Franco’s Pizzeria — Restaurant in Lopatcong Township

I rarely find the motivation to write reviews these days, but I felt as if I had to leave one in this case. I have been searching intermittently for many years for pizza that lives up to the expectations that were set up for me in the 1970's and early 1980's by the famous Mr Nicolosi and his crew in the Hillcrest Mall back in the day.

Every so often, I search Google reviews for pizza places with a high (4.7+) rating, hoping to find that cheesy needle in a crusty haystack. Recently, I came across Franco's Pizzeria, and thought it sounded like a promising new pizza place to try out.

One thing that confused me with the online ordering - it seemed you can not order a plain pizza, but rather must choose from a selection of preordained configurations.

I have to say that when I rate a new pizza place, I usually like to try a plain pizza, because it's like the "Reinheitsgebot" is for beer - the simpler the recipe, the more the imperfections and imbalances are revealed. If you can't make a great plain, how are you going to build on that inferior foundation?.

In any case, I read over the available online options and chose the Franco's Pizza. (How can you go wrong with something named after the owner?) In a few minutes I drove over and picked up the order from a very nice man, whom I presumed to be Franco himself.

With all that said, let's get to the point - the Franco's (peppers, bacon, onions, bacon, mushrooms) was excellent. Toppings were fresh and almost crisp/juicy tasting, cut to the right sizes, distributed evenly, and in perfect balance with each other and the rest of the pie. The crust was nice and crisp on the bottom and the dough thin and proportioned perfectly with the toppings, sauce, and cheese. Just enough sweetness and saltiness balance overall. I will definitely go back for seconds (although I may endeavor to order a plain next time, just for kicks).

A big plus for me in this experience was that Franco's Pizzeria now occupies a location that, many decades ago, used to be the corner store of my neighborhood (the Del-Crest Market, owned by Mr. Dave Mills, R.I.P.).

I have to say it - if Franco's had been in my neighborhood back then, I might never have even tasted a Nicolosi's Pie at all - and can you...

We ordered a large Halloween pizza and 2 orders of wings from Franco’s on Friday, October 18th, 2024 (around 6:30 pm) for pick-up. The food was delicious, but the staff is what makes this place 10/10! The young lady who took our order over the phone was so kind and professional. She went out of her way to help me figure out what pizza I was talking about; I saw an image on Google reviews from Franco’s and she pulled it up on her end while we were talking to confirm I was ordering what I truly wanted. When we arrived to pick up our order, the staff all greeted us with smiles. And, that same young lady who took our order came out from behind the counter to open and hold the door for us after ringing us up (I was carrying the food, while also trying to hold my 5 yr old’s hand). The whole place, too, had such a warm & cozy vibe. My little one appreciated the Halloween decorations and I appreciated the “grandma’s kitchen” vibe of the place (smelled heavenly). All this to say, 1. we will definitely be back and 2. if the owner reads this, please give the young lady a raise. I really can’t explain just how great of an employee she was- patient, kind, professional, knowledgeable about the menu and prices, speedy and efficient with ringing us up and getting us out the door-...

I have tried all the pizza places in the Phillipsburg area. I know good pizza I am from Hackensack NJ. I bought a sacillian pie from Gabriel's today, and it was horrible. The pie was under cooked the dough was way under cooked, and they clearly don't know what defines a sacillian pie; because this was as thin as a regular pie. I only tried this place because I saw it for the first time I like to give a place a chance. Rocco's is a joke nicolossis is inconsistent just subs, bubba's all average at best. If you want good pizza stick with places like Bella mia, La Bella via, and above all Bruno's pizza. Gabrielle's subs must be amazing; because this pizza couldn't be the thing keeping them in business. lol for the people here who say this would be my last meal or this place is the end all be all clearly you have never had good pizza. I guess it fits though mediocre pizza for...