Morristown Restaurant Takes Top Spot In New Jersey's 'Pizza Bowl III'

MORRISTOWN, NJ — Does a Morristown restaurant have New Jersey's best pizzas?

According to the judges at this year's "Pizza Bowl," the Morristown newcomer Coniglio's Old Fashioned, has the best in the state.

The Pizza Bowl is a statewide competition for pizza and meatballs. The annual competition, organized by Jersey Pizza Joints, a Facebook group with 68,000 members, pitted more than 3,100 restaurants against one another in a bracket-voting matchup.

Throughout the nine-hour event, 250 judges sampled food from 29 finalists, as well as over 250 pizzas and 2000 meatballs.

Coniglios's Old Fashioned in Morristown was given the official title of "Best Pizza" for this year's bracket and Pizza Amore Italian Kitchen, which is located in Carlstadt, was awarded the "Best Balls in Jersey" trophy.

More than $21,000 was raised by the event, which included a portion of admission and donations from numerous pizza joints. Jersey Pizza Joints will donate the entire amount to Tunnel to Towers, an organization that, among other things, builds homes for Gold Star and first responder families.

Nino Coniglio, the owner of Coniglio's Old Fashioned and a native of the Garden State, relocated to Morristown and opened a pizzeria there, bringing his award-winning pizza-making abilities and enthusiasm to the community.

"I'm a little emotional right now. We opened two months ago in New Jersey, coming back to New Jersey has been a huge thing for me and my family... Thank you for the love, we will keep on trying our hardest to do the very best pizza," Coniglio said after winning the award.

Coniglio's, which opened in Morristown late last year, took over Bareburger's space at 11 South Street, which permanently closed in early 2022.

Coniglio has previously won several pizza competitions, including first place in the Traditional Pizza category at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo. In addition, he was named Champion and Pizza Maker of the Year, defeating all other division winners at the Las Vegas Pizza Expo.

Coniglio's Old Fashioned is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, and from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Tuesdays. The shop does not accept phone orders, but it does have a full online menu and online ordering.