Santillo’s Brick Oven Pizza, the revered Elizabeth pizzeria, is still being rebuilt following a January fire. In the meantime, owner Al Santillo is once again holding a pop-up event at another pizza shop.
Santillo will be slinging pies at Casano’s Pizza Parlor in Rutherford on Nov. 11 from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. It’s the first chance New Jersey pizza-lovers have had to taste Santillo’s fresh pies since he wrapped up his series of “Santillo Sunday” pop-ups at Conglio’s Old Fashioned in Morristown earlier this year.
READ MORE: Behind the scenes with an eccentric pizza master and his legendary little N.J. shop
The possibility of a pop-up at the Casano’s had been discussed ever since the shop (owned by Dave Ligas, formerly of Tavolino in Wallington) became the home base for Santillo’s Goldbelly operation, through which he ships pies across the country. Santillo will be selling 12-inch round pies (with pepperoni and sweet Italian sausage available as toppings) along with his his signature 1964 pizza with mozzarella and Romano cheese at the pop-up — the same pies he started selling on Goldbelly this summer.
The more than 100-year-old Santillo’s pizzeria, an Elizabeth culinary institution and one of the most beloved pizzerias in the state, sustained major damage during a fire in January and has been closed ever since. Santillo is in the process of rebuilding the shop. While no official reopening date has been announced, Santillo has said he hopes to be back in business by Christmas.
Related coverage:
• Fire heavily damages legendary N.J. pizza shop. ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ owner says
• After horrific fire, Santillo’s pizza owner is tossing pies Sunday in N.J. — but not where you think
• Beloved N.J. pizzeria, still recovering from fire, will soon ship nationally
• Behind the scenes with an eccentric pizza master and his legendary little N.J. shop
• New Jersey’s 101 greatest pizzas, ranked
Stories by Jeremy Schneider
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Jeremy Schneider may be reached at jschneider@njadvancemedia.com and followed on Twitter at @J_Schneider and on Instagram at @JeremyIsHungryAgain.