John's Best Opens Ridgefield Location

There's a new place in town for family dining. John's Best Pizza is not a sublime dining experience, but it's good, hearty food that's priced right. The pizzeria opened in early July near the Route 35 intersection and is part of a family-owned chain with branches in Westport, Norwalk, Brookfield and New Milford, says Manager Maria Gardell.     

John's Best offers a full range of Italian-American classics, including Veal Parmigianino, grinders and linguine in clam sauce. The restaurant offers quite a broad menu, ensuring that everyone will likely find something they like. In addition to the pizzeria standards, there's a sprinkling of American classics including burgers, ribs, wings and grilled salmon. A children's menu is also available.

Appetizers are generously sized and could serve as a main course. The Seafood Salad includes calamari, scungilli, shrimp and polpo dressed with Italian dressing and served over a bed of crisp, fresh lettuce. The Calamari Posillipo comes in either a red or white sauce and is quite tasty. The only complaint with both these appetizers was that the calamari was a bit al dente.

A pizzeria lives and dies by its red sauce, and the red sauce at John's Best is quite good. That sauce covers a multitude of dishes, from pasta to chicken to shellfish.  

The red sauce also forms the base of the pizza. Being that John's is a pizzeria, you've got to try the pizza. While the regular pizzas are everything that pizza should be—thin crusted and crispy, with just the right amounts of sauce and cheese—the gourmet pizzas are worth a try as well. The Oceana pizza is covered with generous amounts of shellfish, oregano, garlic and no cheese or sauce. Other gourmet pizzas include Chicken Parmigianino and salad pizzas.

The chicken entrees are generously sized, come with salad and pasta and are priced at $13.95 each.

The Chicken Parmigianino is thick and meaty. The Chicken Marsala is thinly sliced and covered in mushrooms and a winey tasting sauce. The Chicken Calabrese is thinly sliced and covered with onions, olives and tomatoes. However, while the menu indicated that artichokes were also included in the Chicken Calabrese, they were missing from the meal I was served.  

The restaurant itself is brand new, with brown leatherette booths, big windows and TVs situated around the room. There are also plenty of the now restaurant-requisite artificial trees—faux greenery being to the new century what ferns were to the 1970s. Outdoor dining is available, as well as take-out.

To entertain the kids while they wait for their food, the restaurant offers a game room on the lower level. The game room is also available for children's birthday parties, and John's Best has two party rooms which can hold up to 15 people.

John's Best Pizza, 955 Ethan Allen Highway, 203-438-5819