Late last year, New York-based Artichoke Basille’s Pizza announced they were crossing the Hudson River and would open five locations in New Jersey. Their Garden State journey is set to begin in Hoboken, as a storefront at 96 Hudson Street will soon play host to the pizzeria.
“We are very fortunate and extremely excited to have found this location in Hoboken,” says Premal Shanghvi, the N.J.-based franchisee who will be running operations. “We’ve been searching for the perfect spot to open the first New Jersey Artichoke Pizza for about a year now, and now we’ve found it.”
The new spot, formerly home to Jimmy John’s, will feature the same elements that characterize Artichoke’s NYC locations including tin ceilings and gooseneck lighting, while the exterior strives to be nearly identical to the store in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighborhood. Changes to the existing storefront were approved by the city’s Historical Preservation Committee on November 7.
Artichoke worked on the design with Nastasi Architects, who also drew up plans for the storefronts of Hoboken’s Sephora and upcoming Blue Mercury outposts. The work will preserve most of the building while painting the exterior a dark charcoal gray and adding a historic mosaic floor at the property.
Artichoke Pizza is the creation of Francis Garcia and Sal Basille, who opened their initial location of the restaurant at 321 East 14th Street back in 2008. They specialize in offering bold, unique flavors that include their namesake Artichoke Pie, which features cream sauce, artichoke hearts, spinach, mozzarella, and pecorino romano. They’ve been named “Best Pizza” by the New York Post and were included on a list of the “Top 5 Slices in the 5 Boroughs” by CBS New York.
When announcing the deal last year, Artichoke stated they also had plans to open stores in Jersey City, New Brunswick, Princeton, and Newark. There are no specifics yet on where those shops will be located, but the restaurant’s first New Jersey outpost is set to open in Hoboken sometime in early 2019.
