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.
no grade on their pizza?
ReplyDeleteThe 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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