Pizza City, Independence Mall 1973, Hamilton

Pizza City, Independence Mall 1973, Hamilton

A place familiar to many Burg area folks of my era:)

Dominick "Abbie" Azzarro 1975

Dominick "Abbie" Azzarro 1975

From Papas Tomato Pies on Chambers Street. A legendary eatery
that is still there right where it was and still in business
in this year of 2012. God Bless The Old Burg:)

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies, Hudson Street, The Burg

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies, Hudson Street, The Burg:)

Mannino's Pizza, Hamilton Avenue, The Burg

Mannino's Pizza, Hamilton Avenue, The Burg

A frequent stop especially in my Trenton High days of 1977
to 1980. They were in a smaller building right next to
this one in those days and had a walk=up window. They
make a nice pie and a very good cheesesteak:)

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg

This was Pica's Tomato Pies for a couple of decades and then
in my Burg era it was Schusters Tomato Pies for a couple of
decades:)

SPECIAL SUNDAY POST:DELORENZO'S TOMATO PIE HUDSON STREET LAST DAY , THE BURG

SPECIAL SUNDAY POST:DELORENZO'S TOMATO PIE HUDSON STREET
LAST DAY , THE BURG

Good Bye DeLorenzo's Tomato Pie, Hudson Street, The Burg
Thank You for a job well done thru the years.
Good luck in retirement folks.
God Bless The Old Burg:)

485 Chestnut Avenue, The Burg

485 Chestnut Avenue, The Burg
The corner of Chestnut Avenue and Elmer Street. In my Burg
day this was Orsini Travel Service. Before that it was
Hamilton Tomato Pie. Fred Carabelli owned Hamilton Tomato
Pie. I found in 1957 Frank Orsini was employed as a driver
for Carabelli Brewery. I have also been told before it
was Hamilton Tomato Pie it was a produce store:)

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies, Hudson Street, The Burg

DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies, Hudson Street, The Burg
In case folks around the nation who read this blog have
not heard, DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies is closing on
January 15, 2012. God Bless the folks who run it in
their well earned retirement years:)

South Broad Street 1939, The Burg

South Broad Street 1939, The Burg
You can see La Roma Tomato Pies in this picture. You can also
see Frey's Florist where later on Steeles Florist was to be:)

855 South Broad Street, The Burg

855 South Broad Street, The Burg
Once upon a time this was Frank S. and Jennie Limone's
Tomato Pie Restaurant:)

UPDATE: SJ Bill adds..
Frank's Tomato Pie restaurant was another of our regular places.
It was a door or two from Deutz Jewelers. Frank owned a beautiful
old Rock Ola juke box that played 78 platters, not 45s. The
colored tubes on the side bubbled like old style Christmas
ornaments. The sound? Not so good, but who cared!
Beside the cooking station was a mural of Vesuvio, from
Frank's home in Napoli region of Italy.
Compared to Sam's, a block up S. Broad St., or Schusters,
at Whittaker and Roebling, Frank used one of the ealier gas ovens
for his baking, where Sam's and Schusters used coal or coke fired.
I'm not sure if gas ovens made for a better tasting tomato pie,
as they did not impart a taste into the crust that you get from
coal, coke or a wood fired oven. The bottom of the crust was never
as browned-off as they were at Sam's. But still, it tasted great!
Frank used good ingredients. I think he was one to grind a little
oregano into the mozarella topping, which gave it a nice herby
Italian flavor.
Frnak Limone was another of the "nice guy" businessmen of the
Broad Street Business area.

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg. Once Pica's Tomato Pies
then Schusters:)

1122 Anderson Street, The Burg.

1122 Anderson Street, The Burg.
The Corner of Anderson Street and Genesee Street.
This was Cent'Anni in my Burg day. Owners Felix & Candy Ribavaro
Muccioli. Remember the picture of Felix the Cat on the outside
of the building?

Papa's Tomato Pies

PAPA'S TOMATO PIE RESTAURANT
804 Chambers Street, The Burg
Trentonian, The (Trenton, NJ) - Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Papa's Tomato Pie Restaurant is celebrating 96 years in
business! We have been serving the Trenton area since 1912.
And we are the second oldest pizza restaurant in the United
States.
The founder of Papa's was the owners grandfather, Joe Papa, from
Naples, Italy, which is the birth place of tomato pies as
we know it today. He opened one of the first pizzarias in
Trenton, located on South Clinton Avenue. As years passed,
he moved to Butler Street, with two locations. One at 109
Butler. The second was built right across the street,
which is now known as Neapolitan Hall. Then moving to
Chambers and Roebling streets in 1945, where it still
operates today as a family run business of four
generations of pie makers.
Starting with the owners grandfather, Joe Papa. He was 17
when he opened his first restaurant, making dough by hand
long before machines, and cooking in an oven using coal.
He also peeled and cooked tomatoes for the pizza sauce,
and used olive oil and resh-cut mozzarella while my grandmother,
Adalene, made the meatballs, the macaroni sauce, and helped
him prepare in the kitchen. Joe Papa was one of the first
businessmen in Trenton, chairman of the Feast of Lights for
many years, and president of Neapolitan Hall. Always in a suit
and tie, he taught many a pie maker who went off to own
businesses of their own, like Tony Gervasio of Gervasio's
Restaurant and Chick and Jimmy DeLorenzo from DeLorenzo's
and many others. Both of the owners grandfathers' sisters married
successful pie makers as Dominik Picca of Picca's on Whittaker
Avenue and Tony of Long Branch, which is still in operation.
My father, Dominik "Abbie" Azzaro, started working for the owners
grandfather in 1945. He met the owners mother, Teresa "Tessie" Papa,
and shortly after married. He worked for the owners grandfather until
he passed away in 1965. Then, he and the owners mother took over the
business. She helped him by taking care of all the paperwork.
He not only continued with the family recipes, but he stayed
open until 3 a.m., serving breakfast to local Chambersburg and
Villa Park patrons. At that time, there were many bars in the
area that came to Papa's when they closed. To mention a few,
Mickey's, Freddie's, Gus Hines, Four Ovals, De Georges Elderado,
Bartolini's, Botel Inn, Count Felix, The Little Spot,
Dart Tavern, Liberty Tavern, and many others.
Another fond memory was being open in the late afternoon
when the teenagers came in and danced in the aisles. We
had a big teen clientele. They came in after the football
games between Trenton High and Trenton Catholic. Then there
was the famous Sports Night at Trenton High. The Red Team used
Papa's as their home base. Most of the girls were from
Chambersburg . Those same teenagers are now in their 60s,
and a group of them return the last Wednesday of every month,
still eating the same tomato pies, just not dancing in the aisle.
Some of our well-known patrons were Mary Roebling, Anthony
Carabelli, Bobby Prunetti, Kathy Di costanza, Jimmy Durante,
Frank Stallone, Louis Prima, Sam Butera, and many more stars
and dignitaries.

Papa's Tomato Pie

Papa's Tomato Pie
A new picture of a Papas Tomato Pie taken a few weeks ago
to show that in this year of our lord 2011 you can still
get great Burg food. Chambers Street and Roebling Avenue
are still filled with the wonderful aroma of Papas
delicious foods:)

530 Hudson Street, The Burg.

530 Hudson Street, The Burg.
An Interior picture of the Legendary DeLorenzo's Tomato
Pies:)

Three Tomato Pie Geniuses, The Burg

Three Tomato Pie Geniuses, The Burg
The 'Burg in 1946: Three tomato pie geniuses, left to right
Tony Gervasio, Joe Papa, Dominic ("Abie") Azzaro.

A DeLorenzo's Tomato Pie (Hudson)

A DeLorenzo's Tomato Pie (Hudson)
The Legend lives on and you can still get a Tomato Pie
just like this one on Hudson Street in the Burg at
DeLorenzo's Tomato Pies:)

A Cool Building on Hudson & Mott

A Cool Building on Hudson & Mott
At one time long ago before my Burg era this was a
location for Delorenzo's Tomato Pies:)

Tomato Pie, Delorenzos, Hudson Street, The Burg

Tomato Pie, Delorenzos, Hudson Street, The Burg
Its a Burg blog. I must post a tomato pie picture every
so often. Still in this year of 2011 you can have a
Tomato Pie from Delorenzos Hudson Street or Delorenzos
Hamilton Avenue or Papas Tomato Pies on Chambers
Street, among other places:)

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg

461 Whittaker Avenue, The Burg
The corner of Whittaker Avenue and Roebling Avenue.
This is a close up:)
Once upon a time this was Pica's Tomato Pies and then
became Schuster's Tomato Pies in my Burg Day:)
This is a new picture taken yesterday.