One of Dave Portnoy’s highest-rated pizza shops has opened a location in New Jersey that’s entirely kosher.
Brooklyn Square Pizza, owned by Peter Grippo, already had six stores in New Jersey. But the offshoot Kosher Square Pizza, located in Oakhurst, is a little different—it’s a partnership between Grippo and veteran restaurateur David Mizrahi, and it just opened on June 7.
Portnoy turned up at Brooklyn Square Pizza’s flagship store in Jackson, New Jersey, back in early 2020. In addition to trying out the shop’s round pizza, he gave Grippo’s more famous upside-down Sicilian-style square pie a shot, even though he famously prefers a thinner crust. Portnoy ended up praising the fluffy dough and the crunchy bottom, even sharing a slice with his cameraman, who was just as impressed.
“That’s the best square slice maybe we’ve done in these reviews,” Portnoy said in a “One Bite Review” video. “This is spectacular….It’s a great pizza.”
Portnoy gave the square pie a stellar 8.9 score, a good bit higher than his rating of the round pie. That video quickly went viral and further cemented Brooklyn Square Pizza’s reputation as an elite New Jersey pizza spot.
Meanwhile, according to the Yeah That’s Kosher website, the owner of a neighboring business in Jackson regularly asked Grippo to consider going kosher one day. Grippo liked the idea and eventually formed a partnership with his friend, Mizrahi, whose Revolve Hospitality company owns several kosher restaurants—including Salt Steakhouse, Revolve, Eat-a-Pita and LBK Grill—along the Jersey Shore.
Kosher Square Pizza puts the upside-down Sicilian square pies front and center on the menu, along with rounds, calzones, pasta dishes and fish entrees. The restaurant doesn’t have a website or online menu yet, but according to Yeah That’s Kosher, the Upside Down Square pie boasts fresh mozzarella, a housemade red sauce and Pecorino Romano on a thick and airy crust. The Vodka Upside Down option is the same pie except for the sauce. In fact, the Kosher Square Pizza menu appears to be strikingly similar to Brooklyn Square’s, with other square offerings like the Spinach and Artichoke Square (with an Alfredo cream sauce base) and the Johnny Pepe topped with fresh mozz, burrata, Pecorino and lots of black pepper.
For Brooklyn Square Pizza, the move into kosher pizza looks like a shrewd move. The brand already has a renowned signature product and a recognizable identity in the Garden State. By launching Kosher Square Pizza as its own certified operation in Oakhurst—under the Jersey Shore Orthodox Rabbinate’s supervision—Grippo and Mizrahi can now serve observant Jewish customers without watering down the broader Brooklyn Square menu.
There doesn’t appear to be a single official count of kosher pizzerias in New Jersey, but a ChatGPT search found at least a dozen dedicated kosher pizzerias or pizza-focused kosher restaurants listed across kosher dining directories and local certifying agencies. The Totally Jewish Travel website lists 293 kosher eateries of all types in the state.
