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.

Five 50º, Dewey Ave.

Over the course of writing this blog, I've written a few posts about Checker Flag, a now-defunct pizzeria at 1481 Dewey Avenue in Rochester, at the corner of Ridgeway. Checker Flag was best known for its dollar slices, which weren't bad, for the price.
Now comes Five50º, named, I assume, after the oven temperature. As the full name -- Five50º Pizza and Chicken -- implies, it's not just, or even primarily, a pizzeria. Five50º serves a range of items, many of them fried.
There's nothing particularly remarkable about Five50º, but it gives me occasion to say a few words about - what shall I call them? - inner-city pizzerias.
This particular neighborhood is on the lower end of the income scale. And I've learned through experience that the pizza in economically poorer neighborhoods tends not to be as good as in more affluent areas. Its main virtues are that it's fast, cheap and hot. 
Having said all that, the slice I got recently at Five50º was not bad. It wasn't great, but it wasn't bad.
Just inside the front door is a heated display case, containing an array of items to go, many of which consisted of fried chicken parts, of one sort or another. And pizza, available by the slice.
I got a pepperoni slice. It was reasonably good, and for two bucks, I had no major complaints. The crust was thin-to-medium thick, and while the bottom was more brown than charred, it was firm, and wasn't oily or soggy. The well-formed edge was reasonably bready, and not just a throwaway "pizza bone."
As a whole, the slice was decent, with a blanket of well-melted, gooey cheese, a proportionate layer of slightly sweet tomato sauce, and thin-sliced pepperoni. All in all, it was one of the better-made examples of the kind of pizza you get at these to-go places. I don't mean to damn it with faint praise, but it was a reasonably good slice.
As I said, Five50º offers a range of items. Pizza comes in medium, large and sheet sizes, either red or white. They have seven meat toppings and seven vegetable toppings. They also do calzones, burgers, wings (seven sauces), hot and cold subs, fried chicken, and a few sides, as well as freshly baked cookies, and cheesecake.
As far as a rating's concerned, I think it's fair to say that this slice was, overall, of average quality. Nothing I'd go out of my way for, but it was OK, with a well-baked crust, nicely melted cheese, rounded out by a proportionate layer of sauce and decent pepperoni. So I'll give it a C.

Five50º Pizza and Chicken, 1481 Dewey Ave. (at Ridgeway)
254-2550, 254-2522

Mon. - Thu. 11 a.m. - 11 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 11 a.m. - midnight, Sun. 1 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Checker Flag: The Tiebreaker

The first time I got a slice at Checker Flag on Dewey Ave., I didn't like it at all, and gave it a D-minus. The second time around, I found it much better, and bumped it all the way up to a B-minus.
So at some point, there had to be a tiebreaker visit, which I made the other day. As before, I got a $1 cheese slice.
I'm primarily concerned with quality, not price, but a buck a slice is a great deal, provided that the slice is reasonably good.
And this was. Reasonably good, that is. It was very thin,with a good deal of corn meal underneath. The bottom was dry and somewhat crisp. It was not charred, but did have a scattered pattern of dark brown spots. The texture was a little chewy.
The slice had decent flavor, with a slightly sweet sauce and some dried herbs noticeable on the palate.
The cheese on this slice was a little skimpy, but there was enough for me, especially since the crust was pretty thin. I would've preferred a bit more, but whattaya want for a dollar?
At its outer edge, the slice was formed into a fairly wide but relatively thin cornicione. It was reasonably pleasant, with some crispness, though not outstandingly bready or toasty.
One thing I was a little puzzled about here was a sign posted on the wall to the effect that if you, i.e., the customer, didn't like it here or didn't like their prices, you should go down the street (presumably meaning to some other establishment). I don't know what that was all about. Maybe they've had issues with some of the customers. Again, I don't know.
I also noticed that a medium pizza here is $5. That's a good price, but I was wondering if it actually works out to be a better deal than getting five slices. I'd have to know the dimensions of the medium and large pies to figure that one out.
So, what's my current verdict on Checker Flag? Well, this isn't bad, by any means. It's not really great, either, judged strictly on its own merits.
Now if  you figure the price into the equation, I would have to say this is, for the money, one of the best slice deals in town. As I said at the beginning, a cheap slice is no bargain if it doesn't taste good. But this was reasonably good, and for the price, it's a real bargain.
In the end, though, I have to rate this based on how inherently good or bad the pizza itself was. And all in all, I'd say this was, well, OK pizza. It wasn't as good, or as bad, as the slices I'd gotten here in the past, and in that sense I think it probably is a pretty fair representative sample of Checker Flag's pizza. So it scores a C from me.
Checker Flag Pizza, 1481 Dewey Ave., Rochester 14615
458-0070

Mon. - Thu. 11:30 - 9:00, Fri. noon - 10:00, Sat. 1:00 - 10:00, Sun. 1:00 - 9:00
Menu can be viewed here

Gaetano's, W. Ridge Road: Sicilian pizza

I've previously posted on Gaetano's bakery, about a year ago, but it was just for one slice, which didn't seem especially fresh, and I've long meant to go back for a freshly made pie.
In that prior post, I said that Gaetano's Sicilian pizza sounded tempting, and that's what I opted for on a recent visit. "Sicilian" here does not denote a rectangular, thick-crusted, pan pizza, which is what I usually think of as Sicilian pizza, but a regular pizza topped with oil (presumably olive oil), black pepper, fresh garlic, parsley, Romano cheese and basil.
I don't know why, but somehow I had come to expect Gaetano's Siciilan pizza to be a red pizza, i.e. with tomato sauce, similar to a Grandma's or traditional pizza with just sauce and a sprinkling of Romano. But it's a white pizza, no sauce.
OK, well, my fault in thinking otherwise. I like white pizza.
But I don't really like a soft crust, which is what this had. The underside was a bit oily to the touch, and though it wasn't wet-sponge soft, it was definitely on the soft side. As was my slice last October, the underside of this pie was dotted with small, pinprick puncture holes.
The medium-to-thick crust was also a little gummy on top, where it met the cheese. The cheese - which I'm pretty certain was mozzarella - was browned, and formed a uniform blanket over the crust. The Romano cheese overlaid a little sharpness, but the mozzarella certainly predominated.
Bits of chopped, browned garlic also dotted the surface, and this pizza definitely left a garlicky aftertaste. The black pepper was a background presence, and the bits of dried parsley added little, either visually or on the palate. (We need a word for that in English - what's the sense-of-taste equivalent of "visual"?)
This pizza tasted pretty good, but its major shortcoming was the crust. That was one of the things I disliked about my slice last year, and though I guess I had no real reason to expect it to be different this time, I was still disappointed, because Gaetano's bread is so damn good. On an impulse, I found myself getting a gorgeous loaf of bread with my pizza. It had a floury, crunchy crust and a soft, chewy interior. If only some of that had been present in the pizza. I had the sense, in eating the pizza, that the dough was just fine, but that it had not been baked in a way that would extract from it its optimal flavor and texture.

*Sigh* Well, there's still the mini pizzas, which I have yet to try, and Gaetano's also sells pizza dough, so you could always try it at home. Aside from that, I'll pick up the occasional loaf of bread here, but I doubt I'll give the pizza another shot. It tasted good, so I'm not going to give it a truly bad grade, but that soft crust drags it down, so I'm giving it a C-.
Gaetano’s Bakery, 1439 W. Ridge Rd. 865-7810
Mon. - Thu. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

El's Deli, Dewey Ave.

I ordinarily don't review pizza from convenience stores, because with rare exceptions, those places aren't true pizzerias. They simply take a prebaked, maybe frozen crust, add some canned sauce and shredded mozzarella, cook it and stick it under a heat lamp. 
But I made an exception for El's Deli on Dewey Avenue, which is listed on Rochester Wiki as a pizzeria. The signs outside the building also prominently mention pizza, so I figured, maybe they really do make pizza from scratch.
Or not. Inside, I found a typical urban deli/convenience store, with some hot food - pizza, chicken wings (coated with what looked like BBQ sauce) and Jamaican patties - under a heat lamp. I got one pepperoni slice, which was all that was available, and which set me back $1.50.
It fit the sad profile of pizza from such places:  soft spongy crust, in the medium to thick range of thickness. It was a little oily on the surface, but not too bad in that regard. Only along the thick edge was there some oily crunch.

I could see sauce on this slice, but it was hard to taste it. What little there was seemed to have soaked into the top of the crust. The slice was topped with a uniform layer of melted cheese.
I don't know why, but as bad as the pizza is at some of these places, I kind of like the pepperoni that they use. It may not be the "best," however you measure that, but these had a nice, spicy kick and a hint of smokiness to them.
So that's about it. Spongy crust, almost nonexistent sauce, basic cheese and a few slices of decent pepperoni. With that soft crust and lack of sauce, I can only give this one a D.
El's Delicatessen, 1548 Dewey Ave., 254-4910, 254-2010
Hours unknown, but Rochester Wiki says it closes around 10 p.m. daily.

Carmine's Family Restaurant

Way back in August 2009, I did a post on Carmine's Express in Gates. I got a lunchtime slice there, which at Carmine's Express means a rectangular, sheet-pizza slice, with a thick but airy crust and stringy, melted mozzarella.
Well, there's also a Carmine's Family Restaurant in Greece, which has a shared history with Carmine's Express, but the two are apparently no longer affiliated; the Carmine's Express website describes the owner of that establishment as "the former co-owner of Carmine's Family Restaurant."
All of which is background to why I wanted to check out Carmine's Family Restaurant. As I did at Carmine's Express, I got a single pepperoni slice at lunchtime.
Although sometimes, when two pizzerias, or pizzeria owners, go their separate ways, the pizzas become very different from each other, that was not the case here. My slice at Carmine's Family Restaurant was quite similar to the one I got at Carmine's Express.
Again, this was a sheet-pizza type of slice, and it, too, had a thick but light-textured, crunchy crust. The underside was lightly browned and reasonably non-greasy.
It was pretty saucy, and the sauce had a thick, cooked-down consistency and an acidic tomatoey flavor.
I hate to keep making comparisons, but as at Carmine's Express, this slice was topped with a layer of very melted mozzarella, which was soft and stringy. The thin-sliced pepperoni was just a bit crisp.
Carmine's Family Restaurant also offers conventional pizza pies, in 10", 14" and 16" sizes. I got a look at one of them, and it appeared to have a relatively thick crust, although the menu on the wall stated that thin crust, "New York Style" pizza was available on request. They were also advertising Philly cheese steak, Buffalo chicken, and "Chicago deep dish" pizzas.
Otherwise, the pizza menu is fairly modest, with thirteen toppings, and white (garlic) pizzas available as well. The rest of the menu includes calzones, wings, hot and cold subs, burgers, hot dogs, pasta dinners, salads and sides.
I will say that this appeared to be a popular lunchtime destination. They were quite busy on my visit, and a lot of people were eating pizza. Maybe it was the heavy customer traffic, or just unlucky timing on my part, but it took several minutes for my one slice to come up.
I gave Carmine's Express a C, and, even aside from considerations of consistency, that seems about right for Carmine's Family Restaurant too. This slice was all right, not really my idea of great pizza, but not bad either. If I'm eating thick crust, I'd actually like a little more heft or substance to the crust; a really light-textured crust is kind of like the pizza equivalent of sponge candy; it's good, but not quite as satisfying as I might like. Still, I'll give this one some points for not being greasy, like so many other pan-risen pizzas. So again, a C seems right on target.
Carmine's Family Restaurant, 671 Maiden Lane 663-0050
11 a.m. - 10 p.m. daily

Checker Flag, revisited

After I gave Checker Flag Pizza a scathing review and a D- last June, a reader left a comment that I must've just gone there on a bad day or at a bad time, because their pizza is usually better than what I had. So I recently went back to give them another try.
The same reader suggested that perhaps I went too early in the day (it was around noon), before the ovens were properly heated. If so, of course, the blame for that would lie with Checker Flag, which should ensure that its ovens are up to the proper temperature before they start making pizza, but this time I did go a little later in the day, around 2:30 p.m. on a weekday.
For whatever reason, it was better this time. That alone is not much of a surprise - it could hardly have been worse - but it was significantly better.
As before, this slice was extremely thin, but this time around it actually had an interior, at least on the outer half, nearer the edge of the pie from which it was cut. I could see that the dough had risen somewhat, despite its thinness.
The underside of my slice was crisp and browned in some areas. It was lightly dusted with cornmeal and bore no screen marks. The slice was very foldable - no surprise there, given its thinness - but also had a crackly exterior.
All of that was, thankfully, in contrast to the slice I had in June, which was pale and undercooked. This was much better, as far as the crust was concerned.
It was, however, still very light on the toppings, even for a slice this thin. That was not a total shocker either; you can only expect so much for a dollar. (And it was a dollar, by the way; last time I got charged a dollar and change. But their slices are supposed to cost a dollar apiece.)
What little sauce there was seemed a bit sweet. There was, though, so little sauce or cheese that the slice overall seemed a bit dry and bland. In its favor, the paucity of toppings allowed the slightly sweet, bready flavor of the crust to come through.
At any price, this was an OK slice. At a dollar, it was a decidedly good slice. Personally I’d gladly pay more for more in the way of toppings; with a little more sauce and cheese, this could be a very good slice.
But I doubt that’s going to happen, and that’s OK. There’s a niche for cheap, decent pizza, and based on this visit, Checker Flag seems to be filling that niche in this neighborhood. I’m not sure what the deal was with that horrendous slice I had last June, but I’m hoping it was an anomaly, and that this latest one was more representative of their pizza. I’ll give it a B-.
Checker Flag Pizza is at 1481 Dewey Ave. It's takeout and delivery only. They also serve subs and various fried sides. 458-0070

Gaetano's

Gaetano's Bakery is one of those old Italian bakeries with which Rochester is so richly blessed. Although I have to admit that Wegmans bakes some pretty good bread, I'll often skip their bakery section and make a special stop at one of these places for a loaf of Italian bread, just to help keep them in business. These places are local treasures that we too often take for granted until one day you're driving by, or watching the local news, and you learn that one of them is closing.
Since pizza dough is essentially bread dough, it's a little surprising that more of them don't do pizza in addition to bread. I suppose space constraints may play a role, among other factors.
But Gaetano's does do pizza. In fact, their menu describes Gaetano's as "more than just a bakery," with a "full menu of homemade quality food!" So on a recent day when I had occasion to be in the area, I stopped in and grabbed a slice. I would've preferred trying a whole pie, to get the fresh-out-of-the-oven experience, but it was lunchtime, so that will have to wait for another day.
My pepperoni slice was medium thick. The underside was not very crisp, but the outer edge, which had a fairly thick lip, was quite firm, so much so that the slice successfully resisted my attempts to fold it. No matter, as this was not a big, floppy slice in need of folding anyway.
“Medium” also best describes the color of the underside; not charred, but not pale, either. It was punctured here and there with tiny holes, which I’ve seen before elsewhere. Perhaps they serve the function of avoiding large air bubbles building up. I’ll have to ask sometime.
The crust was chewy, but not in a particularly bready way; the dough didn’t seem to have risen all that much, and was fairly dense, which I found surprising for a pizza that had been made at a bakery.
The sauce had a thick consistency and a cooked-down flavor, and was moderately applied. The cheese was well browned, and became easily separated from the crust. Gaetano’s menu states that they use 100% whole milk mozzarella, but this slice didn’t have any of the excess oil that sometimes seems to result from using whole-milk cheese, which of course contains more fat than the part-skim variety.
As I mentioned, the outer edge was formed into a pretty thick lip, which made a nice finish to the slice, with its crunchy, breadstick-like flavor and texture.
Gaetano’s offers a full range of pizzas, and four specialty pizzas, including a Sicilian, which is topped with oil, black pepper, fresh garlic, parsley, romano cheese and basil. You can also buy pizza dough (which I think you can do at a lot of pizzerias, it’s just that most don’t advertise it), either regular or whole wheat.
Other items on the menu include hot and cold subs, calzones, wings, “homemade” soup, and a few sides. (Their catering menus are much more extensive, and can be viewed on their website.)
And of course bread. Lots of breads, from basic Italian to baguettes, ciabatta, “Tuscan crusty bread,” and others, plus rolls and various stuffed breads. Finally, let’s not forget the desserts, which include a range of pies, cookies, and pastries.
As I said, I love these kinds of places. They’re local, they’re family owned, they’re part of Rochester’s history and social fabric. They help create a sense of place in a way that chain establishments never will.
But I have to be honest here, and I was a little disappointed with this pizza. It was OK, but as I was eating it, it came to mind that it had an overall “flat” flavor. I was expecting more from the dough, particularly. I do think Gaetano’s deserves another shot, and I’ll give it one - that Sicilian sounds very tempting - but on the basis of this one slice, I’m giving it a C.
Gaetano’s Bakery, 1439 W. Ridge Rd. 865-7810
Mon. - Thu. 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Fri. & Sat. 9 a.m. - 8 p.m., Sun. 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Checker Flag, Dewey Ave.

Checker Flag Pizza is at the corner of Dewey Ave. and Ridgeway in NW Rochester. Given the name, the black and white checkered logo, and the "Slice of Heaven" sign in the window, you might be forgiven for thinking it's connected with Chester Cab pizza on Park Ave., but the two places are miles apart, literally and figuratively.
One tip-off that Checker Flag is a little different is the sign in the window warning that "this is not a hangout." More inviting is the 99-cent price emblazoned on that "Slice of Heaven" sign in the front window. 99 cents?! For a slice of pizza? Really?
Well, almost. Turns out it's about $1.25 plus tax. That's still dirt cheap though. Must be a tiny slice, right?
In fact, no it's not, at least not in surface area. The slices are impressively long and wide, about the same size as your average "huge slice."
Thickness and weight are another matter entirely. These had to be the thinnest pizza slices I've ever seen. In a way this was more like a giant flour tortilla than a pizza.
The underside was a pale yellow-white and was dusted with corn meal. The only crispness came from its being somewhat dried out. It also had a doughy flavor, not raw dough exactly, but like dough that had been "baked," if you want to call it that, at a very low temperature, so that it dried more than cooked.
The toppings were correspondingly lightweight, which was fortunate because this crust could not have handled the weight of even moderately heavy toppings - I would've had to roll it up and eaten it like a burrito.
The sauce looked as if it had been painted on with a brush. Surprisingly, the sparsely applied cheese was somewhat browned, certainly browner than the dough.
As an aside, while I was waiting for my slices, I saw one patron walk away with two slices, the cheese on one of which was well-browned, and barely melted on the other. I had to wonder, did he ask for them that way, or was this just wild inconsistency on the part of the person doing the cooking?
As you might guess, you almost have to fold these slices to eat them, and that turns out to be a good thing, because it essentially doubles the amount of toppings you're getting with each bite. Biting into a folded slice, I could actually taste the sauce a bit. It was pretty basic tomatoey pizza sauce, but it helped add a bit of flavor and moisture.
The minute or two I spent waiting gave me a chance to peruse the menu on the wall. It wasn't extensive, but included wings, subs, burgers and a few fried sides.
In case you haven't guessed, I wasn't crazy about this pizza. I did finish most of it (I was pretty hungry, which helped), and for a buck-25 a slice I can't complain too much, but this was not good. I didn't eat the outer edge of the crust at all, which, with a good pizza, is often my favorite part because it's where the bready qualities of the dough are most noticeable and well developed.
But that was exactly the problem here. This pizza may have been made from perfectly good dough, but its preparation gave it no chance to develop any real character. A longer rise time - a rise time, period - and a hotter oven, and you might have something here. But the entire point of this pizza seemed to be not to make a pizza that tastes good, but to make it look as if you're getting a lot of pizza for your buck and a quarter.
I don't think I'm a pizza snob, and if there's a market for this kind of pizza, OK. I may even be way off base here. Maybe this is just a style of pizza that I've never had before and I'm just missing whatever it is about it that appeals to some people. But it's not for me. I'll give Checker Flag a D-.
Checker Flag Pizza, 1481 Dewey Ave. 458-0070
P.S. Next door to Checker Flag is what appears to be a pretty recently opened, nice-looking place called the Caribbean Mexican Grill. Might be worth a visit if you're into Latin American food.
Pizza Guy note, 4/22/10: for a later (and much more favorable) review of Checker Flag, go here.