What is the best restaurant city in NEPA? (Manor, Mercer: appliances, houses)

[Gerania]

Last pizza I had in Wilkes-Barre was from Illiano's on Hillside Street. The guy's from Italy. How bad can it be? Really, it was good pizza. Probably not worth the drive for you.

[mr.magoo]

What part of Italy?
If he is from the wimpy northern part where they look like Germans....?
that means they can't get Mafia cheese

[Gerania]

I'm pretty sure he's from the wimpy northern part. I can't remember exactly where. He and his wife go there for a month every summer to visit relatives. Nice people.

Mafia cheese? I know all about Mafia cheese. My father was the parts manager for Caterpillar. A couple of times my sister and I had to stay in the house for the weekend with the drapes and curtains closed under orders to not answer the phone. It seems he couldn't get parts out to the mob controlled road construction project fast enough.

Hey, Russell Bufalino lived just over the river. Things happen.

[mr.magoo]

Oh...you know about Mafia cheese? uhhhh.
we will only discuss the cheese in code language from now on, Capisce?

When speaking of it, we will refer to it as 'the thing'


to wit; 'Hey Mz. G..remember the t'ing we was talkin' about on Wed?'

'The T'ing?

'yeah, yeah, the t'ing.'

'oh, THE t'ing!'

We must be from the same 'Family'...my brother was Parts Mgr. for Case Equipment in Freehold, NJ.

they gotta lot of the 't'ing' there.

[jimazee]

Originally Posted by mr.magoo

That is because you know what REAL pizza is!

,Jimazee, Do you remember Marucas on the Boardwalk in Seaside?

Secret of their pie was dropping some quality Cheddar in with the Mozzarella....

What a slice that was...walking down the boardwalk with a slice with the 'Mafia' cheese dripping off when you bit into the slice and sticking to and burning your chin...Oh, Marone!

Their main joint was on St Olden Ave in Trenton...it is like the war torn Congo in that area now.

Maruca's is still there having been resurrected after the flood and fire. The BEST in the old days was sitting on a boardwalk counter stool...watching the summer people parade...eating a HOT from the oven...it would burn your mouth, so folding it a bit helped...slice (...not a "cut" as in NEPA) with a birch, or was it root? beer/ I forget that detail but I think it came from the wooden "keg" tap. This was the BIG old place on the corner across from the "salt water" taffy store and south merry go round. You could look all the way down the wide boards toward the north carousal and pier. Maruca's had two places back then.

Hot from the oven that stuff was among the best ever...it was still OK cooler/later but the paper thin crust deteriorated rapidly to just very good.

IIRC, the Maruca brothers/boys who worked there as kids and took over the business decades ago both attended PA schools...Millersville U. was one IIRC. I'm not sure if other also attended there or another PA school. After college, they came back and ran the family business. I think they must be the old guys in the picture on the current web site.

I recall them quoting their father (or was it grandpa) saying something like one test of a good pizza was if the grease ran down your arm after you folded it.

BTW, I also eat NEPA pizza and find some of it quite edible. It's just "different". It's like hot dogs or chicken wings...different styles and tastes, not all have to be identical. People tend to like the pizza they grew up with.

BTW, yes cheddar is often a nice add on the pizza cheese mix. It is found in some NEPA blends. "Purists" deride NEPA pizza for that...You might enjoy this site on NEPA pizza.

My apologies to those who have no idea what this SSH rambling is about... Try the NEPA pizza link to sooth your annoyance.

[mr.magoo]

I heard that line about the the grease rolling down your arm after you folded it sooo many times at Marucas Trenton.
you know JimaZee, I talked to the family at the Trenton place on so many different occasions about everything under the sun, but NEVER knew they came from Coal Mining Stock...hell, wish I knew that back then...would have been more to talk about. thanks for posting that link. My Man!

I remember the big Root beer keg too. You are right, getting a slice right out of the oven sitting at the stool was primo, also right about not holding up due to the thin crust..but thin crust IS Trenton Tomato Pie..My dad said the thicker crust pie was like eating Play-doh.

After Marucas Trenton closed, a couple of guys from my College (Trenton State) now TCNJ would drive all the way down to Seaside, buy up a load of Marucas pies and transport them back to the college and sell slices at a premium price..they could only do it on weekdays because Marucas was too damned busy on the weekends to be making and selling a doz. whole pies ...
They made hella more money selling slices as fast as a pie came out of the oven.

Even though the Tomato pies degraded on the hour trip back to Trenton, it was stil sought after by the local kids that grew up eating it at Marucas Trenton.

I agree about good pizza, wings, steak sandwiches, can often be found in different locales, but peeps like what they grew up with.

you, mi amigo, were lucky to have had some of the best when you bit into a slice of Maruca Heaven.

You and I are among the Blessed and anointed...others can only Kiss our Rings...:-)

Back to enjoying what you grew up;

My brother who has lived on Oahu for the last 30+ years came back for three weeks this July and ate local Pizza, steak sandwiches, cannoli, Hoagies and Pork Roll EVERY night..

Got on the plane 12 pounds heavier, but a Happy Camper...back to his Island diet, his hikes and runs and he is back to his previous weight.

[Gerania]

Originally Posted by mr.magoo

Oh...you know about Mafia cheese? uhhhh.
we will only discuss the cheese in code language from now on, Capisce?

When speaking of it, we will refer to it as 'the thing'


to wit; 'Hey Mz. G..remember the t'ing we was talkin' about on Wed?'

'The T'ing?

'yeah, yeah, the t'ing.'

'oh, THE t'ing!'

We must be from the same 'Family'...my brother was Parts Mgr. for Case Equipment in Freehold, NJ.

they gotta lot of the 't'ing' there.

We did da t'ing wit the stuff a cuppla' times.

I think they just wanted the parts ASAP. Goombah, time is money.

[Gerania]

I've never been to Trenton. Pretty sad, eh? Even my son has been to Trenton.

[mr.magoo]

There is really nothing to see in Trenton Proper...

other than some Historical sites...The Old Barracks, The Trent House and of course, Magoo Manor.

[Simons]

The Dough Company in Wilkes Barre has great pizza!
The Dough Company | Making Wilks-Barre's Favorites