Top-rated for their tomato pies, cheesesteaks and more, Lillo’s Tomato Pies of Hainesport NJ has announced a second location which is coming to Gloucester City NJ.
If you’re unfamiliar with Lillo’s in just a few short years they have jumped near the top of every conversation of best pizzas and cheesesteaks in the entire Delaware Valley. With their upcoming Gloucester City location they will be “upping the ante” further, offering a full bar also!
I stopped in yesterday at their Hainesport location to try a slice of pie and one of their massive cheesesteaks… I need to experience things so I know how to tell you guys about it!
For their second location, Lillo’s is heading to Camden County taking over the former Thomas Murphy’s Pub on Burlington St. in Gloucester City.
The corner pub property is actually a large facility with two floors of dining (and bars), a second floor outdoor deck… And from my many visits I remembered it as having a really beautiful Irish pub interior.
Thomas Murphy’s took over the space in 2018 and made it through the pandemic. Their last Facebook post was August 1st 2023 when they said they would be on a short vacation, and it appears they just never reopened again.
I stopped over at the Gloucester City building yesterday and solely based on peaking through the windows, it looks like the place just needs a few days of good cleaning and they could open!
(Image: Thomas Murphy Pub Facebook)
Well according to the Lillo’s Facebook Page that opening as Lillo’s is to take place in early January... just two months away!
The property is going to be a perfect match for Lillo’s, their customers and the local Gloucester City community as it brings so many good things together into one building.
As mentioned Lillo’s had already established a huge reputation on their own for their menu, particularly thin crust “Trenton-style” pizza and amazing cheesesteaks.
Things really exploded when Dave Portnoy of Barstool Sports stopped in (Nov 2022) and tried both their thin crust Trenton-Style pizza and cheesesteaks.
Dave is the founder of Barstool Sports website who later expanded into his One Bite Pizza Review videos. Those videos are available on all the social media channels but as one example of their popularity his YouTube channel has 1.4 million followers.
A positive review from Dave can completely “blow up” a business with thousands of people coming from many miles away to try what Dave says is the best.
Two years ago Dave was driving through the Mount Laurel/Hainesport area and they passed by Lillo’s not even knowing that it was already a top rated pizza restaurant.
After some quick research in the car, he and his crew turned the car around and stopped back in to try the pie.
Now if you’re unfamiliar with his rating scale, anything over 9 is completely rare and signifies an “off the charts” pizza establishment. Most places fall between 5 and 8, so any score over 8 qualifies that shop as one of the top echelon of pizza makers.
Lillo’s Tomato Pie was given an 8.4 score for it’s crispy thin crust ”no flop” pizza, which again is a stellar score!
Dave also seemed to really enjoy chatting with the owners and hearing their story, which starts with Papa’s Famous Trenton Tomato Pies where the Lillo’s team learned the pizza making craft!
Portnoy was told about the Lillo’s Cheesesteaks being award winners, so Dave then dove in for a cheesesteak and pushed that score up to 9.1… putting Lillo’s in a level of his favorite cheesesteak, Angelo’s of Philadelphia.
The Youtube version of that review video has been watched 735,000 times, and I’ve also seen it on Facebook and TikTok.
For my lunchtime visit yesterday at Hainesport I walked into a very crowded small restaurant. I naively thought I’d be able to chat with the owners or manager during my visit, but honestly things were just busting at the seams inside!
In my brief conversation with one of the counter persons they told me “oh this is actually a little quiet right now, come back in a couple hours!”. Well I can’t imagine what that experience is like!
First I tried a slice of pizza and it was absolutely delicious with a true crispy “no-flop” crust.
It’s definitely something that I have not had in the counties of Gloucester and Camden and should put the new Lillo’s Gloucester City in everyone’s radar.
But my focus that day was their cheesesteaks.
People ask me all the time for reviews of food which… I try to stay with the “experience” aspect of things, simply letting people know something interesting is available.
Partly I don’t know how qualified I am but honestly so many places just seem the same to me. When asked “who has the best fast food chicken”… I dont know what to say when to me, breaded chicken breast seems to be the same at all the spots. ha
But for the Lillo’s cheesesteaks I can absolutely say that it is different. Deliciously different.
Just looking at the sandwich and seeing the meat billowing out of the top of it, completely covered in cheese with big chunks of onions… makes you think you’ve stumbled onto something completely new.
In the popular Cheesesteak Facebook groups people debate over the meat preparation “slabs of steak versus chopped” but Lillo’s takes a whole different avenue for meat preparation (which I think is somewhat similar to Donkey’s)
At Lillo’s it is a sliced steak but cooked in a way that many of the slices don’t separate, so you end up with chunks of beef. It makes for an extra hearty bite. Absolutely very tender because each chunk is made from individual slices, but it gives an extra texture that you don’t get from a traditional cheese steak.
Also, somehow at Lillo’s they found a way to completely melt the cheese throughout the entire sandwich in a way that it’s almost like a sauce, but yet it still has a thicker consistency to it.
And the onions? They aren’t hiding them with little pieces… no what I was served offered larger chunks of onions.
It made for a sandwich that was incredibly delicious… and both somewhat familiar yet also incredibly unique.
Lillo’s is Deliciously Different.
Overall this really is a delicious and unique sandwich. I completely understand why people drive for miles to try… and I can’t wait for when I have a 6 mile drive to their new Gloucester City location, starting in January.
Links and Location
Lillo’s Tomato Pies Hainesport (Open!)
2503 Marne Highway
Hainesport, NJ
(609) 491-7751
Lillo’s Tomato Pies Gloucester City (Opening in January)
157 S Burlington St
Gloucester City, NJ