A Friday-night visit found a packed dining room, steady takeout traffic and a family restaurant with tomato pie roots stretching back decades.

CHESTERFIELD, NJ — The Shops at Old York Village had mostly settled down for the night, but customers kept arriving at Gervasio’s Italian Family Restaurant. Inside, tables were full, diners waited for seats and staff handled a steady stream of orders.

Shore News Network visited the restaurant in Chesterfield Township on Friday, October 16, after Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy awarded its tomato pie an 8.4 in his One Bite review.

The question was simple: Was this neighborhood favorite worth the new attention?

Based on our visit, absolutely.

The tomato pie was thin, crisp and full of flavor, with a crust that held up and a sauce that justified its starring role. Appetizers also impressed, and service remained attentive despite the crowded dining room.

Portnoy finds his kind of pizza

In the One Bite review, Portnoy praised the pie’s crispness and the tang of its tomato sauce before delivering the score.

“I love it, it’s my style pizza,” he said.

After awarding the 8.4, he described it as “exactly what I like in a tomato pie.”

The visit also included a lighthearted exchange about the stakes for chef-owner Mark Mazzone. Portnoy recounted Mazzone’s joke that the score could determine whether his young son would be eating bologna sandwiches or going out for steak dinners. The favorable verdict prompted a celebration of the steak-dinner outcome.

By Friday night, staff told Shore News Network business had already picked up following the review’s release. They expected more customers over the weekend as the video reached additional pizza fans.

Local diners were happy to see the restaurant getting recognition, though some worried that finding an open table at their familiar neighborhood spot could become more difficult.

A family history with a connection to Papa’s

Gervasio’s may be a new discovery for Portnoy’s audience, but its family history reaches back well before the current restaurant.

According to the restaurant’s history, Tony Gervasio learned to make Trenton tomato pie from Giuseppe “Joe” Papa of Papa’s Tomato Pies. He opened his first restaurant in 1956, then established Gervasio’s Family Restaurant with his wife, Marie, on Whitehorse Mercerville Road in Hamilton in 1969.

Tony and his brother Ralph operated that restaurant until it closed in 2004. His grandson, Mazzone, grew up around the business, folding pizza boxes, working with dough and washing dishes.

Mazzone revived the family name at the Chesterfield location, which opened May 5, 2023. A 2023 announcement introducing the restaurant described his culinary experience at Wolfgang Puck and Di Bruno Bros., along with his plans to continue the family’s traditions with his wife, Amber.

“We love being in the heart of the Chesterfield community and being immersed in the local neighborhood,” Mazzone said at the time.

Worth a stop for tomato pie fans

Our Friday-night meal put Gervasio’s comfortably in the conversation with the tomato pies we enjoy at Papa’s and De Lorenzo’s in nearby Robbinsville. That is our dining assessment, and the family’s historical connection to Papa’s makes the comparison especially fitting.

The appeal went beyond the pizza. Even with people waiting to sit down, the restaurant delivered a welcoming meal without letting the rush overwhelm the service.

Gervasio’s is at 95 Saddle Way in The Shops at Old York Village. For New Jersey tomato pie fans looking for another stop to add to their list, this one earned its place.