pizza

Paisano’s Pizza Coming to Market Square at Potomac Yard

By ARLnow.com

Fairfax-based Paisano’s Pizza is coming to the Market Square at Potomac Yard development (3650 South Glebe Road), just south of Crystal City.

Paisano’s “offers true gourmet pizza, using the finest, most expensive ingredients available,” says the chain’s web site. “Taste the difference for yourself, and find out why Paisano’s has become the top choice of selective pizza-cravers across the Northern Virginia area!”

In addition to pizza, Paisano’s offers pasta, subs, strombolis, wings and desserts.

Owned and operated by James Madison University alum Fouad Qureitem, Paisano’s has been expanding quickly in Northern Virginia. Locations in Tysons, Burke, Springfield and Vienna are all listed under the “coming soon” section of the web site, in addition to the six existing locations.

The chain has plans to eventually expand nationally, according to a 2009 Washington Business Journal article.

No official word on when the restaurant might open, but we project it could be open as soon as this summer.

Update at 1:20 p.m. — Paisano’s is applying for a beer delivery permit for the new location, a potentially unique service for this section of Arlington.

Pizza Autentica Opens in Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Rapidly-expanding DC pizza chain Pizza Autentica opened in Ballston last week.

The store features a decent selection of pizza by the slice, sandwiches, salad and gelato.

Pizza Autentica also serves beer and wine. Prices are about what you’d expect for a cafeteria-style pizza joint — not too expensive but not too cheap — with the exception of pitchers of beer, which are an impressively low $8.99.

Budweiser, Yuengling, Miller Lite and Old Dominion Hop Mountain Pale Ale are all on tap.

The store also serves coffee and breakfast sandwiches.

Pizza Is the New Brown Flip Flops

By ARLnow.com

Pizza shops are about to be as ubiquitous in Arlington as Starbucks stores and brown flip flops.

Clarendon, believe it or not, is getting yet another pizza place. Bronx Pizza and Subs is coming to 3100 Clarendon Boulevard in “late December,” according to the Washington Business Journal.

There’s at least one thing that may differentiate Bronx Pizza from the all the others. The pizzeria “will cater to the late-night crowd, serving up dishes until 5 a.m.,” WBJ reports. I don’t know who’s buying pizzas past 3:00 a.m. in Arlington, but being the lone late night food option when the Clarendon bars close could drive some serious business.

Around daylight hours, however, the pizza scene will be much more crowded. By the time Bronx Pizza opens, local options will include: Pete’s New Haven Apizza, Fire Works Pizza, Pizza Autentica, American Flatbread, Faccia Luna, Pupatella, Piola, Ledo’s, Jerry’s Subs and Pizza, Papa John’s, Mario’s Pizza House, Z Pizza, Goody’s and, perhaps, the Flippin’ Pizza truck.

Pretty soon, the production of pizza will be an industry in and of itself in Arlington — just below military contractors on the hierarchy of importance to the local economy.

Coming Soon to Arlington: Mobile Pizza

By ARLnow.com

An outfit called Flippin’ Pizza, which just rolled out a pair of mobile pizzerias in Fairfax County, is applying for a mobile food vendor license in Arlington.

Much like the DC Slices truck, which occasionally serves private events in Arlington, the Flippin’ Pizza trucks bake the New York-style pies in the truck and then sell them at various locations around town. Two slices and a drink from the truck will cost you $5. Flippin’ Pizza, of course, announces the location of their trucks via Twitter.

The company says they expect to launch a truck in Arlington later this fall.

For those following at home, the pizza saturation warning level in Arlington has just hit condition red.

Ballston’s New Pizza Autentica Expected to Have Outdoor Seating

By ARLnow.com

Pizza Autentica has applied for sidewalk seating outside its forthcoming Ballston restaurant, and county staff is recommending that the request be granted.

The county board is expected to decide on the matter at Saturday’s board meeting. Staff is recommending that the board approve seating consisting of eight tables with two seats apiece at the northwest corner of Wilson Boulevard and North Randolph Street, facing Ballston Common Mall.

Pizza Autentica has apparently done its homework on the county’s outdoor seating do’s and don’t. It has agreed to not have any outdoor speakers in the cafe area, the seating will still allow for a clear seven foot path on the sidewalk and the Ballston Partnership is supporting restaurant’s request.

Pizza Autentica is also slated to open a new location in Crystal City in the near future.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Pizza Autentica Adds Ballston Location — Crystal City isn’t the only Arlington neighborhood on the radar for fast-growing local chain Pizza Autentica. WBJ’s Missy Frederick reports that Pizza Autentica has signed a lease at 850 North Randolph Street in Ballston.

Arlington Food Blogger Profiled — The Fairfax Times takes a look at Arlington mom Colleen Levine and her natural food and cooking blog, Foodie Tots. A government affairs consultant by trade, Levine has amassed 2,500 Twitter followers by focusing her blog on kid-friendly, healthy cooking. The recipe for spaghetti caprese — part of Levine’s effort to promote “meatless Mondays” — looks especially appetizing.

Oil Spill Dogs Need an Adoptive Family — Arlington’s Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation is trying to find a home for the last three of 12 dogs brought up from Louisiana after the Gulf oil spill. The shihtzu family — Gizmo, Trixie and Rocky — were given away by their former owner after he lost his job as a fisherman as a result of the spill. The story and photos from Fox 5.

A Look Inside the New Fire Works Pizza in Courthouse

By ARLnow.com

Update at 4:35 p.m. — Exclusive: here’s a sneak peak at Fire Works’ temporary menu.

Fire Works Pizza has opened for its second night in business in Courthouse.

As of 4:00 the bar was officially open — even though employees and contractors were still busy putting cash in the registers and arranging glasses. As of 5:00, dinner will be served.

The restaurant is operating under limited hours and with a limited menu while employees get up to speed and while some of the final touches are put into place. Management expects to get all the wrinkles ironed out in 3-4 weeks.

Also worth looking forward to: the open-air fireplace on the outside patio should be working soon.

Here are a few photos we took around the place this afternoon.

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A Tea Partier’s Guide to Pizza in Arlington

By ARLnow.com

This weekend, as many as 300,000 conservatives from across the country will flock to the DC area to attend Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin’s Restoring Honor rally at the Lincoln Memorial.

Many of the Tea Party activists who will be attending Saturday’s non-political event be staying at hotels in Arlington, so it’s important that they know the best places to eat! As such, we’ve compiled a guide to everybody’s favorite non-partisan food: pizza.

Thanks to the Maine Tea Party’s advice to members for navigating the multicultural environs of the greater Washington area, we have a pretty good idea of what Tea Partiers like. So, without further adieu, here are the top five places to go for pizza in Arlington (and none of them are on the dreaded Yellow Line!).

1. Lost Dog Cafe (5876 Washington Blvd) — Safely nestled in a small shopping district in North Arlington, Lost Dog serves not one but five types of white pizza. From the Popeye Pie, with spinach and chicken, to the Ricky Ricotta, described as a white pizza lover’s dream, Lost Dog has plenty of variety to satisfy even the pickiest eater. To wash it down, choose from Lost Dog’s great beer selection. Recommended choices include the Blue Moon White Ale, the Menocino White Hawk Ale, and Allagash White.

2. Pupatella Pizza (5104 Wilson Blvd) — Pupatella just opened its first brick and mortar restaurant to rave reviews. The restaurant is owned by Enzo Algarme, a legal immigrant from Europe — an inspiring story! Forget the fancy gourmet pizzas on the menu, however. Instead, design your own made with Buffalo mozzarella imported from Naples and Pupatella’s homemade cream and garlic white sauce.

3. Piola (1550 Wilson Blvd) — Imagine yourself in a cozy Italian pizzeria when you visit this imported gem in scenic Rosslyn. Piola’s menu features an entire section devoted to Le Pizze Bianche, the original Old World pizza style. Just be glad you weren’t here when the World Cup brought out noisy crowds that insisted on challenging this country’s sport sovereignty by calling the game “football.”

4. Ledo Pizza (1501 Arlington Blvd) — Conveniently located in the Best Western near the Iwo Jima memorial, local chain Ledo Pizza serves reasonably-priced food that will remind you of neighborhood pizzerias back home. But here’s the twist: the pizzas are square. We recommend the Italian White Pizza, with garlic herb aioli, fontina, and a delicious blend of three cheeses. If you’re trying to feed a large group, check out the giant tray of Fettuccini Alfredo.

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Fire Works Pizza Sets Opening Date

By ARLnow.com

Update on 8/16 — The opening date has been pushed back to August 23, TBD reports.

Fire Works Pizza, the massive new wood-fired pizza restaurant in Courthouse, has set next Wednesday, August 18, as a tentative opening date.

Fire Works Courthouse now has its own web presence and Facebook page, complete with photos of the nearly-completed interior.

“[The] build-out had gone well,” says general manager Jon Hoffmeyer. “[We] need to make some minor adjustments here and there, but that’s to be expected.”

Hoffmeyer says he’s expecting an initial crunch of curious first-time customers when the restaurant opens.

The Arlington location is the company’s first attempt to expand beyond its original Leesburg restaurant. It should surpass the Leesburg location in scope — with more beer (30+ on tap, 100+ in bottles), more seating (276 inside, 112 outside, pending County approval) and an expanded menu.

Not everyone is thrilled about the restaurant’s arrival, however.

“Have you seen the tacky, cheap red gate they put up around the location?” one anonymous design critic asked in an email.  “All it needs is some kindergartners running around within the fence… If they’re going to ruin a beautifully done courtyard and fountain area with their cheap tacky red fence, I won’t be eating there!”

The fence is required by law in order to serve alcoholic beverages outside on the patio.

One unanswered question: To what degree will Fire Works’ big outdoor patio eat into struggling, patio-less American Flatbread’s business during the warm weather months?

Photos via Facebook.

Pizza Autentica Coming to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Two days after reporting that Buffalo Wild Wings will be bringing some nightlife to Crystal City, we can report that D.C. pizza chain Pizza Autentica will be one of BW3’s new neighbors.

Pizza Autentica, run by prolific casual restaurateur Hakan Ilhan, has leased a space in the same building at 23rd Street and Crystal Drive as Buffalo Wild Wings. In downtown D.C., Pizza Autentica is primarily a lunchtime destination. There’s no word so far whether this new location will also serve a nighttime crowd.

Don’t expect the gourmet, wood-fired treatment at Pizza Autentica, but it will be nice to have an above-ground pizza place in an increasingly vibrant portion of Crystal City.

Pupatella Pizzeria Opening Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Pupatella, the pizza cart turned brick-and-mortar restaurant, will be welcoming its first sit-down customers around 6:00 tonight. Tomorrow is the official opening, but management says they’ll start serving anyone who comes in today.

Owner/couple Enzo Algarme, 30, and Anastasiya Laufenberg, 29, started selling made-to-order pizzas from a cart near the Ballston Metro in September 2007. Pupatella won praise, gained loyalty and made money, but it was their dream all along to open a real restaurant.

After saving up some money, the couple started looking for a storefront in February. They found 5104 Wilson Boulevard. Now they have parking, art on the walls, and a custom-made pizza oven from Naples, Italy. Oh yeah, and there’s gelato.

“It’s cool, it is a dream come true,” Algarme said.

Consistent with Algarme’s Italian roots, the restaurant is a family affair. The “Pupatella” name was actually the nickname of Algarme’s grandmother and the pizza boxes feature a prominent photo of Algarme’s one-year-old son.

The pizza cart will be out of operation while the couple focuses on the restaurant, but Algarme says he hopes to eventually get it back out on the street.

More photos after the jump.

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