Mercato Tomato Pie

I enjoy this pizza joint right next to the Prudential Center. The pizza slices are large, but it could get a bit pricey. They also have other foods besides pizza that are very delicious. For example, a great selection of salad and pastas, where you create your own dish. They also have a good selection of beer and wine to compliment your pizza. The tables have a chalkboard, where you can draw on. This is a good feature if you have kids, but make sure they wash there hands before they eat. Otherwise, they will be eating chalk and I do not know what that does to you. The service is great and the owner is friendly.

***DON’T WASTE YOUR TIME***
So we get to the resturant and wait for someone to seat us. Waited a few minutes and still nobody there to acknowledge or greet us. I had to go up to a waitress and ask if there is a host. She tells me you seat yourself. Ok so we find a table downstairs and waited at least 10 minutes for a server. Nowhere to be found. By this time I saw 3 other tables get up and leave without being served. I go upstairs and ask if we suppose to order upstairs and get our own food? She tells me no you should have a waitress downstairs, she is just getting drinks. I go back downstairs and waited a few minutes and she finally shows up. Does not acknowledge us so we ended up leaving. When we left there was a line of people waiting to be seated not knowing you seat yourself. This place is a joke, don’t waste your time here.

Best pizza in Newark! I love coming here and enjoying their pizza on their fun chalk tables that you get to draw on! Their pizzas are very large portioned so don’t think like it’s a regular pizza joint because a large pizza can easily share with 4 – 5 people. They have fresh ingredients and Jimmy, the manager is so kind! He is very accommodating and I feel like I can go to him for anything as far as service.
My friend recently had reserved the downstairs area for a birthday and it was perfect! The spot was reserved only for us for about 30 people. We had pitchers of beer, soda, and ordered bottles of wine.
All the food that came with the service was so yummy! We had ordered the calamari, wings, mozzarella sticks, veggie salad, and the BEST Cesar salad I have ever had! The dressing is perfect, it’s not too sweet or sour and lettuce is fresh. Our waitress was very friendly and we definitely made it worth her while!

After reading reviews on Unilocal and as a lover of Italian tomato pie, I decided to come here before the Bruce Springsteen concert at The Prudential Center on ¹⁄₃₁. What drew me in, other than the stellar reviews, was that they claimed their white clam pizza was one of their specialties, and I’m a huge fan of these in general. I would have loved to try it, but alas, I didn’t get the opportunity.
Knowing that the restaurant would be crowded the night of a concert, we showed up at 5:15 and put our name in with the hostess. We were told there was a 15 – 20 min wait. After an hour of waiting, I checked again with the hostess. People were cutting the line and seating themselves, and at one point a waitress just told someone they could sit at a table she had just cleared. After complaining and requesting the manager, nothing was done. The management had absolutely no control over the situation.
What I did receive was a burnt piece of cardboard on a table next to the restrooms in the basement after waiting over 90 minutes to be seated. I never even received a menu, and the only reason I got a drink was because I went up to the bar to get one. A waitress never stopped at our table, we had to flag one down. Also, what I received was not Italian tomato pie; it was pizza. «What distinguishes tomato pies from pizza is the preparation process: cheese and other toppings are added on first, then the tomato sauce.» You can tell immediately from looking at a pie if it is tomato pie or pizza. I’m not sure if the other reviewers realize this or not, and maybe this place does make tomato pie, but I ordered it and did not receive it. (We skipped the idea of the white clam pie due to time constraints and their apparent inability to provide service.) Rest assured, I will never come back here.

Great pizza, great service, wonderful atmosphere, and the pre-​game atmosphere before a Devils game is always exciting. The prices are really good and well worth it. @JerseyJoe #RWTDPOD

I would give this place more like 3.5 stars. I’ve come here about 4 times and each time the food was very consistently good/​okay. My favorite is the white clam pizza, which has a strong garlic taste with an abundance of clams on top. The salad is around average but its huge portion makes up for its mediocrity. The pasta is below average and can feed up to 4 people. I would still come here again for the white clam pizza and it is certainly one of the better pizza places in Newark.

I believe this is the best Pizza in Newark at least that I have tried. The dough is perfect and different from others also they deliver in a prompt time. Make sure you try their original Piadas.

We decided to come before the Devils game and it was the best decision. The place is warm and welcoming, the staff is super friendly. We got 2 small pizza and they were awesome. We also got mozzarella sticks and honestly one of the best we’ve had!!! Our waitress Kimberly knew the menu very well and explained our options for everything. Between her being amazing and the food, we will definitely be back again!!!

Got the family size pesto penne and plain pizza. I was here for a concert at the Prudential Center and stopped in for a bite to eat beforehand. The portion sizes are huge and cheap. $ 13 for family size, enough for 4 people if you order a small pizza on the size. The pesto could be more flavored but the pasta was al dente and well tossed in sauce.

Can’t beat the location right around the corner from the Prudential Center!
— fresh ingredients
— great tomato pies (as good as what you’d get in the Trenton, NJ/​Mercer County area
— great salad to start!
— pastas looked terrific/​big portion/​family style! (next time)
— friendly service
— serves beer/​wine
— refills for soft drinks included
— cute setup
So why no 5-​star rating you ask? Simple– we weren’t in a hurry, however– after 10 minutes with no one coming by (to see if we had any questions about the menu and/​or take a drink order)…we got a little frustrated, and had to flag someone down!
Bottom line– if you are in the area (especially if/​when headed to the Prudential Center)…this is a highly recommended place!

Yes 5 stars! I just had the best margherita personal pizza I have had in years & trust me I eat a lot of pizza. The sauce was perfect, I loved how much basil was on it & very generous with the mozz. My only regret is that I got it to go but even after a 10 minute walk back to my office it was still crispy deliciousness. I can’t wait to go back & try their other pies. The décor is really nice & it’s really roomy.

3.5 stars, really;
I was in Newark for an event at the Prudential Center, and came here after looking at the Unilocal reviews. There were a lot of people, probably since it was right before the event, but the service was still okay. My server was very friendly, but since it was so busy, it did take her a little while to get around to my table.
The food was a bit of a disappointment. I ordered a small Margherita pizza and my friend ordered a pasta with bacon. The pizza tasted good, but the dough was a little tough, so I didn’t eat the crust. The pasta was huge, but the sauce was only at the top. If you’re the type to eat a lot of sauce, you’ll only be able to eat the top layer of the dish (probably about 15%). The sauced portion of the pasta was very good, but the rest had to be eaten very dry, and was not very enjoyable.
One thing very important to mention: THE PORTIONS ARE HUGE. But considering the prices of the dishes compared to the portions, if you order $ 30 amount of food, it should easily feed about 3 people. The way they portion and price the food is inconvenient.

Went here on a rainy Friday in October around 11:30 with 5 hungry co-​workers. We were the first ones in the joint, but a few more tables started pouring in closer to noon.
Our spot-​on server underestimated our hunger by suggesting we low-​ball the size of our pizzas, but I soon understood why. A «large» here is not your typical large. It’s tyrannosaurus rex large, and notice I didn’t hyphenate «tyrannosaurus rex.» Yeah, it’s that large.
We split 3 medium pies: the regular plain, the margherita, and a pepperoni, sausage and bacon. The regular plain was … well … plain. The mozzarella and basil on the margherita were nice and fresh and they gave you the whole basil leaf, which I respect. The stand out for me was the meat pie. Duh. Instead of chopping up the bacon into itty bitty bits like most places, they gave you the whole slab. One of my co-​workers raved about this. I was rather indifferent. I did, however, appreciate the crisp edges around the quarter-​sized nice and thick pieces of pepperoni. As for the crust, not too thick and too thin.
We waited at least 20 minutes for our order, maybe longer. Not bad, but I figured we would have gotten served a little sooner considering we were the first and only table. Plus, the pizzas should only taken about 6 – 8 minutes in the coal oven. But I’m not complaining. All the pizzas came out cooked just right, which isn’t always easy when they get thrown in the coal oven.
In the end, we spent $ 15/​person, which included a generous tip for our rockstar waitress, and not a single one of us left wishing we had gotten a large. I know this because we all started looking at one another when one last piece of margherita almost got left behind all by its lonesome.
The only gripe I heard at the table was that the Puck’s fountain diet soda was too sweet, but our server acknowledged as much and offered to replace it.
Prior to coming here, I had the chance to go to The Monk Room on the other side of Prudential. If not for my bias toward wood fired pizza over coal fired pizza, Mercato Tomato would be my go-​to pizza spot in Newark. But I just learned some heartbreaking news. The Monk Room has temporarily closed, which means Mercato Tomato is now my #1.

Still in search of great pizza in Newark so five of my co-​workers and I decided to try Mercato Tomato Pies.
We were greeted with happy hello’s as we walked through the door and were told we could sit anywhere… so we chose the table right by the front window (so people could marvel at the eating fest that was about to occur). We ordered our drinks (PUCK soda on tap) and I had the best tasting birch beer I’ve had in years. We decided on three medium pies– a Plain Tomato pie, a Margherita our, and a meat lovers pie.
I’ve only in recent years started appreciating coal and wood fired pizza places as I’m pretty much a NJ pizza traditionalist… so I’m always still a little skeptical. I have to stop though… every time I have it I thoroughly enjoy the pizza. A word of warning, a medium pie here is about the size of a large pie in most places… finishing these three pies might me tough.
Ok, that last part was a stretch… we were six experienced pizza eaters and we left nothing behind… when we got to the last couple slices we were all pretty full, but we survived the struggle– it was tough, but we managed ;-)
The meat pizza was my favorite — the toppings were slightly crispy but not burnt… this pie was done perfectly… ham, bacon, pepperoni, sausage-​how could it NOT be my favorite? The Margherita was my second favorite (it’s one other favorites anyway) — done perfectly and just delicious. The plain pie was good, but didn’t seem to be anyone’s favorite… just slightly overdone, it didn’t have the flavor of the other two pies.
3 pies, six sodas, the best waitress you could ask for (smiling, engaging, and helpful), all for $ 15 per person — with tip. This place is going to thrive… and if it doesn’t them Newark doesn’t deserve another pizza place. I will be back FOR SURE.

Oh Newark, Mercato Tomato Pie… let me describe you. Me my gf, were on our way to NJPAC, but suddenly hunger attacked. Since none of us are from Newark, I was hesitant on roaming too far from our destination. We settled for a coal oven pizzeria behind the NJ Devils arena. First of all, the outside of this place resembles a supermarket more than a restaurant. If it was not for my gf reading a small sign stating that they sold pizza, I would’ve totally skipped this place, if I was on my own. Second of all, not safe. My gf had a large purse, and I noticed a disturbed homeless man follow us to our booth, as soon as told her to guard her purse and place it on the inside of the booth, he approached her and creepily greeted her and I got up and said what’s up. The waitress and workers approached the disturbed man swiftly, and escorted him out, as he yelled and cursed at them racist jargon. The waitress noticed how distraught and shocked we were at the incident. She quickly offered my gf a free glass of wine.
Third of all, they got our order wrong, we asked for a margarita pizza, and they send us a regular cheese pie. The waitress attempted to get the order right, but we declined since we didn’t want to be late for NJPAC. Safety is always my top priority, and personally I wouldn’t recommend Mercato Tomato Pie.

At the start of the summer we decided to hit a new pizzeria every week that we’d never gone to using various ‘best of’ lists on
and Unilocal.Titled «The Pizza Project 2015» it’s about to wrap-​up with autumn upon us and we wanted to end on a really strong note. Unfortunately more than a few of the warhorses (The Monk Room in Newark, Razza in Jersey City) aren’t open on a Sunday. (Blasphemy!)
So it was between Millie’s in Morristown and Mercato’s and the closer of the two won out.
It’s spacious. It’s got fat pieces of chalk to write on the walls and table. It’s got a beautiful oven cranking out all sorts of creations.
We go with a small white clam pie and a medium plain pie. Good thing we were at a booth because these monsters come out on sheet trays.
Were the clams a touch chewy and overcooked?
Was the plain pie cut in the oddest way so no two slices were the same? (some resembling the classic triangle, some looking like blocks straight out of Minecraft, some cut into bizarre shapes geometry students wouldn’t be able to name)
Was the crust blistered to hell and bloody addictive?
Seriously good stuff. The Pizza Project 2015 started strong with Ralph’s in Nutley and ended just as strongly with Mercato’s.

* Mushroom, Spinach & Gorgonzola pie is in every Unilocal photo for a reason — because it’s THAT GOOD!
* Their medium pie is actually HUGE! They cut the slices in varying sizes — great if you want to start big and gradually go for smaller and smaller pieces as you get fuller and fuller.
* FREE refills! They serve Puck’s Fountain Soda!
* Pasta dishes are served family-​style and they are big enough for at least 4! Since there were only 2 of us and we both had enough for lunch the next day.
* Booze! I didn’t imbibe but they do have beer, wine and some interesting cocktails — next time, the Kentucky Mule has my name on it!
* Writing on their chalkboard tables is fun!
* The bill came and we were surprised how much food we got (along with pizza AND pasta leftovers!) for what seemed like a super low price!
* Parking is free after 4pm on non-​event nights (the lot is around the corner on Edison Pl. but once you park you go through the back door to Mercato which makes it super convenient
* Events! I saw a sip and paint event advertised… for those inclined!
Definitely see myself returning soon to try their specialty White Clam Pizza and watch the cooks handle those unbelievably long pizza peels! I swear they’re like 12 feet long and they hang from the ceiling when not in use.

Food was second to none! Coconut glazed shrimp so large we had to cut them in half to even eat them!
The mozzarella sticks were fresh and some store bought freezer junk.
And oh my goodness! The pizza! Yum! Yum! Yummy!
Bathrooms were spotless even though it was a girl/​boy bathroom.
The only thing I would complain about is that the waitress was incredibly slow but she was VERY nice.

I stumbled across this place two weeks ago during a random stop downtown. Although my initial intentions of walking that way was to visit Chipotle, I couldn’t resist the urge to go inside.
I’m instantly greeted with one of the most friendliest atmospheres I have ever encountered on any visit downtown; the servers were happy, the customers where eating and laughing, the owner was laughing and making pizzas, everything you would want and more.
I eventually got over my fascination and ordered the one of their specialty pies: White Spinach Mushroom & Gorgonzola w/​mozzarella & grated Pecorino cheese. It was amazing nonetheless. On top of all of that, the owner gave me a nice tour of the kitchen and their beautiful Artisanal coal fired oven. (Almost burned my eyebrows off but it was worth it!)
Fast forward to today. I decided to create my own pie … Shrimp Pesto w/​Gorgonzola & Mozzarella cheese. (can you say HEAVEN!)!!!
Overall, I really love this place and if I could give it 10 stars I would !

I’m really torn on rating this place. 3 ½ stars, but I’m kicking it up a notch for being the only place to get good pizza in Newark. I went for the grand opening. Met the mayor of Newark (not super friendly, but very well dressed) and had some good pizza.
They really need to get their service together. Friendly, but our service was chaotic. The server was not up to speed on menu items.