Situated snuggly on King’s Highway near Verona Ristorante and Gelato Dolceria is Pizza Pazza– a small but charming pizzeria. It offers classic Neapolitan-style pizza cooked in a wood-burning oven. Pizza Pazza opened not long ago on May 3. It adds to an already large number of Italian restaurants on King’s Highway, while also maintaining its own unique identity.

Even before entering the establishment, the charm of Pizza Pazza oozes from its exterior design. It features large bay-style windows overlooking King’s Highway, coupled with a cafe-like facade that briefly transports you to a glimpse of the city of Naples. Once my family and I entered, the feeling of being in Naples again was only amplified. The interior of the establishment goes further with the cafe aesthetic (despite it being a pizzeria) with wooden embellishments and wooden booths situated against the wall. The tables for dining in are in the cafe-esque square style, and have a marble design on them. The interior has various features that are modern-like, with a white hexagonal floor design, and printed walls that transition into green tiles halfway down. Pizza Pazza also has an open-style kitchen, where you can easily see the head pizza-maker put your orders into the giant wood oven towards the back of the establishment.

The ambience of the restaurant was properly comfortable. Going in on a rainy Saturday at noon, the quaint and soft piano music playing in the background made the pizzeria feel even more lovely. Pizza Pazza was not completely full or vacant, so when my family and I went in, we were seated and served immediately.

My family spoke with the main pizza-maker of Pizza Pazza: Antonio, a native Neapolitan that came to Cherry Hill just recently. He comes from a lineage of pizza-makers in Italy, with a family-owned restaurant in Naples itself being established in the 1930s. The dough he uses to make the pizzas takes three days to grow and be ready for preparation.
He also told us that he wants to bring a fully Neapolitan experience to the restaurant, but is currently only at “80%”. If he were able to get close to 100%, even 95% or above, he could realize this ambition.

We tried mostly pizza during our experience there; unfortunately not the Pizza Pazza that is named after the restaurant since they were not taking orders for it at the time. Nonetheless, we tried Pizza Mortadella, Pizza Quattro Formaggi, Pizza Margherita, Pizza Parma, and a Classic Calzone to go.

Consistently, for all 4 of the pizzas, the texture was simply spectacular. It was not charred or brutally hard, but rather soft and just tough enough to really dig into it. As per pizzeria tradition, all of the pizzas can be eaten with a fork and a knife, or you can opt to eat it with your hands since it is pre-sliced. I found the portions to be well-considered; they were just the right size for one person to eat, not necessarily the big family-sized portions you see elsewhere.

The Pizza Mortadella was really delectable– the salty mortadella complimented well with the earthy yet sweet pistachio.

The ricotta cheese, mozzarella, and what seemed to be parmesan and pecorino in the Pizza Quattro Formaggi all contributed to a nice explosion of classic Italian cheese flavor. We learned from Antonio that all of these cheeses were imported from Italy, since it is almost impossible to find them authentically here in America. In fact, mostly everything made at Pizza Pazza features ingredients imported from Italy.

The Pizza Parma featured prosciutto di parma, arugula, and diced tomatoes. I found this pizza to be good. The texture was still great, but the prosciutto seemed a bit bland.

The only pizza I did not particularly enjoy was the Pizza Margherita. The toppings seemed to have melted a little too much while in the oven– it was very hard to make out where the mozzarella was meant to be, and the tomato sauce was very liquid-y. It was decent overall, just somewhat dry and typical.

The Classic Calzone we took home was fantastic. It was fried well, but what made it so good were its gushy, flavorful insides. The ricotta and provola cheese inside, combined with the cooked prosciutto, provided for a great savory flavor. The notable imported quality of the cheeses particularly shone through in this calzone.

I was considerably impressed and delighted with Pizza Pazza. The atmosphere, food, and overall experience of the restaurant were not only up to par but of superb quality. Together with an affordable price, Pizza Pazza offers a unique window to authentic Neapolitan pizza-making whilst barely failing in its ambition.