DeLorenzo’s Pizza, one of the last bastions of the famed De Lorenzo pizza family, has been closed after being seized by the state.
The Hamilton eatery, located at 147 Sloan Ave. and owned by Rick De Lorenzo Jr., currently has a notice of seizure posted on its front door, dated Tuesday, from the state division of taxation. The notice reads the pizzeria has been seized “for non-payment of New Jersey state taxes.”
A spokesperson for the state treasury department confirmed to NJ Advance Media Wednesday “the property was seized for failure to comply with New Jersey tax laws.”
Mercer County Superior Court records show an unpaid judgment of $11,317.41, according to a Nov. 7, 2024 filing obtained by NJ Advance Media Thursday.
Phone calls made to the restaurant Wednesday during usual business hours were not answered. A request for comment made Tuesday night via DeLorenzo’s Facebook page was met only with “please respect our privacy at this time, thank you.”
No additional notes of closure have been shared on the pizzeria’s website or social media pages.
The pizzeria serving Trenton tomato pies and other Italian offerings has been located on Sloan Avenue since 2013, after moving from its longstanding Trenton location, opened in 1961.
This apparent closure is the latest chapter in a long, twisting history for New Jersey’s most legendary pizza (or tomato pie) family.
Pasquale and Maria De Lorenzo (with a space in their name, this becomes important) immigrated to America from Naples, Italy in the 1930s. They settled in Trenton’s Chambersburg neighborhood, a vibrant Italian enclave at the time.
According to DeLorenzo’s website, Joe De Lorenzo — one of Pasquale and Maria’s 12 children, and Rick Jr.’s uncle — opened the first DeLorenzo’s Pizzeria (no space in name) in 1938. Rick Jr.‘s father, Rick Sr., began to help run the family business during World War Two. Eventually, another DeLorenzo’s was opened, on Hamilton Avenue in Trenton in 1961. That shop lasted until 2013, when Rick Jr. moved the business to the suburbs, on Sloan Avenue in neighboring Hamilton Township.
All of this is not to be confused with the better-known De Lorenzo’s (with the slightly different spelling) Tomato Pies, opened by sibling Alexander “Chick” De Lorenzo on Hudson Street in 1947 and closed in 2012, after being run by his daughter, Eileen Amico (née De Lorenzo), and her husband, Gary Amico, for decades. This separate De Lorenzo’s business expanded to Robbinsville in 2008 (prior to the Hudson Street closing), where it still stands today. An outpost in Yardley, Pa. opened in 2018.
