By Sean Dirscherl
Despite Hoboken’s reputation for restaurants and bars galore, that reputation tends to go significantly out the window once midnight rolls around. Most nights, that isn’t too much of a problem, but on a weekend, when the night starts to wind down, we start the traditional roam in search of the elusive “fourth meal.” For years, Bagels on the Hudson has thrived on the late night Stevens crowd with an assortment of (mostly) bagels, egg sandwiches, and the occasional sub. However, over the summer, Bagels closed down for renovations and has yet to reopen. While this purveyor of late night cravings remains shuttered, those cravings aren’t exactly eager to wait for their doors to reopen. As such, the search turns elsewhere, and this past weekend, in the midst of a foggy drizzle, it turned to Torna Pizzeria, located on 9th Street between Park and Willow Ave.
Torna can best be described as one of those hole in the wall pizza joints you’ve walked past a million times (especially if you live in Curling Club and miss the shuttle) but always assumed was either closed or had a daily battle with the health inspector. On the inside, Torna is exactly what you expect: typical pizza joint, family run, always people chatting outside, and seating for maybe 10 customers. Due to the impending rain and desire to return to the comfy luxury of Madison, we didn’t stay long, ordering our cheese pizza and three footling subs (meatball parm, veal parm, and chicken parm) to go. From order to pickup was maybe 20 minutes, which given the size of the order and the fact that everything is made to order, was perfectly acceptable. I’ve waited longer at Mr. Wraps for significantly less food to be made, so I’m well accustomed to delayed satisfaction.
Upon returning our spoils to Madison, we dug in between the three of us for some late night Italian indulgence. First, the pizza: it’s honestly not that great. Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t bad, but the pizza was definitely on the doughy side and could have absolutely needed some more sauce to balance out with the cheese and dough. The real highlight of the meal was the subs. I’ve had the veal parm sub in the past, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the quality hasn’t changed — they make one mean veal parm. The sub is filling, delicious, and everything you could hope for. The meatball parm was also decent. The meatball snob built in through centuries of Italian heritage thought the meatballs could have been a bit more moist, but it’s pretty darn difficult to find a better meatball sub at 1:00 a.m. in Hoboken. The chicken parm was also pretty good, with an interesting twist I’ll have to try again to check my sanity. The chicken in the sub tasted a little bit like chicken franchese, with a softer, less crunchy coating than typical chicken used in a chicken parm. I must say, if that was intentional, I must give a healthy bravo to Torna for that extra touch.
Torna is one of those places in Hoboken you’ve walked by a million times, but might be a little afraid to try for superficial fear. I’m here to say that while it may appear a bit rough on the outside, there’s nothing to fear. While their pizza could use a slight tweak in proportion, their subs are large enough for dinner and a fourth meal, and definitely satisfy cravings of all hours. It turns out there is a life after Bagels, and it’s located at 9th Street, just a stone’s throw away from campus.
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