Italian-American kitchen · Clifton, NJ
Italian food in Clifton, NJ — from a halal-only kitchen.
People know us as a pizzeria, and the brick oven is the heart of the place. But a big share of the menu is Italian-American: parm dinners, baked ziti, calzones and strombolis, plus trays of lasagna, marsala and francese for a party. It all comes out of the same halal-only kitchen, so the whole table can order from one menu. Here's the Italian side of it — the rest is on the full menu.
★ 4.4 · 963 Google reviews · 600 Getty Ave, Clifton NJ
The pizza, Italian-American style
This isn't a Neapolitan pie and we don't sell it as one. It's the pizza North Jersey grew up on: dough stretched by hand after 24 hours in the cooler, our own tomato sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, baked right on the floor of a 550°F brick oven so the bottom crisps and the rim stays chewy.
The Italian classics are all there. The plain cheese pie is how you judge any pizzeria. The white ricotta skips the tomato for a ricotta base under mozzarella, the three cheese adds feta, and the chicken parmigiana pizza puts a breaded cutlet, marinara and mozzarella on the pie. Pepperoni here is beef.
Pasta and parm dinners
The pasta dinners come over your choice of linguini or penne, and every dinner comes with a side salad and toasted bread — or garlic bread instead, with cheese if you want it.
- • Chicken Parmigiana Dinner. Breaded cutlet, marinara, melted mozzarella, over linguini or penne.
- • Eggplant Parmigiana Dinner. Breaded eggplant layered with marinara and mozzarella.
- • Baked Ziti. Ricotta and mozzarella in our tomato sauce — add chicken, meatballs or meat sauce.
- • Alaeddin's Pasta with Pink Sauce. Our signature pink sauce. Add chicken or shrimp.
- • Pasta with Alfredo. Linguini or penne in a cream alfredo. Add chicken or shrimp.
- • Pasta with Marinara. House marinara, with chicken, shrimp or meatballs if you want them.
- • Mussels Marinara Dinner. A dozen mussels in marinara, spicy or sweet, over pasta.
Calzones, strombolis and parm heroes
The calzones are folded from the same dough as the pies — mozzarella and ricotta, or ham and cheese with halal deli ham — and the strombolis come as cheese, pepperoni and cheese with beef pepperoni, or a Philly cheesesteak with mushrooms, onions and green peppers. All of them get a side of tomato sauce. On the sandwich side there are chicken, meatball and eggplant parmigiana heroes, on a hero roll or our homemade Pizzaro Flat.
Starters and dessert
Garlic knots and garlic bread, mozzarella sticks, fried calamari, and a dozen mussels in marinara with bread for dipping. For dessert, tiramisu, a dozen zeppole, cheesecake and rice pudding.
Why an Italian menu from a halal kitchen matters
A lot of Italian cooking leans on pork — pancetta in the carbonara, sausage in the sauce, prosciutto on the antipasto. For a halal-conscious family that usually means ordering around half the menu, or asking what's in every dish.
Here there's no pork to order around. There is none on the premises: the bacon in the carbonara is halal, the antipasto uses halal turkey ham and salami, the sausage is halal, and the beef, veal and chicken are all certified. We keep our suppliers' certificates on file and will show them to you. If you want the specifics on how a single dish is made — the marsala, a dessert, anything — ask when you order.
The Italian trays sit well alongside party pizzas for Eid parties and family events — see Eid and Ramadan catering. Pickup is free and usually ready in about 15 minutes; our own drivers deliver across Clifton, Paterson and Passaic.
FAQ
Italian food questions
- Is your Italian food halal?
- It comes out of a halal-only kitchen. Every meat is certified — the veal, the meatballs and meat sauce, the turkey ham and salami on the antipasto — there is no pork on the premises, and the bacon is halal, never pork. If a particular dish matters to you, like the marsala or one of the desserts, ask and we'll tell you exactly what's in it.
- Do you have pasta and parm dinners, or just pizza?
- Both. The dinner menu has chicken and eggplant parmigiana, baked ziti, pink-sauce pasta, alfredo, marinara and mussels marinara. The pasta dinners come over your choice of linguini or penne, and every dinner comes with a side salad and toasted bread, or garlic bread instead. There are also chicken, meatball and eggplant parm heroes.
- Is this Neapolitan pizza?
- No, and we won't pretend it is. It's the Italian-American pizza this part of New Jersey grew up on: hand-stretched dough given 24 hours in the cooler, our own tomato sauce, whole-milk mozzarella, baked on the floor of a 550°F brick oven.
- Can you cater an Italian menu for a party?
- Yes. The catering trays run from chicken, veal and shrimp dishes — marsala, francese, piccata, cacciatore, scampi — to lasagna, baked ziti, ravioli and an antipasto salad, and they can sit alongside 28-inch party pizzas. Some trays need 24 hours' notice, so call to confirm before you plan around one.
- What's on the Italian menu that has no meat?
- Eggplant parmigiana, pasta marinara, pasta alfredo, cheese ravioli, the mozzarella and ricotta calzone, the cheese stromboli, and garlic knots are all meatless as listed. Several other dishes can be ordered without the add-on meat — ask when you order.