Roxanne's Brick Oven Pizzeria

We were in the neighborhood and decided to eat lunch at Roxanne's Brick Oven Pizzeria in Mahwah right on Franklin Turnpike. Even though Kinchley's is right down the road, I wasn't really in the mood for their type of pizza though I wanted to revisit the Kinchley's versus Nellie's feud. The decision was left up to me so Roxanne's it was!

The parking lot was completely vacant as we were the first folks in there for lunch. Well, it was on the early side...On the inside, there was a lot of warm wood offset by subdued yellow walls and light trickling in through the many windows.

I spotted the ovens right away. Can't miss the flames held in by a wall of bricks.

Can't miss the bar and the big sign above it which is actually the name of the establishment in a previous life.

One of the pizzas ordered had the added toppings of sausage and meatballs.

The other was just a plain one. Both had fresh mozzarella, fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil and oregano leaves, a sprinkling of parmesan and a drizzle of olive oil. What's with all the pizza eating of late? Coincidence. I found the pizza a bit on the salty side for my tastes though as I ate it, I got used to it, but not totally. I believe the tomato sauce was the biggest culprit for the salt. The cheese is on par with Brooklyn's, but I liked that there was more of it and more uniform. Interestingly enough, the herbs were not cooked in the oven like I find at other places. I was also suprised to find that they also put olive oil on the pizza. Have I not noticed this elsewhere like at Brooklyn's?? Well, even if they add it, it must have been just as transparently flavored as at this place. I immediately noticed the menu did not list it as *extra virgin* olive oil as it is at A Mano. Well, that made all the difference. It resulted in a crust that had a slight layer of oil that made for messy fingers but not much else. I barely noticed it as a flavor enhancement. If I didn't know any better, I would have presumed the oil came off the cheese despite it's color. Their pizza is definitely like Brooklyn's but I think I like Roxanne's better in that the middle is not a soggy mess which I always found the case to be at Brooklyn's. Otherwise, the crusts were fairly similar. I think I have to return to Brooklyn's for a better comparison. ;) I hear their other non-pizza offerings is quite good which I would like to try in the future. So forced to choose which pizza place to go to? I still like A Mano. Everyone at the table had a different favorite though. Ha!! On any given day, though, I would choose a different pizza place depending on my mood just like today when I chose Roxanne's over Kinchley's. I'm just glad to have so many choices to cater to my whims. =D