😋 Settling the boardwalk pizza debate | Down the Shore

Are we even still talking about pizza down the Shore? Just on the Ocean City boardwalk alone, there are so many other intriguing options: lobster rolls, Greek nachos, pierogis, birria tacos, smash burgers, Korean corn dogs, japchae, acai bowls.

But, like the rhythm of the tides that everyone should be checking before deciding where to put their chairs (see more on that below), the Shore conversation invariably turns to pizza.

Even on Peacock’s megahit Love Island USA, where Cape May’s Sincere Rhea barely survived a villain edit this summer, he and Philly not-quite girlfriend Melanie Moreno were planning a pizza date for when they’re down the Shore. “Pizza is such a staple on the boardwalk,” muses Melanie in the Sunday finale. “Walking around with a big slice of pizza on the boardwalk,” agrees Sincere. So here we are. Genuinely, as the Islanders say over and over again.

In Ocean City, where people can, genuinely, be found walking down the boardwalk with whole pies under their arms, I have tried to settled the big debate: Manco’s, Preps, or, new this year, Alex’s? Or is there a wild card?

The big three feature the ringed sauce that is Ocean City’s signature. I liked my slice this week at Preps better than at a previous outing, so if you like a thicker cheese-forward slice, yet three solid rings of sauce, Preps is for you. I’m no Manco’s hater, and I am typically happy at the Ninth Street counter with a slice and a diet soda, but this time, at 12th Street, I was underwhelmed. Maybe it was just too hot out. Maybe it was that the hose-applied ring of sauce left too much of the slice near the crust sauce-free. Meanwhile, Alex’s, hailing from Roxborough, is a similar style, but crispier. The sauce on my slice was a bit well done. Maybe it had sat in the oven too long? It didn’t sing. I agree with others, including Craig LaBan in this summer’s Shore food review, that Alex’s standout is its smash burger.

So which is best? My answer: Roma’s!

The best slice I tried came from this shop in that famous 600 block of the boardwalk, shared with the former home of Wonderland Pier. That was a New York-style slice straight out of my childhood. Tangy, saucy, fresh cheese, just a hint of oil, charred yet foldable. Nicely done, Roma! If a big hotel will keep business humming at Roma, I say reason enough.

📮 What’s the most unusual thing you’ve eaten down the Shore? What do you wish there was more of (fresh seafood shacks)? And, OK, what’s your go-to pizza? Let me know what you think by replying to this email and I’ll include your most interesting responses in a future newsletter. And check out LaBan’s full Shore dining report here.

Have ideas or news tips about the Shore or this newsletter? Send them to me here.

🌞 It’s heating up again, with a dreaded west wind and some weekend showers in the forecast. (Not to mention some air quality concerns from Canadian wildfires). But you never know.

— Amy S. Rosenberg (@amysrosenberg, on instagram @amysrosenberg. 📧 Email me here.)

🏀 Jalen Brunson, the de facto mayor of Margate, was photographed outside the Other Lucy Grille near the Elephant with his arm in a sling. This caused an uproar in New York media and beyond.

🧹 Brunson, meanwhile, was plugging local business Shore Schleppers.

🏠 This couple wanted to recreate their Shore memories. So they rebuilt a house in Strathmere.

🛥️ John Kruk and Randy Quaid were named the grand marshals for this year’s Night in Venice boat parade.

🏚️ Neighbors demand action on a Wildwood abandoned house.

💃🏻 Thousands danced on Atlantic City’s beach during the 10th anniversary of the BRT Festival, this year featuring Lauryn Hill.

🍅 Eat like LaBan: More suggestions from our restaurant critic Craig LaBan, from LBI to Cape May.

🏈 Vacation like Kelce: Sea Isle and Strathmere make the perfect Philly road trip, says writer Adam Erace.

🎭 Eye-gore: Go see the musical version of Young Frankenstein at the Surflight Theatre in Beach Haven.

🎹 One of us: Joan Osborne is coming to Cape May as part of the city’s summer music series.

🖌️ Check out artist Johnny Dreamawake’s new painted electric boxes in A.C.’s Orange Loop neighborhood.

👩🏽‍🎨 Visit the new MudGirls Studios on Arctic Avenue in Atlantic City. MudGirls is a nonprofit whose mission is “empowering disadvantaged women through the making of functional ceramic art and architectural tiles.”

Which two beach towns had boardwalks that were destroyed in the Great Hurricane of 1944 and never rebuilt?

A. Margate and Ventnor

B. Beach Haven and Stone Harbor

C. Ocean City and Margate

D. Wildwood and Wildwood Crest

If you think you know the answer, email us here. First one gets a shout out.

Tony Santini asks: I have been doing the Shore my entire life. I still pack an outfit for every day and an outfit for every night. Am I weird? Do other people do this or do they just throw stuff in a suitcase and wear the same things over and over because they are “on vacation down the shore?”

So this topic came up when I wrote about the Shore’s ultimate beach bum, Bruno Battaglia, who logged countless hours on Ventnor’s Newport Avenue beach and mentioned to me that he does, in fact, notice (and judge) when people wear the same bathing suit day after day.

But let’s face it, the Shore, not to mention the entire state of New Jersey, is nothing if not casual (just look at those lines to get into happy hour at classy places like Dock’s and the Knife and Fork). So I appreciate Tony’s effort to keep things elevated. But I think the majority is falling into the “throw stuff in a suitcase” camp. Plus, they need room for the sheets the rentals don’t provide down the Shore.

What do you think? How casual is casual? Should we be planning outfits for every day and night? Can Tony recycle a few shirts? Let me and Tony know what you think!

Does an early setup mean nobody can sit in front of you when the tide goes out? What about when the tide is coming in, do you have to go to the back of the line or just scrunch closer and closer? Is it just a free-for-all on a narrow beach? We asked our Shore Line text group (join here!).

We sit back, and like to have a line of vision to our kids but it never fails that people are gonna sit in front of you but I feel like that’s just the nature of the beast.

Ok to sit in front of others as long as you are willing to move behind others as the tide rolls in.

We try to get the sweet spot of finding the closest possible high tide placement that way we never have to move and those that grabbed the low tide real estate either head out with the incoming tide or relocate behind us.

Tide clock is a must.

I always try to put my chair where I won’t blocking anyone’s view of the ocean. I would hope others would do the same for me.

Send us your thoughts here.

Donald Haskin shared this Atlantic City memory:

My favorite memories come from working as a teenager for my grandfather, Lou Segal, at his North Carolina Ave. parking lot, just down the street from the Chalfont Haddon Hall: Lou, stout and ruddy-cheeked, deploying his incredible people skills on customers, friends and fellow merchants; Uncle Sid’s artistic talents displayed in his incomparable pencil-drawings on the interior walls of the shanty; Ray Martain, the perpetual prognosticator who regaled everyone with his mispronounced “trassic” [traffic] predictions; pre-dawn SOS breakfasts at Frank Burns’ Flying Dutchman on South Carolina Ave. and lunch runs to Kornblau’s on Pacific Ave. for their juicy corned-beef sandwiches. But the topper was the fleet of gleaming white Oldsmobile convertibles racing back and forth across the city during “Pageant Week.” Their annual arrival meant that Grandpop could raise the price for parking from $2.50 to $5.00!

Send us your Shore memory! In 200 words, tell us how the Shore taps into something deep for you, and we will publish them in this space during the summer.

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