With their black wood and white stark walls, the ambience doesn’t exactly scream “pizzeria” when you enter this establishment, but when it comes to pizza, it’s all about the pie.
Michael Gallucci, who opened the famed “Rosie’s Pizza” in Point Pleasant in 2017, opened “Pizzeria Lucci” in Belmar recently, much to the excitement of many Jersey Shore foodies.
I recently visited Pizzeria Lucci and sampled some of their known dishes. We started with their Caesar salad. In my opinion, if you have a great Caesar salad, Â everything else falls into place. The Caesar salad came out looking fresh. The taste was good, but with shaker Parmesan cheese, you lose me. I need those curls of freshly grated Parmesan Reggiano, and I love the option of real anchovy, which was not given here.
They had a crispy breadcrumb topping, which seems to be a vibe around the shore lately for Caesar salads, but not my favorite accompaniment unless it’s well-seasoned and used sparingly. The dressing was good as well, but a little more acidic than creamy, and I think there has to be a perfect balance with that to make a great Caesar dressing. We ordered one of their specialty pies, the Pepperoni Pie.
It was a little smaller than an average large pie, but the appearance was enticing. It was a little light on the cheese for my taste and I don’t think the red onion that comes with it added anything to it, but the sauce had a very good flavor. My greatest disappointment however was that despite advertising “well done” pizza, the slices did not stand up to the flop test.
I like my pizza cheesier and sturdier, so when I hold up my slice, it holds up my toppings. I did however love the thinness of the pie. The crust was also great, indicative of a homemade and well-made dough. I would order this pie again and I’ll definitely go back to try some more options on the menu at Pizzeria Lucci.
I give it 3.4 stars
