Mangia Trattoria: Glen Rock, NJ
June 03, 2006
OK, so, it's immensely popular, extremely family friendly, and generally a zoo. It also serves lots of Italian-American style pasta (carbonara came in what seemed to be a pool of cream, for example). So why would I bother with this place? Well, I have to say, they make a pretty decent brick oven pizza. You can probably do better at home, but in a pinch, Mangia Trattoria can sate your fix for some Neapolitan-style brick oven pizza, even if they are cheating a little bit.
Mangia starts their pizzas in a gas-fired pizza oven, and then moves them to the wood-burning brick oven to finish. The brick oven adds a nice charred finish to the pizza, and a subtle element of smokiness if you're lucky. I'd love to see what would happen if they cooked a pizza straight through in the brick oven. Maybe I could go there when it's not busy and make a special request.
The pizza compares favorably to Glen Rock's other brick oven offering, Aldo's. It's also right up there with Ridgewood's Brooklyn's Pizza. Not bad in a pinch. Not bad at all.
They have a bunch of standard pastas, some salads, some apps. One standout might be the cold antipasto, which is lettuce, some meats and cheeses, and some pickled vegetables. It used to be about 6 bucks and offered an incredible value. It's up to 10, but it's really quite sizeable, and pretty good if you're in the mood for that type of thing.
There's not too much more to say about this place from my perspective. I've never eat at the actual restaurant, so maybe there are specials or something else that are more interesting than their regular menu. Hopefully someone will let me know if I'm missing something by doing take-out.
This was a margherita (fresh tomato sauce, fresh mozzarella, fresh basil) with sausage.
BYOB
Mangia Trattoria : website : 918 Prospect Street (right next to Bottle King) : Glen Rock, NJ : 07452 : 201.445.6264
