[Photographs: Tim Kang]

Thanks to reader recommendations, I recently checked out Bergen County favorite Rudy's Ristorante. Owners Charlie and Fred Osso have been turning out pizzas, subs, and old school Italian-American fare for the past 39 years.

Given the reputation and the longevity, I had high hopes as I walked in past the takeout area and pizza ovens.

Behold the object of my disappointment. The cheese pie arrived with an unappetizing sheath of low moisture mozzarella covering a bare register of pre-cooked sauce. It wasn't bad, but due to the high cheese content oozing rivers of grease, I could barely taste the tomato flavor.

The 1/8" to 3/4"-thick crust had a nice crispy, solid shatter at the ends, but I found it tough underneath, with a slightly doughy middle layer. It had subtle bready yeast flavor. Overall, this wasn't necessarily a bad pie, but it was nothing special that warranted a trip from out of town.

Our friendly waiter recommended a pizza topped with sausage and broccoli rabe. This pie fared better with its satisfying balance between the broccoli rabe's robust flavors and the particularly fresh and fragrant anise-packed pop from the sausage's fennel seeds.

The stalks and florets of the broccoli raab offered a great texture contrast to the salty, porky pieces of crumbled sausage. It was a decent pie, though I think a bit more garlic would seriously elevate it.

The Sicilian pie provided the shocker for the night. This gargantuan pizza plopped down in front of us with some serious heft. Like the cheese pie, I found the solid sea of mozzarella a bit unappetizing, and I could barely make out any sauce underneath.

Take a look at this life size shot! The crust measured two or more inches in depth throughout.

I was a bit intimidated by its size, but the crust's airy pillow left me in pleasant shock. I loved it. It astounds me that this crust comes from the same dough and proofing time as the New York style pizzas. Although I expected a dense disaster, I could barely tell that a crust existed between the cheese on top or the slightly oily bottom.

The bottom crust was lightly greased, but I could have done with a third of the cheese and double the sauce. The ratio was off, just as it was in the New York-style pie.

If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd come back for the another Sicilian, but get it topped with broccoli rabe and sausage, plus lots of garlic and half the cheese.