Here’s a little Bayonne “mapography” from the Pizza Snob to preface this review. The streets running north-south on this narrow peninsula start with Avenue A on the west and end with a short Avenue F on the east. Kennedy Boulevard (Hudson County Boulevard until renamed for JFK) is between A and C and the retail district of Broadway takes the place of an Avenue D.
Avenue B is an oft-forgotten street that starts at 36th Street where the Boulevard circles to the west at the County Park. Driving about one day, I decided to tour Avenue B from its start through its termination at the city line with Jersey City. The street is predominantly a sedate tree-lined residential area with only a handful of retail locations. Surprisingly, one of them is a pizza joint called Prima Pizzeria & Restaurant.
Listing it for a future visit, I recently got my chance when I needed to spend a week visiting a family member staying in a Jersey City hospital. Despite this unfortunate circumstance, I managed a full week of different nearby pizza lunches with Prima as my first stop.
It was a midweek late afternoon, and I easily found street parking near Prima which was empty this time of day. I noticed that Woodrow Wilson grammar school was right across the street explaining why Prima was half pizza joint and half deli. Hungry and in need of lunch, I ordered two plain cheese slices ($1.75 a pop) from an awaiting pre-made pie. I then waited at a nearby table where I did my usual IPhone business.
The slices were served quickly and looked great. I loved their economically-thin look—just the right amount of cheese, sauce and crust with no excess to waste. However, when I lifted the first one, it immediately sagged not having any crispness for support. It was also not hot enough. Most seriously though, its taste was dull and flat. It just had no life and was rather dry on both top and bottom. I chose not to season them which regretfully resulted in a lingering bad aftertaste.
Not a home run out of the park, this was just a mediocre slice that scored all its points from its good and compact construction and decent ingredients. In the pizza-prolific city of Bayonne, there’s just so much better. But, if I was on my lunch hour at Woodrow Wilson, I’m sure I’d find myself there at least once a week to scarf down a slice or two. Remember that generally speaking, “there is no such thing as bad pizza.”
PIZZA SNOB RATING ***1/2 Working on a Good Thing
Prima Pizzeria & Restaurant
328 Avenue B (corner of 56th Street)
Bayonne, NJ 07002
201-339-3100
[no website]
