Aponte's Pizza

Aponte’s describes its pizza as “New Jersey style.” On the back of the menu, founder Tony Aponte explains the designation: “I’m from New Jersey. It’s the kind of pizza we made.” Fair enough. Honestly, it reminds us more of the pizza found at various small-town family pizzerias. But enough arguing about taxonomy. On to the pie.

The crust is fairly thin and fluffy. It is evenly cooked, with no char underneath but a decent number of bubbles across the top. The house-made sauce is restrained and does not contribute much flavor of its own.

We order the 14-inch Four Cheese pizza. The menu proudly notes that Aponte’s uses 100 percent whole-milk mozzarella rather than a cheese blend or provolone. The mozzarella is of solid quality, while a generous amount of ricotta gives the pizza a creamy, slightly sweet character.

The undercarriage shows that the pizza is baked on one of those perforated, bumpy pans. This helps explain the uniform bake and complete absence of char. The crust is pleasant enough, but it lacks the crispness and deeper flavor needed to make the pizza more distinctive.

Aponte’s is located in downtown Mason and feels very much like a small-town family pizzeria. The restaurant is decorated with a mixture of local and New York sports memorabilia, and several specialty pizzas are named after Aponte’s three daughters. It is the sort of place families might visit after a high-school football game.

I probably would not drive across town specifically for the pizza, but Aponte’s is worth trying if you are in the Greater Mason metroplitan area.