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Best Pizza in Northern VA on a Sunday Afternoon


Seanchai

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OK, I'll be coming from Pennsylvania on a Sunday morning on my way back home to Charlottesville. I'm dying for a really good pizza and I know Pupatella is closed on Sunday. What's my best next option? Prefer Arlington or Old Town Alexandria but open to points south and west.

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RedRocks on King Street is quite good - - similar approach to Pupatella - - perhaps not as artisanal but very tasty and a nice atmosphere. See www.firebrickpizza.com . For more traditional New York pizza, you simply cannot beat Valentino's on Beauregard near Little River Turnpike just west of 395. Essentially a NoVa branch of a Queens pizzeria and absolutely authentic.

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OK, I'll be coming from Pennsylvania on a Sunday morning on my way back home to Charlottesville. I'm dying for a really good pizza and I know Pupatella is closed on Sunday. What's my best next option? Prefer Arlington or Old Town Alexandria but open to points south and west.

There is only one other place that compares to Pupatella-style pizza and that is Orso (even as recently as a few weeks ago).

The crust at Red Rocks (at least the one in Columbia Heights) pales in comparison. Ingredients are good though.

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I was underwhelmed by Rustico early on and then sort've drifted into the view that Rustico just provides "commodity" food without much love or care....i could be WAY wrong though

Thanks everybody for all of the replies. No votes for Rustico? It's been a long time since I had a pizza from them and I rarely see them mentioned on the site.

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Thanks everybody for all of the replies. No votes for Rustico? It's been a long time since I had a pizza from them and I rarely see them mentioned on the site.

Although I do think they have the best gf pizza, I don't think it has the righteous crust or Orso, or RedRocks and the ingredients aren't as good. Let's just say if I was cheating or on my death bed gorging on all the pizza I wanted with no consequences, they would not be my top choice. But now that I generally don't eat bread, I tend to be VERY picky about what I do or would eat.

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OK, I'll be coming from Pennsylvania on a Sunday morning on my way back home to Charlottesville. I'm dying for a really good pizza and I know Pupatella is closed on Sunday. What's my best next option? Prefer Arlington or Old Town Alexandria but open to points south and west.

Are you coming down I-95 or I-270? if I-95, I'd call Matthew's and merrily scarf it in the car (they open at noon). This might surprise people, but I'd think about getting a Wood Fired Tart at Mussel Bar (they open at 10 AM). Other than Pupatella, I can't think of a single pizza in the entire (Neo-)metro-politan area that I'd go out of my way for right now (and I've been to Mia's (bad), da Marco (decent), Comet (bad) and Orso (good) within the past couple of months, RedRocks (bad) and Rustico (don't remember) within the past year). As I type, I see Edan Macquaid is reading this thread which reminds me I still haven't been to Local 16 under his stewardship. Are you sure you don't want to arrive at Palena Cafe at 5:30 and get a Bianco?

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Hop across the bridge and go to 7th hill ;)

Funny, I thought of 7th Hill after I wrote my post - I still have never been, believe it or not. If you're coming down from Baltimore, you can swing down the BW Parkway and do something clever with the Sousa bridge (maybe call in your order at that point, making it a Sousa phone).

Stay in Old Town and order a Brabo flatbread and a skillet of mussels :)

This is a better idea than Mussel Bar.

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I'm a little surprised that Rustico got mentioned before Faccia Luna. I hated Rustico after my one experience there (loud, small portions, slow service, food that reads much better than they actually taste). Faccia Luna isn't super-high quality, but they do have a nice crust and decent toppings.

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