It’s time to admit that the Snob was once a preppie, having attended St. Peter’s Preparatory High School in Jersey City, NJ. I somehow managed to overcome those trying years and become the interesting albeit eccentric person that I am today. Four years of my life, nevertheless, were connected to the northern New Jersey metropolis known as Jersey City.
Back in the day, Journal Square was the center of Jersey City. In addition to shopping, dining, and transportation, it had two elaborate, historic movie theaters–the Stanley and the Lowes – both now dark but still standing. The Square today still serves as a major bus terminal and a key stop for the Path train that runs between lower Manhattan and Newark.
Right outside the old Path station once stood a little hole in the wall place that served an awesome slice of pizza: Three Guys from Italy was the prime pizza place for us preppies. It was a busy place that turned over cheese slices so fast they would inevitably burn the roof of your mouth.
Music City Mike, the Snob’s alter ego, recently went to see his hero Bruce Springsteen perform a few shows in their mutual home state. The Snob’s mission on this trip was to travel through the Square to see if Three Guys still made a killer slice. Relocating down the street after the old Path station was torn down and rebuilt, Three Guys still makes one of the best slices in the Garden State, or anywhere else for that matter.
Three Guys is your standard pizza joint – order at the counter, take it with you or sit in the back and eat it there. They also offer a few select Italian dishes. Barely lunch time, I ordered two good-sized $1.75 cheese slices. By sight alone I knew these would be Five Slice Award worthy, and the first bite confirmed it. Three Guys was as good as it was 40 years ago! Perfectly economical in sauce and cheese with a nice thin crust, the slices had more oil than the usual but were quite flavorful. Cooked to perfection. Upon leaving, I told the guy at the counter “You just can’t make a slice any better than that!” Textbook NY-Style pie.
The Square may not be what it once was back in the early Seventies, but it can proudly boast being the home of Three Guys from Italy and its masterful pizza. It’s just a short walk from the Path station, and I highly recommend it if you are ever passing through.
PIZZA SNOB RATING ***** Sets the Standard
Three Guys from Italy
Journal Square
2854 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Jersey City, NJ
(201) 792-9565
[No website]
