidently say that Torna's eggplant is the best I've ever eaten. Perfectly thin-cut eggplant slices covered in sauce and cheese that spills outside a delicious sub/hoagie roll, and all for under $8.

The pizza from Torna is not your standard New York/North Jersey thin slice pizza, yet not quite "deep dish" pizza. Each bite contains the perfect amount of cheese and a delicious sweet sauce. Torna's Hawaiian pizza is the best I've ever eaten. The pizza contains thicker slices of pineapple than what you'll see from other pizzerias. If you're a fan of Hawaiian pizza, you live in Hoboken and you haven't ordered Torna's Hawaiian pie yet, you have no idea what you're missing. Those looking for a good Sicilian slice need look no further than Torna's, home to the best Sicilian pizza in Hoboken.

Torna in short: Best eggplant ever. Best Sicilian slice/Hawaiian pizza in Hoboken. Arguably the best prices in town. I have been praising Torna to friends and families for three years, and each person that I've introduced to the pizzeria has absolutely loved it. I guarantee you will, too.

Grade: A+

Torna's Pizzeria
254 9th Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
(201) 798-8873

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