La Rustique has officially opened for business in 5th St. and Jersey Avenue, although take out only for now. Next week (as I was told) they will open the restaurant area and will also have tables outside. So if you are craving for some good, thin crust, brick oven pizza, go check it out. The pizzas I saw being prepared this afternoon looked very very tempting indeed!

I am certainly going to miss La Rustique in the PH neighborhood. Not only is the pizza awesome, but Charlie and crew are always entertaining.
best of luck to them in their new location.

I got my first marguerita pizza from La Rustique this afternoon, I simply could not resist. Super yummy, I loved the fresh basil... don't miss out!

Had a slice yesterday.... and lemme say OMG. It was sooo good. I am happy to FINALLY have good pizza in my neighborhood! And across the street from me too.... YUM!

Tried it last night and loved it!!! Pizza was so good - def worth a trip. The HP area needed a good pizza place - I tried the pizza at Simple the other week and it was pizza soup. Literally. The crust and everything was so soggy that you could have sucked it up with a straw. Pretty nasty...

Anyway, this place is great and I am waiting for the tables outside to go up. Nothing better than being able to eat pizza outside and bring your own beer!

I just had a slice of their pizza and spoke to a guy (manager?). According to him, the place will function as a cafe/pizzeria offering breakfast, lunch and dinner. They will be fully open for business by the 4th of July!

The coffee/espresso bar inside looks good. I am so glad we have a good pizzeria in our hood!

We tried to get Rustique this afternoon too but found it closed, and ended up getting a slice at Esperanto. Maybe next time.

Has anyone gone by there today (Sunday) to see if it's open? My sister and I were thinking of getting some pizza tonight. I suppose I could call...

I just called-- they're open today (7/6) until "9 or 10 tonight." No restaurant until Tuesday, but you can get pizza. And they're delivering today, too.

Yup - walked over a couple of hours ago & got a large margherita pizza - yum. My husband & I almost at the whole thing. I'm so glad there is finally a decent pizza place in downtown. The owner said tomorrow they are expecting the restaurant furniture to be delivered - there is also going to be outside seating too. :)

I've lived down the street from the old location for 6 years. We will definitely miss them. It's funny, you always felt like that place was a sitcom come to life when you went inside but Charlie consistently turns out one of the best pies I've ever tasted. I don't even compare it to others because its completely in a class of its own. The block just ain't the same without Rustique.

Best Pizza in JC... Charlie is a great guy too...

There's a sign there now saying they're open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner...so they're fully operational now, FYI.

I ate there last night. The pizza was very dry and not so good. This surprised me because I ate at the old location on numerous locations and LOVED it. Last night I ordered by the slice, and previously ordered a whole pie. I wonder if a pie would be more fresh and less dry?

I also ate there last night and it wasn't very good. We ordered a whole margherita pie and the crust was doughy with no crisp at all. I was a little surprised since there seemed to be so many rave reviews on this site. I'll probably give them the benefit of doubt since they seemed to still be in transition with setting up the restaurant in front and take out in the back.

I think they have WiFi too. Breakfast prices are very reasonable

Ordered 2 pies tonight - 1 white with spinach and the margherita with meatballs.. it was delicious.. followed the advice and ordered the pies well done... nothing soggy here... I will definitely order again...

Just got back from having dinner at La Rustique. The food and pizza were excellent and i don't want to bash the place since i feel they are a great addition to the neighborhood so i'll just say i think they are in need of a general manager for the kitchen and some experienced wait staff. the owner, charlie, was holding it all together the best he could but they were pretty full. i really hope they can whip the kitchen and dining staff into shape as there are a lot of dishes on the menu i can't wait to try but if the service remains as is i will have to wait a while to return till it improves. in any case, i wish them luck.

I haven't yet eaten here but I did stop in the other day just to check on the place and it was beautiful... especially the hardwood floors. I will definately give a try in the next week.

Ate there last night and pizza was really fresh, and really delicious. Probably the best I've had from Rustique. Also had Portabello salad (awesome), and fried mozzerella sticks (awesome). Charlie gave me a little tour of the place and he was proud of his oven.

went tonight and bought a small pie that i split with my gf (margherita with 3 toppings). pizza was great but i thought i should probably lay off the toppings to fully appreciate the margherita taste next time. the gf loved it as-is though. price seemed kinda steep for what basically was 2 slices at benny's in hoboken, but i'l probably be back sometime soon to try some more.

Four of us ate there last night, 3 with large pie and one with cheese burger and all of us were impressed that with tip it only came to $40. Great prices, good food and very nice interior. We'll definitely be back!

I stopped by for a slice from their old location a few years back and I thought it was dry, rubbery and pricey.

But given all of the fantastic JCList reviews, I am going to give the place another shot one of these evenings.

I hope they're able to succeed in their new location (given that the last couple of businesses based on that corner closed up shop).

That area could use more dining options and I think it's entirely possible that they will do well there -- especially because La Rustique already has so many fans living across 07302.

I wish them the best.

My husband and I had dinner there a week ago. We had the meat lover's pizza and the mussels, which were on special. Both were delicious and well-priced. I agree with the earlier comment about the restaurant needing more professional wait-staff. The woman who owns the place is very nice, but overall service was slow and unsteady. The experience was charming but not exactly professional. I love their food though and will keep coming back.

picked up our first pizza from their new location, and didn't even finish it.

crust was thick and rubbery. way too much sauce and too little cheese. and the "caramelized" onions were crunchy and practically raw.

I'll chalk it up to growing pains, but c'mon fellas, you're not exactly new to the pizza business.

Finally tried it, since I have loved La Rustique for so long I did not want to be disappointed.

I was quite pleased.

There's a man who I took to be the owner (never went into the old place a lot, usually just ordered), who was working QUITE hard. Honestly he seemed over-worked, and unless he thrives under this kind of stress, I see where inconsistency in quality could come from. Also he has a bit of a New Jersey attitude that might rub some people the wrong way, although to me it's a mandatory part of the charm.

It sounds like the concensus is that if you pick up a pizza from there it's bad, but if you eat it there it's delicious. I've only had the pizza to go, and I was disappointed.

Maybe it just doesn't travel well.

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I picked up a pie for the first time at their new location last week. It was delicious. The trick, if you're doing pick-up, is to get it home right away and don't let the pizza sit in the box with the lid on. The problem is when they put the hot pizza in the box, there's no place for the steam to go, so all that moisture leads to a yucky crust. That's why I never have them deliver my pizza. Sometimes the pie will sit in the box for half an hour while the guy makes other stops. The end result is always disappointing.

I've been to the old and the new Rustique many times and my experience has been that when the owner is around, the pizza is excellent. When he's not around it's not that great.

Had dinner there last night (Monday) around 6:45 PM. When we first walked in we were the only customers.

We ordered the goat cheese salad (which was delicious and a very nice portion) and a small margarita pizza. Our salad came out immediately, but the pizza took almost a 30 or 35 min to be brought to our table. I could see at one point the waitress/owner? head back to the kitchen and heard her ask about our pizza. I'm not sure if she forgot to place the order or the cook forgot to make it. It's tough to be patient when there aren't any other customers waiting for food, so you know something must be up.

Anyway, once the pizza finally arrived, we enjoyed it. The sauce was flavorful, the fresh mozz was plentiful, the crust, eh, half crispy, half soggy. I think once they realized how long we had been waiting, they might have pulled it out of the oven a little too early.

What bothered me was the lack of the waitress coming to our table to even acknowledge the long wait, or check on us so we could inquire about out M.I.A. pizza.

The interior of this place is very nice, the floors, tables, etc, all chosen with care. I'm not sure about the blond waitress though.

Once we hunted her down for our bill, and paid, I asked her, very innocently, "I was just wondering...how long does it take for a pizza, should we order it before we come in next time?" Hoping for some sort of explanation, or apology, she said "Oh, it only takes 5 minutes". Hmm. Ok.

Like another poster mentioned, if they were new to the pizza business, or business in general, you can expect some growing pains, but to have owned an established successful pizza restaurant just a few blocks away, and still forgetting to place orders when you only have one table of paying customers at the time? Questionable.

But again, I did LOVE the goat cheese salad, so I'll probably be back.

Good to know about the goat cheese salad, I'll definitely order it next time.

We got take out from La Rustique on Sunday night- the 5 cheese pizza was delicious, as were the buffalo chicken wings and onion rings. I am very picky about chicken wings so I'm glad to have found a place that delivers quality.

We tried Rustique last week on Sat eve around 7pm. All the tables were full. The service was slow and unprofessional. We saw several tables give up and walk out while waiting for service. We waited and the pizza was great. I hope they get the service side together because there is alot of interest and the food is good. FYI

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that is a shame, but i noticed the same thing the times i was there. it doesn't bode well to attract new cleintele in a new neighborhood. i think one good waitress could handle the whole place even if it was full...they should really consider biting the bullet and hiring one and let the blonde woman stick to something else.

I ate at La Rustique last Saturday around 7pm as well. The tables were full so we sat at the bar area. My friends and I had a good laugh about the service. We were in no hurry, so it was just funny to us. We ordered a margherita pizza and it came out very quickly, but it was difficult to get a beverage. The blonde lady was friendly however, and gave us a free dessert because we never were given our wine glasses. We all loved the pizza and would definitely go back regardless.

I went a couple of weeks ago and can confirm the consensus of this thread.

* great sauce and toppings
* slow unprofessional service
* crust does NOT travel well (I'm a quick walker who lives 5 blocks away)

The prices could be better.
I didn't see any real reason to go back.

ugggg, why can't everyone just be psyched that we have another food option in JC? so what if the guy behind the counter made eyes at you... get the pizza and leave. the dude is old - that's just the way he looks. so what if the blonde isn't the greatest waitress... it still is just a pizza joint... right?
the pizza is good - chill.
xoxo

I ordered by the slice--next time I have to try a whole pie, and ask for extra sauce, I need a stronger tomato taste. To me the crust was the strongest element of the pie, and I could barely taste the mozzarella. And can anyone tell me--is their mozz really homemade? The menu claims so: "our fresh, homemade, mozzarella cheese". I was a little scared to ask the guy I ordered from, he had just finished yelling at someone on the phone.

omggggggg i went to this place yesterday and had a slice and its amaaaaaaaaazing. it wasnt too cheesy and thick...it was really good i've been craving it all morning!

Their pizza is amazing. I don't care, they can throw the damn pizza at me, curse at me, whatever... I will still buy their pizza. SOOOOO GOOOD!

The mussels are pretty good too. The sauce they make is the best I have had around here. And the bread is great too.

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likewise. oven cranked with a pizza stone or baking sheet. got to crisp up that crust which get s little doughy/soggy otherwise.

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"I'll have what she's having." - When Harry Met Sally, 1989