National Pizza Week: Where To Find A Pie In And Near Bridgewater

BRIDGEWATER, NJ — As National Pizza Week approaches Martinsville based Joe's Pizza is facing financial difficulties during the coronavirus pandemic.

Sal Passalacqua, who has owned Joe's Pizza at 1938 Washington Valley Rd. in the Martinsville section of Bridgewater for the past 3 years, said he is struggling.

"We are doing not that good. Just take out is what we are getting and very little this past week," said Passalacqua. "It's only take-out, no one is dining in."

Passalacqua said with the number of customers dropping he can't even afford to offer specials or discounts.

However, that is not the same case around the country wherein many cases, pizza shops — both local favorites in Bridgewater and national chains — have seen a sharp uptick in business as more people remain home to slow the spread of the virus.

Locally owned pizza places in and near Bridgewater may offer specials during National Pizza Week, which runs Jan. 10-16 in 2021.

• Joe's Pizza, 1938 Washington Valley Rd., Bridgewater - 732-469-3356 or joespizzamartinsville.com.
• Carlo's Pizza & Pasta, 572 Union Ave A, Bridgewater - 732-469-9200 or carlospizzaandpasta.com.
• Enrico's Pizza & Pasta, 19 Old York Rd, Bridgewater - 908-541-1333 or enricospizzapasta.com.
• Dominick's Pizza Shoppe, 307 Route 202-206, Bridgewater - 908-526-0330 or dominickspizzashoppe.com.
• Frattellos Ristorante & Pizzeria, 1357 Prince Rodgers Ave, Bridgewater - 908-526-5260 or frattellospizza.com.
• California Pizza Kitchen at Bridgewater Commons, 400 Commons Way #1090, Bridgewater - 908-566-1225 or cpk.com.
• Blaze Pizza, 316 Chimney Rock Rd, Bound Brook - 732-481-1879 or blazepizza.com.
• Soprano’s Pizzeria, 152 Adamsville Rd N, Bridgewater - 908-722-4088 or sopranospizzanj.com.
• Chimney Rock Inn, 800 North Thompson Ave, Bound Brook - 732-469-4600 or chimneyrockinn.com.
• DeLucia's Brick Oven Pizza, 3 1st Ave, Raritan - 908-725-1322 or deluciasbricovenpizza.com.
• Pizza Brothers of Raritan, 26 Thompson St, Raritan - 908-526-7474 or mypizzabrothers.com.

Always held on the second full week of January, National Pizza Week has no known origin. The similar "National Pizza Day" is set for Feb. 9, according to the National Day Calendar.

Most pizzerias have not been hit as hard by the pandemic as the restaurant industry as a whole, statistics show. While 60 percent of pizza places have seen an increase in sales, 50 percent of those across the country that did see growth had an increase in sales by 16 percent or more, according to a special report from Pizza Today released in November.

The increased demand for delivery, which the industry already had a prime focus on, has mostly helped the nation’s largest pizza chains during pandemic-related stay-at-home orders.

Domino’s brought in the most money among pizza chains during the first half of 2020, generating $240 million in net income, a 30 percent increase from the previous year, Fortune reported, citing data from Bloomberg Intelligence. Papa John’s and Pizza Hut are among the others reporting the next highest financial gains during the pandemic.

For many, pizza has been a comfort food as the world struggles through both the virus-spurred health and economic crises.

"Not too messy, hard to mess up, good whether it’s hot or cold, and I don’t need silverware," Brandi Johnson said in an August report from Fortune. "It’s just a perfect guaranteed meal to have during such uncertain times."

Financial analyst Lauren Silberman told Fortune that Domino’s has outperformed the industry over the past 10 years with "strong execution."

"Domino’s has an industry-leading digital and delivery infrastructure, which we view as the most powerful asset it has," Silberman said.

Smaller, locally-owned pizza restaurants have made some gains, too.

Independent pizza operators on Slice — an online ordering marketplace for pizzerias — doubled their weekly sales during the first six months of the pandemic, according to a RestaurantDive.com report citing research from BTIG, a global financial services firm. Slice was on pace to generate about $600 million in food sales and aspired to reach $1 billion in 2021.

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