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Rob Corujo, who has owned numerous restaurants in North Jersey over the last 20 year, has opened Wayne Ale House & Pizza at 611 Ratzer Road.
Corujo is but a five-minute drive from the restaurant, and said this is an idea he's had in his head for a long time.
"I've always wanted to do a bar/pizza concept with a limited menu," Corujo said. "I always said I wanted to make one thing and make it really good and that will work."
While spending time skiing in Colorado, where he has a condominium, Corujo decided to test out his concept, serving just pizza with 24 beers on tap. The restaurant was a success, and Corujo wanted to bring it back to his home state.
"I'm from New Jersey and all my other restaurants are in New Jersey," Corujo said. "I wanted to bring that idea to the pizza capital of the world."
Corujo began looking around for a place in North Jersey and discovered the spot in Wayne. His new two-floor restaurant offers 12 beers on each floor, 40 TVs to watch the game and true to the concept, a limited menu, focused on pizza, with some appetizers and two sandwich offerings mixed in.
"A lot of people said the area needed something like this," Corujo said. "You can bring your family and it's for young people and old people, everyone can feel comfortable here. We are a casual upbeat pizza restaurant, we have a lot to offer."
The sparse menu is also something Corujo thinks will appeal to customers.
"When you go out, you only eat one thing," Corujo said. "You don't order the whole left side of the menu. We're going to make a couple of items the best we can and people will like it."
The restaurant's biggest selling point is its 24-inch pizzas with a slight char on the crust and bottom and house made sauce on top. Pizza lovers can also gorge on 24-inch slices. Corujo said he saw someone eat two in one sitting.
Corujo knows his pizza. He competed at the International Pizza Expo in Las Vegas in March, finishing in 10th place out of 90 competitors. Competitors were allowed to make a pizza with any two toppings, but Corujo decided to make a classic cheese pizza.
"You don't need toppings to make a good pizza," Corujo said.
The secret to making a pizza is to always use the best ingredients and not to rush the fermentation process, Corujo said.
Committed to freshness, Corujo said everything is made in-house and there are no freezers.
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