SQR Artisan Pizza — Restaurant in Summit

Summit New Jersey is poised to become a food mecca not just for Union County but for denizens of all of North Jersey. It's conveniently situated next to the Morris & Essex line with a nice little station that lets you off right in the heart of the shops.

...and speaking of eating, let's focus on pizza for a minute. While one can certainly spend days on end exploring the various places to eat drink and shop in Summit, I'm only talking about this amazing pizza place. Of course I have to acknowledge that I come from the pizza triangle of Essex County, Bloomfield Belleville Nutley. So pulling me out of Essex County to sample pizza really requires a big draw.

On the recommendation of a friend of mine I visited SQR and came back again with another friend who was an old pizza connoisseur....

This shop is small, in a quaint way, crystal clean, and for the most part run by a group of friendly, knowledgeable, respectful young kids.

SQR is committed to an Italian aesthetic when it comes to preparing their pizzas, that goes for the ingredients to their pans to the oven.

...and they have captured Italian artisanal pizza perfectly

I've had several of the slices and this time we specifically ordered their potato pizza.

There is nothing to complain about in any capacity. The flavors, The crunch, The portions. The service. All of it... absolutely excellent. It is not a restaurant so do not expect it to be a first date night, attempt to impress sort of place... unless the person you are taking is solely interested in fantastic food. They offer an assortment of pasta, and other dishes, and the dessert is right there waiting for you in the form of delicious gelato.

It's a total vibe. Highly...

Walked in to get a slice of cheese and noted slim pickings behind the glass at 1pm- empty trays and only one cheese slice left. I asked if they had more cheese coming out and they showed me the full tray of cheese and said they had some. I asked for a fresh slice but instead they went for the lone dried one under the glass. When I asked if I could get a fresh slice another employee came up to me and said I couldn't and that the batch of pies on the racks behind all came out at the same time a while ago. Huh?

I asked again if I could simply get a fresh one from the trays behind him and was told no. Weird flex but okay -wow.

I said no thanks and simply went to pay for a water bottle for my son. The manager asked if he was ringing me up for a water and a slice to which I replied "No they refused to serve me a fresh slice"- thinking he would have a focus on customer service and even remedy this. Nope. Just replied with "So just the water then?"

Disappointing. There was no line, no rush. Any decent slice shop will proactively tell you to wait a few min for a fresh pie but this place didn't seem to care even when asked.

Sadly, I have been here before and enjoyed the slices but we won't be returning any more. Save your money for a place that actually...

Excellent, reasonably-priced slice-and-pasta place. We're vegetarians, and appreciate that they have multiple options beyond just a plain cheese slice. The spinach roll is particularly good, but they don't always have it.

PIzza is all square pies with crispy edges, definitely in the Detroit/Buffalo style. We love that, but fair warning if it's not your thing. Upside is that the slices are big enough that you honestly only need one to make a meal, and odds of getting a corner are high if that's your thing.

The only complaint we have (and why it's not 5-star review) is that selection can be spotty at even the best of times. Maybe because it's all artisan pies that only yield half a dozen slices? But it's definitely always a bit of crapshoot as to what they've actually got when you arrive. We've find there's enough variety that we can sub in something else if they don't have the exact thing we had in mind, but I could see it being a bummer if you walk in really hoping for the pesto and someone else...