AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner has been serving tasty fare in Verona for a year now, but you’ll want to order for carryout or delivery, as the interior seems to be an afterthought and certainly not a “diner.”
Among the six specialty pizzas, I selected the small (10″), thin crust ($10.49) Arizona Ranch, topped with spicy chicken, bacon and spicy ranch sauce. I actually wanted this as a stuffed pizza ($14.99), but they said they couldn’t do it for this type of pizza or it would burn. That’s okay, I still enjoyed it. I liked that AJ’s thin crust is thicker than typical cracker-like crusts. The chicken is mildly spicy, but it does build up after a few slices. I also enjoyed the ranch flavor, which wasn’t overpowering (nor was it spicy). Another pizza I would like to try is the Blazin Chicken, topped with spicy red sauce, spicy chicken, red onions, jalapenos and roasted red peppers.
From the five premium pizzas, I tackled a small, deep dish ($14.49) AJ Deluxe, which is buried in a pile of green peppers, onions, mushrooms, sausage and mushrooms. This was such a satisfying pizza, and the crust–while not as “deep” as its Chicago counterpart–was definitely worth eating instead of tossing aside.
The restaurant makes a big deal of its subs, so I picked two. I got the AJ’s Club ($5.75) in a tomato basil wrap and loved it, as it was packed with ham, turkey and bacon, along with lettuce, tomato and mayo.
Among the warm subs, AJ’s Hot Italian ($6)–which comes with ham, capicola, pepperoni, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, provolone cheese and garlic sauce–caught my eye, and I’m glad it did. It reminded me of the fantastic garibaldi sandwich at Paisan’s, only the bread was softer and a lot more garlicky.
The rest of the menu includes salads and appetizers such as wings (six for $5.99, 12 for $10.99) and spinach cheese bread ($4.75).
AJ’s Pizzeria & Diner is open every day for lunch and dinner. It also caters.
