Nellie’s Place
9 Franklin Tpke, Waldwick, NJ
(201) 652-8626
In a previous post about Kinchley’s in Ramsey, I waxed rhapsodic about the cracker thin bar-pies there. But until recently, I believed Kinchley’s style to be unique in our local Northern NJ area, until I stumbled upon this entry on Tommy’s blog.
Apparently, in the late 80’s, there was a schism within the ranks of Kinchley’s, and one of the employees went on their own to open their own place. In essence, the pies at Nellie’s Place are very similar to the ones at Kinchleys (which apparently, are also derived from Star Tavern’s and also the Reservoir Tavern in Parsippany.). Like Kinchley’s, Nellie’s has a tavern-like atmosphere, although I’ll go out on a limb and say it looks a little nicer inside and the table layout is less crowded.
Nellie’s storefront on Franklin Turnpike.
Thin crust NJ bar pies await at Nellie’s. Click on the “Read the rest of this entry” link below for more.
Main dining room
A peek inside the bar.
The pizza menu. Note the choice of “Fra Diavolo” sauce which is very much a Kinchley’s-ism.
We started off with some poppers.
Popper closeup.
Our pizzas arrive: A plain pie, A California (Pineapple and Canadian Bacon) and a Fra Diavolo with Fresh Garlic and Sausage.
First, some Birch Beer.
The plain pie is indeed quite respectable, and the sauce is actually a bit tangier than Kinchley’s, which I find a little on the sweet side.
Slice closeup.
The Canadian Bacon/Pineapple California pie, which actually worked quite well. I like to put a few shakes of hot pepper on it to balance out the sweetness of the pineapple.
I ponder the alien landscape of the California Pie.
The Fra Diavolo with Sausage and Garlic. Nellie’s Fra Diavolo sauce is actually considerably spicier than Kinchley’s, which I liked. The fresh garlic really gave it some serious extra punch, and the sausage was excellent. My favorite of the three pies.
A sampling from the Salad Bar.
Chicken Parmigiana sandwich, with really good waffle cut fries.
The chicken parm sandwich is big enough to share.
Off The Broiler 
[…] AHT is run by Adam Kuban, who started another great food specialty blog, Slice, which is all about pizza. I really should have sent him a photo of me eating some burgers, but I look so intelligent and contemplative in this shot of me overlooking a “California” pineapple and Canadian bacon pie at Nellie’s Place in Waldwick. […]
What’s a bar pie?
A small thin-crust pizza served in a Irish bar. Indigenous to NJ.
I think this calls for a thin-crust showdown. I’ve been to Kinchley’s and Star, but not this place. I’ll have to try. So far, Star Tavern has my vote.
There’s one other bar pie I have yet to have eaten, which is Reservoir Tavern “The Res” in Parsippany. I’m hoping to rectify that shortly.
Star is good, but a problem I had there was that ONLY the plain cheese really works with their crust. Anything else gets pretty soggy.
Nellie’s probably wins over Star for pizzas with toppings, although the plain cheese at Star might be better than the Nellie’s equivalent.
Hey have you tried the bar pie and Pete and Elda’s bar and pizza in neptune new jersey me and my family always get pizza, and there is always a line during peak hours.
I am crying right now! Since moving to LA I haven’t had anything worthy of the name “bar pie.” We did find one pizza place (45minutes away) that is decent. Nellies is our first stop from the airport whenever we go to Jersey. Reading this post I can smell the pizza!