Friday, September 9, 2016

Arthur Jaxon

I stopped the other day at Arthur Jaxon, a new, family-run place on West Ridge Road. It's in a small stand-alone building in West Ridge Plaza, a little west of Dewey Ave. It's pretty much a takeout place, for now at least.
The establishment's full name is Arthur Jaxon Slice & Scoop, which reflects its two main offerings:  pizza and ice cream. On this occasion, I only sampled the pizza.
They had plain cheese and pepperoni slices available; I opted for the former. For $2.50, it was a pretty hefty slice.
The crust was generally on the thin side, with a lightly browned bottom, crisscrossed by screen marks. The interior had a pleasant, fresh-bread aroma, flavor and texture, which was most noticeable in the thicker area near the outer edge. It wasn't as crisp as I would've liked -- a couple minutes' reheating would likely have helped on that score -- but it tasted good, and it wasn't soggy.
Balance is key with pizza, and the crust, sauce and cheese on this slice complemented each other well. The sauce had a bright, tomatoey flavor, with a salty edge. A moderate layer of processed mozzarella was well melted and creamy. It was good cheese, as the individual bits had melted into each other to form a smooth whole, rather than pulling apart and exuding oil, as the lower-quality stuff tends to do. Pockets of exposed sauce added some interest with each bite.
Arthur Jaxon offers pizza in 14", 18" and sheet sizes, with an impressive variety of options:  white or whole wheat crust; red, pink or white sauce; four cheeses; ten meat toppings; eleven veggie toppings; and eight specialty pizzas. They also do baked chicken fingers and boneless wings (five sauces), calzones, a few other baked sides, and the aforementioned ice cream. The ice cream comes from Perry's, which I love, as I've said before.
This was a good slice of pizza. If I have any issues with it, it would just be that I'd have liked the crust a little crisper. Next time I'd ask for my slice to get rewarmed to medium-well. All in all, though, a very nice slice, and well-made pizza. Arthur Jaxon is off to a good start on what I hope will be a long-running business.

Arthur Jaxon Slice & Scoop, 630 West Ridge Rd. (in West Ridge Plaza)

(585) 581-0222

Open daily 11 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.



2 comments:

  1. The more often I grade pizza, the more often I get reminded why I shouldn't. People get fixated on the grade. And how do you give one grade to a pizza with a great crust, but mediocre toppings? Or vice versa? I could try to revamp the whole grading system, to assign individual grades for each component, but after all these years it's not too practical. I thank you for bringing this up because I should just make a decision and stick with it. Let me think it over.

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