Food Experience

Visit Arcadia

Classics and the unexpected make this West Greenwich pizza place a solid go-to

Posted

If you’re lucky enough to have a good neighborhood restaurant where you live, you should count your lucky stars. You know the kind of place I mean – where you can just pop in, no reservations necessary. It’s the kind of place that takes pride in its food and wacky beer list. You can grab takeout on your way home from work, and you know it’s going to be good. Arcadia Pizza is a place I’ve adopted as my local go-to.

Arcadia Pizza is located just off Route 95 in West Greenwich. The space is cozy with just five tables and eight seats at the bar, and the walls are covered with shiplap and craft beer memorabilia. There are rumors about the restaurant expanding into the vacant space next door, and hopefully that’s true.

The beer list at Arcadia Pizza is impressive and always changing. If you follow them on social media and you’re a craft beer fan, you will be tempted. There are a good number of local beers on the menu, and some rare ones that are hard to find. Maine Beer Company, Toppling Goliath, Deciduous, and many more have rotated through the taps. On the day I visited with friends, we tried the Heavy Seas/Grey Sail collaboration, Wicked Smooth on draft, and the brand new Proclamation Derivative Mystery in a can. I love that they always have something new to try.

Celebrating summer, we ordered two appetizers to start our meal. The RI Calamari was perfect, prepared with garlic butter, banana peppers, and marinara sauce. The squid was fresh from Point Judith, not in the slightest bit chewy, and fried to perfection. Their version of Buffalo Chicken Egg Rolls were fantastic and we all remarked that we would order them again. The fried egg roll wrapper was stuffed with chicken, a blend of cheeses, and just the right amount of buffalo sauce.

The pizza here is tasty. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve eaten their Fig and Brie pizza, and, going with an ol’ reliable, we ordered one on this day, too. Pizza is only as good as its crust, and Arcadia’s crust is crisp. The Fig and Brie is topped with just a schmear of fig jam – enough that you know it’s there but not so much that it’s cloyingly sweet. The jam is topped with melted Brie, and fresh arugula is topped as a finish. They have plenty of other pizzas to sample including a New York System pizza with actual wieners on it, a Reuben pizza with all the toppings you expect on that type of sandwich, and even a Prosciutto and Pineapple pie.

The rest of the menu includes a good variety of options – sandwiches, grinders, salads, burgers, and pastas. My favorite sandwich is the Sriracha Fried Chicken Sandwich. It takes a buttermilk-fried chicken breast and tops it was sriracha aioli, bacon, Vermont cheddar, red onion, and lettuce, and is served on a buttery brioche bun. Another favorite is the A.B.L.T. (A stands for avocado which takes this menu item to another level). One of my friends commented how the bread was “buttery, crispy goodness.” Another favorite is the pasta in pink vodka sauce. The pasta is blended with the sauce, some grilled chicken, and is served piping hot with garlic bread – perfect for scraping up every last bit of the sauce. On the day we were there, there was a choice of shells or linguini.

Owner Larry Buonfiglio is an Exeter-West Greenwich graduate, and he’s doing his community proud.

Arcadia Pizza
780 Victory Highway #10, West Greenwich • 392-3130 

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here



X