This past Friday night and with little fanfare, Alberto’s in Dupont Circle restarted its ovens and pizza-making operations, less than four months after a fire seriously damaged the P street location and left a pizza shaped hole in many pizza lovers’ hearts. The same fire also forced the closure of the DJ Hut located above Alberto’s and the Subway next door, both of which remain closed.

According to Alberto’s staff, renovations to reopen the shop started just over a month ago. The staff attributes the quick turnaround to the store’s previous experience with fire — the August blaze was the second to close the store in recent years.

Alberto’s has a bit further to go before returning to its previous glory. As I ate lunch there Monday the atmosphere was hectic despite the sparse lunch crowd. Movers brought in fresh cardboard delivery boxes while old metal pieces of what appeared to be the ventilation system were moved out, and the un-tiled floors still showed black remnants of the fire while the smell of fresh paint mixed with that of the dozen cooling pizzas in the back.

But who cares? The pizza crust remains crisp, the ingredients flavorful, and come 4:30 a.m. on a Friday night, whose door will you be walking through for the perfect slice? Alberto’s is open until 5 a.m. Thursday through Saturday night and until midnight the rest of the week. A second Alberto’s is located on 18th street in Adams Morgan.