The votes are in, and the winner for best pizza in South Jersey is...
Over 100,000 votes were cast to crown the best pizza in South Jersey.
And the results were close.
Now, on National Pizza Day, let us introduce you to your new winners.
(Drum roll)
Coming in at 48,520 votes, the best pizza in South Jersey can be found at Riccardo's Pizza & Italian Restaurant in Browns Mills.
The restaurant was followed closely behind by Carosello's Pizza & Pasta in Runnemede with 47,250 votes, then Mullica Hill's Marino's and Vineland's Luca's Pizza.
Riccardo's Pizza & Italian Restaurant
Address: 567 Lakehurst Rd., Browns Mills, New Jersey, 08015
Pizza fanatics in Burlington County originally voted Riccardo's as their favorite slice and they seem to have followed through in helping this spot snag the South Jersey crown.
Owner Vito Russo is also proud of so much more, including the work of his staff and the technology in his kitchen.
"Every facet of every customer service and hospitality (element) has been covered in this restaurant," he said.
Another winning element: Riccardo's imported electric pizza oven, which Russo said can cook up to 24 pies at a time.
Riccardo's pays homage to their stomping grounds with a menu favorite as well: the Browns Mills tomato pie.
Other dishes include white pizza options, specialty pies like Vito's Special, equipped with thin slices of roasted sweet Italian sausage, sweet peppers and caramelized onions, as well as a host of other lunch, dinner and dessert treats.
Riccardo's was built by Russo and his father, Salvatore Russo, who emigrated from Palermo, Sicily.
Vito Russo, now the chef and owner of the restaurant, has been working with his father since he was a child, before he could even reach the top of the counter.
"I looked up to him and wanted nothing more than to be like him when I grew up," Russo recounts in a personal essay posted on the restaurant's website.
The restaurant opened in 1974 and has remained a labor of love and the center of a family ever since.
Kaitlyn McCormick writes about trending issues and community news across South Jersey for the Courier-Post, The Daily Journal and the Burlington County Times. If you have a story she should tell, email her at kmccormick@gannett.com. And subscribe to stay up to date on the news you need.
More on pizza:
More: Who has the best slice in your South Jersey county? View the results here
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This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: You voted, and this shop has the best pizza in South Jersey
