One of the Jersey Shore’s most talked-about kosher openings of the summer is doubling up. Kosher Square Pizza, the chalav yisroel pizzeria that YeahThatsKosher covered when it opened in Oakhurst this past June, is opening a second location at The Row in Toms River.
The restaurant pairs Brooklyn Square Pizza owner Peter Grippo with kosher restaurateur David Mizrachi of Revolve Hospitality. Grippo’s Upside Down square pie earned an 8.9 rating from Dave Portnoy’s One Bite reviews, and Good Morning America later named Brooklyn Square the best pizzeria in the USA. Kosher Square Pizza brought that exact recipe and technique under kosher supervision for the first time.
A Second Location At The Row
Kosher Square Pizza is replacing La Mossa Pizzeria at The Row and will also take over the Miele Artisanal Gelateria space next door. The former Miele space will become Milano Cafe & Gelato. The location is within walking distance of Bravo Kosher Pizza and Mendelsohn’s Pizza.
Owner David Mizrachi says it will hopefully be open in the next couple weeks, and he is preparing a special surprise for Chanukah, which begins the evening of December 4.
Milano Cafe & Gelato
Mizrachi says the Miele brand will not continue; the space is being rebranded as Milano Cafe & Gelato.
The shop will make chalav Yisrael gelato and parve gelato in house.
Mizrachi says his partner, Monica Cione, was an attorney in Italy and comes from a family of gelato makers. After she married and moved to the United States, she opened a gelato shop on the boardwalk in Cape May. Over the years, that shop won multiple awards for best gelato.
The cafe will also serve fresh ground Italian espresso and hot and cold drinks. The menu will include fresh made pastries and desserts. For breakfast and lunch, the cafe will offer artisanal focaccia sandwiches.
More Ovens And Pizza By the Slice
The owners say the much larger Toms River space and additional ovens will let them turn out their signature square pies faster than at the original Oakhurst location. Toms River will also offer pizza by the slice, an option that is not currently available at the original location.
The Menu
The menu is built around the square pie. The flagship Upside Down Square ($39) layers fresh mozzarella into a thick, airy crust with homemade sauce and Pecorino Romano on top, and the Vodka Upside Down ($40) applies the same construction to a vodka sauce. The rest of the square lineup runs $38 to $42, including Peter’s Special, the Gravesend, the burrata-and-black-pepper Johnny Pepe, the spicy Nonna, Spinach and Artichoke in an Alfredo cream sauce, and a 50/50 split. Round pies on a sesame seed crust run $28 to $33, and the kitchen also turns out appetizers, pastas, baked dishes, fish entrees, and $12 calzones.
Kosher Square Pizza Toms River Info
Kosher Square Pizza’s second location will open at The Row, 2170 Lakewood Rd, Toms River, NJ 08755. The original location at 56 Monmouth Road in Oakhurst is kosher certified by the JSOR (Jersey Shore Orthodox Rabbinate), chalav yisroel and pas yisroel. Grippo’s non-kosher Brooklyn Square Pizza operates six locations across New Jersey.