Best of Pizza: Randazzo Italian Restaurant & Pizza

We asked Summit readers to pick their favorite pizzeria and received a whopping 1620 votes. Voting closed at noon today and by 5p.m. this reporter was walking through the doors of to see what the winning 729 votes were all about. The restaurant, which also serves pizza has been run by 30-year pizzeria vet Joe Randazzo.

“I’m shocked,” the bespectled Randazzo said. “I’m in competition with the fancy family restaurants of Summit,” he said. Randazzo said that all the pizzeria’s in Summit do a great job, but he sees himself as more of a family restaurant. “I’m known for my food.”

But customers at the restaurant could see why Patch readers would pick Randazzo’s.  “It’s a great crust. It’s perfect,” said Dean Criares, a Summit resident who comes to the restaurant for take-out every Friday. Criares says his New York friends scoff at the idea of New Jersey pizza, but once he takes them to Randazzo’s, they see the light.

Charles Medina, a Summit resident who grew up in the city  says he comes to Randazzo’s for the pizza. “We used to go all over the place,” he said about buying pies from Summits other pizzerias. “It’s got a great taste,” Medina said about Randazzo’s pizza crusts.

Randazzo has literally created a family atmosphere with his restaurant. His wife Nancy was a former co-worker and now she helps run the business. His youngest son, Tony, 15, chips in with help bussing tables.  “I love it,” he said about working in the family business. “I get free pizza whenever I want.”

Randazzo, originally from Brooklyn got his start in the restaurant business back when he was 18. “I had to pay for college,” he said. The difficulty of paying for college got trumped by the natural fit he felt serving meals to customers, so he quit college to go into the food business full-time.

By the time Randazzo was in his early 20s he was ready to start his own venture. Through his network he found out about a place in Summit called Sam’s Pizzeria, located on Beechwood Avenue. The original owner was looking to get out of the business, and in 1980 Randazzo took over the pizzeria after talking to Sam's lawyer.  Six years later he opened his namesake restaurant, which is tucked into a building on Bank Street. Randazzo said that the city didn’t approve a pizza-by-the-slice storefront at the time, so he turned into a full-fledged restaurant and hasn’t looked back. “I’ve been here 30 years,” said Radazzo. “We’re part of the community.”