Thanks to Rock Creek Rambler, we learn that Pizza Mart, home of 18th Street’s original jumbo pizza slice (or something like that depending on what pizza entrepreneur you talk to) was shut down recently for health code violations including, according to the Post’s culling of municipal reports, “debris, no certified food supervisor and unclean food contact surfaces and equipment.” If we read the report correctly, the restaurant was closed two Fridays back and reopened that Saturday.

Big Picnic raises an important point in RCR’s comments:

nonsense, I love the jumbo slice. Besides, do you wash your hands before you eat them? YOu don’t, do you? Because if you’ve been out tearing it up in adam’s morgan all night I guarnatee there’s grosser stuff on your hands than there is on their counters. Just think of everything you’ve touched the entire night, and then imagine putting those things in your mouth. That’s right, kid- not too pretty.

At DCist, we just thought that the “debris” was outside Pizza Mart, strewn throughout the neighborhood pissing off local advisory neighborhood commissioners. We once saw a guy fall onto the sidewalk into an unfortunately positioned discarded jumbo slice. Concussion and scalding greasy cheese. Ouch!

We think it’d be cool if the sidewalk pizza-advertising hawks with signs would start wearing costumes, like the one pictured here. If the tax prep place across the street can have Lady Liberty walking up and down the sidewalk advertising bilingual tax preparation services, then the outposts of 18th Street’s jumbo slice world can improve their outreach as well. The post-last call drunkards would be ever so pleased with the entertainment.