It's officlal. Cafe 2825 in Atlantic City is N.J.'s best Italian restaurant.

The restaurant, at 2825 Atlantic Ave., topped nine other finalists in our N.J.'s best Italian restaurant showdown.

Cafe 2825, with its cozy, 52-seat dining room and compact bar, was one of the smallest restaurants of the 40 we visited in our semifinal round.

There were fancier, flashier, more ballyhoed restaurants in the field, but Cafe 2825, still a relative secret despite its 30 years in business, had the edge on all of them.

It's not even the best-known Italian restaurant in Atlantic City - legendary Chef Vola's holds that crown - but Cafe 2825 outdistanced all competitors with its winning combination of old-school charm and high-end dining.

Mozzarella and Caesar salad are made tableside. Once seated, patrons are served wedges of Parmigiano reggiano sliced from a 90-pound block of cheese regally perched at one end of the bar.

"This is our favorite all-time restaurant,'' said Michelle Keates of Ventnor, dining with her husband, Pax. "And we eat well, and on all levels of restaurants, in New York City.''

Owner Joe Lautato - tall and lean despite his love for pasta - works the house, while his wife, Virginia, is always behind the bar.

Joe, who once owned Sbarro locations in Woodbridge and elsewhere, is a genial host; he even gives "free artichoke lessons'' - so advertised on the menu - to those unfamiliar with the vegetable.

"We're a very interactive restaurant,'' Joe says. "In my restaurant I like to engage people.''

He added the tableside mozzarella two years ago because sales were flat when it was ordered as a regular app, from the kitchen. The tableside show has now helped make the mozzarella the restaurant's most popular appetizer.

But substance, not show, is why Cafe 2825 is the state's best Italian restaurant. The food was terrific on both my visits. On my first trip, I tried The Pork, a daunting, delicious pork chop stuffed with mozzarella and broccole rabe; and the Sunday gravy, with braciola, meatball and sausage.

For dessert, the coconut cream cheesecake, one of the half dozen best desserts I had in my month-and-a-half-journey toward Italian restaurant nirvana.

My crew aboard the Munchmobile, accompanying me on the finalist round visit to Cafe 2825, couldn't curb their enthusiasm.

"The attention to detail and the care and knowledge of the product is what impressed me most,'' said Chastity Tolentino. "You can feel the love just by the way the owner, Joe, talks and the stories he tells.''

She described the sardines oreganata as "to die for,'' the house made pappardelle with mushrooms "amazing,'' and the scallops over cappellini as lovely.'' The Chicken Scarpiello?

"It had a sauce I wanted to bathe in,'' she said happily.

Bryan Hoffmann was "delighted'' by the rigatoni Bolognese, with its "meaty sauce and subtle sauce that sneaks up to say hello.''

Inside Tip Number 1: Reservations are suggested, but before 6 p.m. or after 8:45 p.m. you can usually get in without one. The restaurant does not take weekend reservations more than two weeks in advance.

Inside Tip Number 2: Do not park in the lot adjacent to the restaurant; it is not theirs. There is on-the-street parking, or you can park at the Tropicana Casino & Resort, across the street.

Our epic search for N.J.'s best Italian restaurant began early last month, when we asked readers to nominate their favorite Italian restaurants. More than 450 restaurants were nominated; all were put on ballots. The top five vote-getters in each of four regions, plus my 20 selections, became our 40 semifinalists. We visited all 40, then I picked the ten finalists.

Kudos are in order to the nine other finalists; picking a winner was more difficult here than in our three previous N.J.'s best competitions (bars, burgers, diners). I had memorable meals at every one of our other finalists. Here they are: Augustino's Kitchen & Bar, Hoboken; Battello, Jersey City; Bottagra, Hawthorne; da Filippo, Somerville; ITA101, Medford; LuNello, Cedar Grove; Spano's Ristorante Italiano, Point Pleasant Beach; Vidalia Restaurant, Lawrenceville; Zeppoli, Collingswood.

Our Readers' Choice winner will be announced at noon Thursday, March 24.

Peter Genovese may be reached at pgenovese@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteGenovese or via The Munchmobile @NJ_Munchmobile. Find the Munchmobile on Facebook and Instagram.