Do you have a favorite pub? A place you come back to every Friday night? A place that your feet just automatically lead you to at the end of a hard week? Now, have you ever toyed with the idea of actually owning your favorite watering hole? That's exactly the opportunity that presented itself to Terry Owen, Kyle O'Brien, and Pat McMahon earlier this year. Sam Paniccia, one of the three brothers who own Scotland Yard Pub on St. Paul Street, approached regulars Owen, O'Brien, and McMahon and offered them a collective 50 percent share of the business. The three accepted, and on June 1 they became partners in the pub that had been their hangout for the past two years. One would think that new owners, or at least new partners would mean that big changes are in the works for Scotland Yard, but the only changes the partners are intending to make are in the way the pub markets itself: they want to use social media and social networking to let more people know about the pub that they love.

There's a lot to like about Scotland Yard, particularly if you happen to work downtown. On a Friday afternoon it is one of the more convenient pubs to get to, and with its extra-long bar there's a good bet that you'll be able to find a seat. Service at the bar is quick and efficient, and although the beer selection is currently a bit limited - it does, however, always carry at least one of the beers produced by local micro-brewery Three Heads - that's one of the handful of things the new partners are working to address in the near future. Take a seat, grab a brew, and take a look around. The pub features a nicely located pool table, an elevated and cozy space for darts, and a scattering of comfy chairs near the front door. On a hot summer evening, the lofty ceilings keep the place cool, and the low light levels are perfect for chilling out.

Snag the friendly bartender on his second pass through and order another round while you look at the menu. As with all good pubs, Scotland Yard offers an assortment of the usual fried appetizers, as well as an array of sandwiches and salads to choose from. But what distinguishes Scotland Yard from the competition is that it also offers pizzas pulled from a wood-fired oven at the rear of the dining room. Pay close attention to the menu here, because everything that comes out of that oven is worth trying.

Start with a quesadilla stuffed with fire-roasted vegetables ($9). Peppers (hot and sweet), mushrooms, onions, and zucchini are all well-cooked, but not oozing so much juice as to ruin the crunch of the tortilla in which they are enclosed, along with a generous quantity of jack and cheddar cheeses. Served with salsa and sour cream, a basket full of grilled veg quesadilla is an undisputed bargain and a good way to take the edge off while you deliberate over the rest of your meal.

Scotland Yard is also somewhat famous for its wings, and justifiably so. Sam Paniccia developed his own sauce for wings that adds both sweet soy sauce and paper-thin garlic slices to the traditional hot-sauce-and-butter recipe. The resulting "dragon wings" ($9 for 10 wings; $15 for 20) have a nice sweet and sour bite to them, along with fairly decent heat and a garlic edge that's a nice change from the salty-hot flavor profile of typical Buffalo wings. In order to get the full impact, though, plan to get messy: the garlic slices don't naturally stick to the wings, so you'll have to scoop a few up with your finger and pile ‘em on before shoving that drumette into your mouth.

Order your third beer while you wait for your pizza to be delivered. Scotland Yard makes a darned good pizza - thin crusted with a bit of char around the edges. The crust is crunchy, and on one visit almost cracker-thin, but nonetheless stiff enough to hold a full load of toppings. It's better than average, and the toppings might put it in an even higher echelon. You could get a "classic" pizza with Italian sausage, pepperoni, and mozzarella layered over red sauce ($11), or a "carnivore" that combines all of that with chorizo, ham, and bacon (a pretty much guaranteed winner in combination with beer and wings, $12).

But there are other things worth your attention. The signature Scotland Yard pizza ($12), a combination of goat cheese, artichoke hearts, and good prosciutto on a base of roasted garlic, olive oil, and the trinity of parmesan, asiago, and mozzarella is a solid choice - an antipasto platter served on a carta de musica. And the barbecued chicken pizza ($10) adds a bit of smoky, spicy chipotle to the barbecue sauce and substitutes cheddar for smoked gouda cheese. The addition of bacon to the mix is much appreciated, because, let's face it, everything is better with a little bit of bacon.

The only thing that disappointed on two visits was the Scotland Yard burger ($9). Aside from the cute conceit of a "kilt" of crusty melted cheddar cheese, it was a pretty much ordinary burger served on a gigantic French bread roll that overwhelmed whatever beefy flavor might have been in the meat. It wasn't bad, and the fries served alongside it - nicely done steak fries with a spicy coating - were tasty (although I'd actually ordered sweet-potato fries to appease my dining companion). But compared to the pizza and quesadilla it was a bit of a letdown in an otherwise pleasant meal. Fortunately, I still had my third pint in which to drown my sorrows.

To find Scotland Yard Pub in City Newspaper's online Restaurant Guide - including a map, user reviews, and more - click here.

Scotland Yard Pub

187 St. Paul St.

(585) 730-5030, scotlandyardpub.com

Monday-Wednesday 4 p.m.-1 a.m., Thursday-Saturday 4 p.m.-2 a.m.