If you live in New Jersey or vacation at the Jersey Shore, that means you have your favorite spots to get Pizza. Whether it’s a Seasonal Pizza Shop or a year-round local Pizzeria, everyone has their go-to whenever they want to order a pie or satisfy their Pizza cravings.

Despite New Jersey Residents’ and Vacationers’ passion for Good Pizza, I have to assume most of them are not Yelp users.  I say this because Yelp published its list of Top 100 Pizza Spots, and only ONE New Jersey Pizza Shop landed on the list.

According to Yelp, they built this Top 100 Pizza Spots Rankings based on the following:

*Total Volume of Five-star reviews for each business
*Number of five-star reviews written by members of the Yelp Elite Squad
*Pizza Spot must have a passing health score as of December 5, 2023

The Yelp Elite Squad are users on the website whose profile features their Real Name, Real Photo, and are verified as “Real People” by Yelp.  But that doesn’t explain how only ONE New Jersey Pizza Shop landed in the Yelp Top 100 Rankings.

The real reason why Razza in Jersey City (which has a 4.2 rating) is the only New Jersey Pizzeria on Yelp’s Top 100 List of Pizza Spots is because the Yelp Elite Squad Reviewers have a specific pizza bias.  Interest in Detriot-Style Pizzas is up 26% among Yelp searches and reviews along with other square-style Pizzas are becoming more popular.

According to Yelp, among their users and reviewers, the popularity of New York Style and Neapolitan Pizzas along with thick Sicilian Pizzas has decreased. That means many of these Yelp Elite Squad reviewers have a bias against the three most popular styles of pizza made in New Jersey Pizza Shops.

Also popular among the reviews that the Yelp Top 100 Pizza Spots list is based on are what we could describe as Exotic Toppings. The top ten Pizza Shops on the Yelp list all offer Pizza Pies with Sweet-Heat toppings such as peppers and honey. Also popular with the Yelp Elite Squad are Vegan-style Pizza and Thai Curry toppings.

So the answer to why only one New Jersey Pizzeria was on the Yelp Top 100 List is because the Yelp Elite Squad Reviewers are not fans of traditional styles of pizza. Maybe they are not actually Pizza fans at all!  Think about it: they want so much *cough* stuff *cough* on top of the Pizza Pie they are completely changing what historically makes Pizza great.

If you are a classic Pizza fan, who loves extra cheese with pepperoni pie or you enjoy Brick Oven Pizza or Boardwalk style, then stay away from Yelp. The website’s reviews have a built-in bias against what makes great pizza the best: Real Cheese, Red Gravy (or Red Sauce), and some savory meat toppings on top of some freshly made dough. I guess Yelp Reviewers would hate Tomato Pie too (If You Know, You Know!)

The Ultimate South Jersey Pizza Guide