Pizza Reborn

ELKINS — An Elkins classic is back, complete with a longtime signature dough but minus the once-famous cinnamon rolls.

Pizza Junction re-opened late last year under the Bariola’s banner, but in June reverted to the name that Elkins residents remembered from bygone years.

“We just felt like it was a good idea to put a pizza place back in Elkins, and it made sense pretty quick to go back to the original name,” says Laura Brandt, who owns the parlor with her husband.

The restaurant also serves sandwiches and spaghetti, but pizza remains the highlighted item. Fresh ingredients arepart of the formula, as is crust made with beer.

No, these pizzas won’t get you drunk, but the can of beer added to each batch of dough gives the crust a unique flaky consistency and more flavor than normal thin crusts. The beer dough is a holdover from the original Pizza Junctionplaybook, and it’s a hit with customers.

Used to be, the other main attraction was homemade cinnamon rolls. Those aren’t available anymore, Brandt says, because fire inspectors made them remove the old oven that was used to make the rolls. The pizza ovens aren’t hot enough.

“We still get people asking for them, and they leave disappointed,” Brandt says.

“It’s something we’d like to find a way to bring back in the future.”

Finding Pizza Junction isn’t hard, even if the name doesn’t give it away. It’s at the corner of Arkansas 16 and Arkansas 74 in Elkins. That’s also known as “at the only stoplight in town.”

Large pizzas approach $17, but it’s possible to eat a lot cheaper as well, especially with the daily buffet offerings.