December 8, 2006
Pizza by the Six Slice
We are fully aware that pizza is a very contentious issue here in D.C., what with all the wood-fired homegrown options, upscale regional inspirations, and the occasional pie that's been specially designated Napoletana. We’ve certainly had more than our share of the stuff from celebrated area ovens such as 2 Amys, Pizzeria Paradiso, and the like, but lately we've found ourselves craving a simple pizza-by-the-slice unencumbered by framed certificates or toppings exotica. We recently found our personal holy grail of pizza at Vace, an Italian delicatessen and pizzeria in Cleveland Park (with another branch in Bethesda).
We walked in and parked ourselves at the end of a long line of customers, picking up their weekly supply of cured meats or pre-made lasagna and fresh pasta. But what stole our attention was the display case of six different pizzas identified only by handwritten placards. Since there’s no eat-in option at Vace, and we were resigned to eating in our car, we went whole hog and ordered one slice from each of the six pies, plus a couple of San Pellegrino Limonatas to wash it all down.
Once we were comfortably ensconced in the cramped confines of our vehicle, we tore open the foil-wrapped slices and dove into the one we were intrigued by the most: the white pizza topped with onions. All the slices are large, with a thin-doughy crust that has a hint of olive oil. These characteristics married perfectly with the onion pie, which featured very thin rounds of sweet, white onion, over a layer of salty mozzarella that occasionally peeked through the tangle of onions in the form of well-browned bubbles, and a liberal dusting of dried oregano. Being onion enthusiasts, this was easily our favorite slice, though we can’t imagine ever being able to down an entire onion pie.
The plain slice came in a close second. This cheese slice is counterintuitively assembled with the house-made pizza sauce slathered on top of the mozzarella. Though this made for a sloppy first impression, this method of pizza assembly aptly showcased the sauce. The sauce hit us right away with its mix of sweetness and robust tomato flavor. Ribbons of mozzarella emerge through the sauce here and there, providing just the right amount of salt to balance the sweetness of the sauce. This simple perfection is the hallmark of a pie that should come standard with a sixer of Coke and a couple of DVDs.
The four other slices we walked away with were the pepperoni, which we believe was adorned with slices from their well-chosen stock of cured meats; a white spinach pie, a solid veggie option with plenty of garlic; mushroom, topped with marinated slices of mushroom; and spinach focaccia, a square pie with what amounted to a quarter inch of spinach topped by a wafer thin layer of pastry. Though we love spinach, we preferred the treatment of the white pie with spinach to the focaccia variety. Spinach in moderation is key, and Vace’s excellent crust is too good to only have in such a small quantity.
Vace definitely satisfied our pizza-by-the-slice jones, but they have much more to offer beyond that. We’ll be back in the future for a slice or two, and while we’re there we may score some of their pumpkin agnelotti and a couple of sfogliattela to go.
Vace
3315 Connecticut Ave., NW
(202) 363-1999
4705 Miller Ave.
Bethesda, MD
(301) 654-6367
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Vace has its following, but I've always found it overrated. Italian Store beats them on slices. Better pizza options can be easily found in most east coast cities, and I'll include 2 Amys and the like in that assessment
right on the money, best pizza i've had in DC so far.
Vace's is the best. Their pepperoni and onion pizza is the tits. I grew up in bethesda and I had it at least twice a week for lunch during High School.
Better pizza options can be easily found in most east coast cities,
Really? Where? Every pizza I've had east of the Chicago area has been mediocre at best.
[ob. east coast-midwestern pizza rivalry declaration]
Vace is on my list of places to try.
If you have a car and are adventurous, try Marghellina in Clinton Md. It's not as far as it sounds. It's got a family restaurant vibe that feels like you should be in the Jersey burbs or somewhere. Been once, liked, going again sometime.
Local trivia: The owner is acknowledged as the first victim of the Muhammed/Malvo sniper pair (he lived). They stole the money from this guy to buy the Chevy that they used to carry out the rest of their spree.
yeah vace's pizza is pretty great; i think it beats 2 amy's anyday. you should try the subs, they are also fantastic.
I'll throw in my two cents on the rivalry. I can go for the east coast stuff more frequently, but Chicago-style is a thing unto itself. You're really talking about apples and oranges, but clearly the Chicago-style threw the gauntlet down to East Coast, and I don't think the EC has ever responded.
Sidenote, one of the nice features of Vace (besides the reasonable price and the fact that you can pre-order, it's not just by the slice) is that its crust has a little bit of chicago in it, and its kind of gooey and messy, but still a little thin-crust.
if you ever make it down south look for mr. gatti's. YUM, YUM and YUM.
A slice of pizza from any New Jersey strip mall beats the pants off of any slice you can find here in DC. Nuff said.
I'm sure I'm going to get pelters from all the pizza nazis, but I like the Manhattan Deli slices down at the Navy Memorial.
$2.50 each including tax makes for a cheapo lunch.
Well, it's Friday and I'm off to skin-up. see yer.
Vace sounds really good.
The BEST pizza in the DC area is at the Italian Inn (aka Peter Cannell's) in Landover Hills. Try the pepperoni w/extra cheese, it's pure candy.
My runners-up are Ledo's (Adelphi, MD) and Regina's (Camp Springs, MD)
I used to live across the street from Vace, it's hands-down the best pizza in DC. Washing it down with San Pelligrino Limonata is like heaven.
I dig Chicago pizza, but it's a totally different beast. I only mentioned east coast as a comparator to Vace. Vace is no Totonno's or Sally's
I've found better 'east coast' pizza on the west coast than I have in DC.
face it...DC pizza just doesn't cut it. It's soggy, thin is unsatisfying, no matter where its served. Then again, maybe I'm biased cuz I grew up in NY.
Besides, there's so much better food you can have on the late night drunk tip!
Ah, the classic dcist pizza wang-measuring contest. I'd like to remind the contestants that regardless of which style of pizza you thinks rules (Chicago, NY, or (ugh) California), your average resident of Naples, Italy wouldn't use it to pick up their dog's mess.
Vace: good all-around NY-style slice
Ledos/Marios: anybody want a Ritz cracker covered with catsup and Cheese Wiz? Didn't think so.
Unos: did you want some crust with your butter-flavored pan spray?
The best pizza is the pizza you grew up eating. That's why my favorite is at Restaurant AV.
Restaurant AV? Wow, someone other than Scallia eats there. who knew? Who gives a fuck what Naples has -- most of us only care what's on the nearest corner. In any of the 5 burroughs, that's rarely a problem.
Vace's slices are pretty good, but their whole pies usually suck by the time you get them home. Maybe it's the 2nd trip through the oven at Vace that improves the slices?
Pizza Mart is by far the best pizza- I mean, look at the size of that Vace slice in the pic! It's puny!
(kidding! Although I don't think Pizza Mart is that bad, but that probably says a lot about what condition I'm in when I go there)
If you stretch it out to include the 'burbs, the best pizza in DC is either Pomodoro's in Fairfax or Buon Appetito in Chantilly. It's a haul though.
I think DCist plugged this place before. I went and I was disappointed. Their selection of meats and premade foods looks excellent, but their pizza is NOT 'NY style pizza.' It looks like it, but it's not even close in taste. (Yes, I used to live in NYC and whenever I go back I always gorge on pizza there) If you like italian style pizzas you might like it though and the place in general looks like a great store.
If you are looking for a typical slice of NY pizza, this is not it. I've been searching for NY style pizza in DC and it's not here. The closest contendors for typical NYC plain slice are the Italian Store and then Sbarros. Yes, OMFG I mentioned a chain. All the wannabe hipsters feel free to attack. lol
Huh. No love for alberto's on P st? I don't enjoy their whole pies, but for a single serving slice I've never had better than their chicken and artichoke.
Or are they too well known to count?
"Ah, the classic dcist pizza wang-measuring contest. I'd like to remind the contestants that regardless of which style of pizza you thinks rules (Chicago, NY, or (ugh) California), your average resident of Naples, Italy wouldn't use it to pick up their dog's mess."
You state the truth when you say that it's all personal taste. Different tastes, different prefrences.
Then you whip out your knoledgable wong and make a ridiculously stupid statement when assuming that Naples/Italian people have some sort of superior pizza taste or something. I know a ton of recently immigrated italians and they love the cheap frozen pizzas from the store, as well as various other pizzas. Their refined Italian pallets apparenty don't think it's crap at all.
For people that actually lived or travelled to NYC, and know what NYC pizza tastes like... Which DC place do you think comes the closest?
Buon Apetito has the most authentic NYC style pizza.
DCist, wasn't the Norfolk & Western thing enough for one week? Now this?
This thing about all NYC pizza being amazing is typical NYC boosterism, i.e. divorced from reality. There are about ten places in Manhattan that have a truly great slice. The remainder is trash, crap, garbage--better than 18th Street, for sure, but not by much, and about twenty steps beneath the level of great slice.
This includes "Total Crap" category includes every place I've ever tried on the Upper East Side and in the East Village, as well as every place named "Ray's," save one. I have never encountered a decent outer-borough slice, though I have only had very limited experience.
That a typical NYC slice is a little better than the typical DC offering DC does not make it good. I've never seen a slice in DC that's even edible. In the whole pizza category, however, 2 Amys can hang with that most treasured of my loves, the New York pizzeria, though it still fall far short of the Lombardi's, where I will one day have my ashes spread.
What about Vace, you ask? Dunno. Do I need to have an opinion on the subject of the post to comment?
Never been there for the pizza, but a buddy and I once stopped there to pick up subs for a trip to Oriole Park at Camden Yards (years ago, pre-Nationals). Loved them subs. I've been trying to get out there since, but as a suburbanite who drives, I only get around there during rush hour and I'm not confident in my parking skills while amped up on road rage. But now hearing about Bethesda, I may stop there to try the pizza.
dc_publius:
would have to disagree with Sbarro's, but agree with you on Italian Store (though a bit inconsistent). Another decent DC Metro spot is Guisippe's in Rockville Town Center & Gaithersburg. The style is less NYC and closer to popular Pittsburgh joint Mineo's (there's some connection there). I prefer Mineo's but Guisippe's isn't bad. It's different than NYC -- much cheesier and not giant slices. Mineo's uses imported italian tomatos in a superior sauce. The crust is a little thicker than NYC style slice-joint pizza, which supports the cheese.
I do adore some Vace pasta. Never had the pizza, but the premade frozen veggie lassagne, gnochi, etc. are all great. I love that place--it is a perfect whole int he wall small business that does its thing well. I wish there was one east of Rock Creek.
MrPants: "I wish there was one east of Rock Creek."
If someone tried to put Vace east of the Park we'd have to have a 136 post debate about whether that was racist and discuss whether serving limonata within 400 feet of a charter school would undermine family values and education for long-term DC residents in favor of the short-term interests of the condo-dwelling yuppy scum who are invading the neighborhood.
I always find articles like this disheartening... "I finally found Vace." Well let's see, I first tried Vace pizza around 1985... 21 years ago... and it was a favorite to bring to high school parties to act cool... How about we right something about Maggies Pizza near AU?
The best pizza is the pizza you grew up eating.
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Uhhhh.... I grew up in Bethesda, Waspville USA. The most decent pizza I grew up eating was freaking Shakeys! It all got better after I grew up.
Don
"Ah, the classic dcist pizza wang-measuring contest. I'd like to remind the contestants that regardless of which style of pizza you thinks rules (Chicago, NY, or (ugh) California), your average resident of Naples, Italy wouldn't use it to pick up their dog's mess."
Seriously. Neapolitans make the best pizza hands down. Stayed in Naples for a month, ate pizza every day and have yet to find anything that comes even remotely close to it here in the states. Of course, it'll only be a true neapolitan pizza joint when they start serving hot dog and french fries pizza with mayo a la Ciao Pizza. Does 2 Amy's have that?
And for the record the best pizza I grew up eating was Mama Ilardo's at Columbia Mall. NY style cheese and a coke. Good eats.
Dunno... while my best pizza experience ever certainly did happen in Naples, I've also eaten plenty of cardboard pizzas there and elsewhere in Italy. I think pizza quality varies more by the establishment than by the city.
Some love for Alberto's here, but I find that it tastes a hell of a lot better after a crazy night at Apex :-P
Via Cucina on 11th and Penn makes a pretty mean slice of pizza.
I've never like Alberto's very much. It just always seems a little overcooked to me.
Ahhhh Maggie's.... So many fond memories... Mostly of getting drunk underage and hitting on women waaaay out of my league (and by league, I mean, waaaay out of high school, while I was still IN high school). After you learned to ignore the truly impressive cockroaches, you could concentrate on what my memory has built up as the best pizza in DC. Damn I loved that place...
meh. the pizza is alright. bus boys pizza is surprisingly delicious (though admittedly, not available by the slice).
New joint on the block!!! Piola's in Rosslyn. It's fabulous! (Right next to Cafe Asia). Better than most pizza in this area and gives the Italian Store a good run for its money!!!
Vace's is the best. Their pepperoni and onion pizza is the tits. I grew up in bethesda and I had it at least twice a week for lunch during High School.
there needs to be a dcist article about the descriptor "the tits."
I grew up in Bethesda and have never once heard the descriptor "the tits"-- thank god.