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Thursday, September 17, 2009

Jason's New York Pizzeria, Farmington

(NOTE:  this establishment is now closed.)
I don't have occasion to go to Canandaigua too often, but everytime I do, when I get off the Thruway and start heading down 332, that sign catches my eye: "NY PIZZA," in big red letters, right on the front of the plaza at the southwest corner of the Rt. 96 intersection. But I always seemed to be in too much of a hurry to get where I was going, or I was on my way to eat dinner somewhere else, and so I never stopped. But I'd always wonder, what's their pizza like? How good is it? Is it true NY pizza?
So I made a special trip. And now I know.
And the answer is ... it's pretty good. Not outstanding, but pretty good. In my opinion.
I got a cheese slice, which is always the benchmark for NY style pizza. It was thin and foldable; so thin, in fact, that the crust was translucent in spots.
The underside was browned, not quite to the point of charring. It was dry - in other words, not greasy - underneath, which was good, but not quite as crisp as a NY slice ought to be. The outer lip, however, did have some nice crunch and breadiness.
There was a pretty high cheese-to-sauce ratio (not inappropriate for NY pizza, which typically is not too saucy), with a relatively thick layer of slightly browned cheese atop a thin layer of sauce. I had a hard time detecting the sauce on my palate, actually. The cheese was rather oily, which again fits within the parameters of the NY style.
Jason's menu mostly sticks to the basics, with a modest toppings list, nine specialty pizzas, hot and cold subs, club sandwiches, wings, calzones, strombolis, sides and salads. They also offer several dinners including fish fry, eggplant or chicken parm, lasagna and baked ziti.
Jason's has a little seating. It's basically a fast-food type setup, with a small counter and a few booths. I'm not sure if they deliver; the menu doesn't say, nor does it include their hours. I'll have to call them to find out.
So - is this "the small town pizza with the big city taste," as the menu claims? Well, yes and no. In general, they got everything right here to qualify as NY style pizza. But it could use just a little tweaking to make it really top-notch NY pizza. If the crust were a wee bit crisper, slightly charred underneath, maybe a tad more sauce, not quite so thin (although I may have just gotten a slice with an atypically thin spot, which happens now and then), the cheese a little creamier - well, you get the picture. I don't mean to make it sound as if this pizza had a lot of problems, because it didn't. It was good. But to me, judging it as NY style pizza, it fell just a liiitle bit short in a number of respects. I'll give it a B.
Jason's New York Pizzeria, 6081 Rt. 96 (at Rt. 332), Farmington. 924-2002

3 comments:

  1. Even if you drive five hours to Manhatten, you're STILL not going to get as good of a pizza. I waited a year for Jason to open here. He has owned a pizza place in Union Springs, where we keep our boat, for years. He gets his cheese from New Jersey!! That should tell you about how authentic it is. I'm glad to have the best pizza around the Rochester area, right here in Farmington. It's worth the trip. At least try it whe you come out here to the Race Track!!

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  2. we just moved to Farmington, and we only order pizza from Jason's! If you want a treat order the garlic pepperoni pizza, it is AMAZING!!

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  3. Thought you should know as of August 2013, Jason's NY Pizza is closed.

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