There seems to be something about Sexton’s. This pizza business hit my radar mid-pandemic when it was mentioned by several pizza lovers whose views I trust. It also has largely favorable reviews on the frequently contentious Pizza Connoisseurs of Columbus Facebook Page. Sexton’s is typically cheered for selling several different pizza styles and occasional grievances are aired about their well-done approach to crust. I generally feel pretty confident doing pre-consumption research for pizza outings, but Sexton’s had me more stumped than pumped.
There is not much out in the world in the realm of detailed writing about Sexton’s. Yelp offers a hodgepodge of photos and a mix of reviews from their various locations over the years. You can’t judge a restaurant by its website, but often that http address can be the key to information about a business. In the case of Sexton’s, their website seems to plead the fifth…
Having worked with many food businesses, the public face of Sexton’s filled me with sadness but offered just enough to fill me with wonder and curiosity. I had so many questions. Is there dine-in at either or both locations? (Yes.) What is a bar pizza? (It is similar to Columbus Style and its cousin, Chicago Tavern Style.) Is Sexton’s a bar with a pizza problem (there are 12 different and deeply loaded categories of alcohol for online sale) or a pizzeria owned by a local alcohol distributor? (Neither.) Some specialty pizzas have a name but no details. Other pizzas have names and details but they have no story to explain what inspired the title i.e. I had no clue about “A Girl Like You.” Reading between the lines, the 614 is inspired by key toppings found on Central Ohio pizzas. Below is the most useful information I found on Sexton’s website (better labeled a Toast ordering platform)…
- NY Style = 16 inch, 8 large slices (triangle)
- Bar Pie = 12 inch, 12 small slices (square)
- Motown = deep dish, 8 slices (square)
- Sicilian = thinner deep dish, 16 slices (square)
- Pizzas are well done and crispy
- A TEXT WILL BE SENT WHEN ORDER IS GOING IN THE OVEN
- They sell out frequently.
There is more lost in translation than gained after a deep study of sextonspizza.com.
Here is additional information I gleaned. Sexton’s is owned by brothers Jamey and Joey Sexton. They started with a wood fired pizza trailer in 2016. The brothers opened a brick-and-mortar location on Broad Street in 2018/2019 which closed in 2022. The Gahanna location opened in November 2020 and the Hilliard location is just over a year old, opening in March of 2022. The best service I can be to you, and by default, to the owners is to post a photo of the Gahanna menu below. This will better guide you in what Sexton’s has to offer.
All of this research and delayed gratification made me hungry. I realized the need to gather a posse to shield me from online trolling on this venture. I previously detailed my policy of having more human resources present when trying foreign pizza styles – a la Mama’s Nancy’s and DiCarlo’s.
If available to order, I was determined to try at least three of Sexton’s four styles. In tow I had two eaters. The legendary Aide de Pizza Camp (ADPC – most recently appearing with me at Gatto’s) and new to this column, an individual whose alias here will be Joe Pepp (JP). Mr. Pepp is a rico suave dude who hails from northeast Ohio who is wise beyond his years. He has been ADPC’s number one for decades. I trusted him enough to sell three of my houses while guiding the purchase of two in the last nine years. I needed their ears, eyes, noses and palates because I was risking a deeper level of trolldom on this adventure.
Because Sexton’s modus operandi is well-done and crispy pizzas, the probability that one of my photos might make their food appear burned was 100%. I needed my pals to bear witness to our lived experience. To date, my photo documentation has inspired the ire of one pizzeria owner and more than a baker’s dozen of Columbus Underground Facebook commenters. Therefore, I am mandated to take a detour to insert a diatribe / disclaimer…
For the record, I am not a photojournalist. I am not a photographer. I am not a trained journalist. I am not a restaurant reviewer. I am a two-bit food writer, potentially a culinary essayist, who writes about places I enjoy. My photos are not purported to be professional. More critically my photos were never intended to be a marketing piece for a food business I do not own. My photos help tell the story, as it happened live, unedited, in an unaltered form, of the food I was served. I don’t like to be that person that pretentiously stops the world and the meal to meticulously stage a photo. It’s not about me. It is not about the photo. It is about the experience and joy of eating a good meal! Instead of a picture being worth one thousand words, I am offering 999 words with one photo. In this episode, if you see something that looks burnt, it is not, it is pleasantly charred for flavor and character and I loved every bite of it.
Now, back to our adventure. The band of three amigos arrived at the Sexton’s in Gahanna happy to see there was ample room for us. The location can seat about 30 people and it was not busy with dine-in customers, but had a very brisk flow of regular customers coming in for pick-up. The rules of engagement here are to order at the counter. Clearly a greenhorn here, the man at the counter handed me a menu and made sure I was aware that all pizzas are served well-done. I thanked him, reviewed my plan of consumption with my team, and enjoyed their company while we waited for our cavalcade of items.
The waiting was not the hardest part here, it was the best of times and it was fairly short. I do not get to socialize in a manly manner very often so I enjoyed sitting in a place that felt a lot like a secret hangout. It was not too loud. There is a constant string of vintage MTV videos in the background which I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to between bites. I felt like I was transported back to my misspent youth. There were four local craft beers on tap and a very deep selection of high-quality canned beers. ADPC was observing Lent but JP and I were happy to enjoy some spirited conversation over the first item to arrive, Parmesan Tater Tots. Tots are not traditional pizzeria fare but they work well at Sexton’s. My trio triturated these tiny, tater-based bites with a vengeance.
Moving on down the line, I cut our Italian Sub into four quadrants. It was perfectly balanced. The bun was fresh and well toasted, the mix of meats were all above average quality and grilled to perfection to accentuate their individual and collective flavors. I would have liked a bit more cheese, but what was there was magnificently melted with occasional crispy, crunchy shards toasted at the edge of the bun. Most importantly, the lettuce, banana peppers and leafy greens were fresh and stuffed into the mouth of the sub AFTER it was cooked. The garden of non-meat accessories tasted like someone dropped a freshly tossed salad on top of the sandwich at the moment of delivery.
Three pizzas were ordered. I’ll begin with what each had in common, they were all “adjacent” to the styles that inspired them. I speculate that the same recipe of dough is used for each pizza but shaped in a different way. The Bar Pie was like a typical Columbus Style but less airy and more chewy. The Motown style was more dense and a bit less singed than its Motor City siblings. The NY Style would be acceptable to anyone from the Big Apple, but lacked the dense, large ring at the end of the crust. Each interpretation was universally liked. They were all winners, with each making a case for being the best of the bunch. The only way we might have come to a consensus on the best of show would have been to get the same toppings on each, but that level of monotheistic topping choices goes against my grain.
For the Bar Pie, we opted for the 614, which is topped with pepperoni, bacon and banana peppers. This was a dynamic combination of toppings, although we all held the belief that a crumbled Italian sausage would have shot it to the top of our food pyramid.
Exit stage left the to NY Pizza, I called an audible by ordering the Nashville Hot. This is a base of garlic covered with mozzarella cheese, strategically placed fried chunks of breaded (not quite Nashville hot) chicken, a liberal stream of ranch sauce and a light drizzle of Mike’s Hot Honey (which added just enough spicy heat). ADPC and JP stated, almost in unison, “Um, yeah, that’s not something I would order, but would gladly eat it again.” Author’s note – this was the best of show in the next day cold pizza challenge I had with myself.
For the Motown Pizza I aimed to be a crowd / captive audience pleaser, with a combination of pepperoni cups and sausage cups (in the olden days known as SFP or sausage for pizza). We all loved the ladled on thick, occasionally caramelized sauce on this pizza which accentuated all of the positives of the greasy goblets of fatty meats holding down the cheese.
I later tried to make a trip on my own to case out the Hilliard location by ordering Sexton’s spin on Sicilian. However, after several days of stalking their ordering site, the Sicilian style continually displayed as not available. This may be due to a recent visitor. In March, the Hilliard location was visited by the Bro of Bruh’s, Dave Portnoy aka Barstool. I hate to give airtime to this polarizing celebrity, but a segment of society is guided by his whims and schtick. He awarded an 8.1 to the Sexton’s pizza he tried which is nearly as rare as him saying something appropriate. However, his review also included the destruction of a White Claw sign.
Based on comments related to an Instagram post I made about a Barstool review of Hounddog’s Pizza, there is some question if he has redeeming qualities. In my worldview, doing anything that reduces the exposure of White Claw to society, has a significant value. I will give that act a 9.4 rating. His video of Sexton’s has 246,000 plus views which seems to have been good for Sexton’s business so that has merit. If he would use some of his fortune to facilitate Sexton’s building a website worthy of the quality of pizza they serve, it would be a true act of salvation.
As we wrapped up our boys night out at Sexton’s I asked for final thoughts from ADPC and JP. The consensus was six thumbs up for food, speed of service, beverage selection and hang out friendly ambiance. If you want to hang out at a bar that is not a bar, this place sets the bar for that niche experience. The boys gave a slight edge to the Bar Pie, but found no faults with anything we were served. I look forward to smashing some type of White Claw marketing trinket next time I visit.
Find Sexton’s at 943 E. Johnstown Rd. in Gahanna and 5460 Franklin St. in Hilliard.
For more information, visit sextonspizza.com.
All photos by Jim Ellison
