Pizza Review
My father, Arty, made a passable Ellios microwave pizza growing up. But I feel if his destiny was truly to make good pizza, his parents would have named him Arturo (despite being Swedish). This maple bacon was truly stupendous from Arturo’s. The maple is ample even though it is hidden. The bacon is plentiful, and the best is when you can get some onion in your bite with the bacon. It is like those onion bits on White Castle burgers you crave but on steroids and on artisanal pizza. The bread was also exceptional, but my only qualms are that the crust could be crispier and less doughy and these slices are almost desert tasting filling wise as well as in their aftertaste. Then again, I went with the maple bacon because when in Maplewood, why not maple bacon.
Pizza Review
This is one of those spots that has speciality pies that are so good, it wouldn’t be fair to judge on just a cheese pizza alone. But let’s start with the plain cheese. It’s super soft & doughy, somewhat thick, with a decent char but absolutely no crisp. Very salty and a little light on the sauce. They appear to use a quite heavy whole milk mozzarella that’s surprisingly greasy. The dough is pretty flavorful but the sauce and cheese don’t pull their weight. It’s still good overall, just not great. Settles in at a 7.4 rating for the plain cheese. Also pictured you’ll notice a gorgeous Margherita pie with prosciutto di parma. Believe it or not, this pie tastes even better than it looks. First of all, this is some of the most delicious prosciutto I’ve ever eaten. This is a must-try topping. The fresh mozzarella is outstanding...smooth, rich & creamy, as perfect as melted mootz gets. Similar to the plain pie, the dough is incredibly soft, lacking crispness, despite a nice char. The sauce is definitely better on the margherita, but still a little light, couldn’t certainly use more. You can taste the sea salt, olive oil & fresh basil in each bite. The pie overall has terrific balance and exquisite flavor. This is the spot if you’re looking for a fancier specialty pizza in North Jersey. This pie gets a fantastic 8.8 score that would make its way to the 9s if you could get it crispier. Combined with the plain pizza, that averages out to an 8.2 overall and well worth the trip if you enjoy top notch specialty pies.
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