As my regular readers know, I heart pizza. In a BIG way. But good pizza and craft beer and interesting salads and an Illy espresso for dessert is just this side of heaven, as far as I’m concerned.
Maybe I’m the last person in town to discover the newish Pete’s APizza, but when we went to the new Target in Columbia Heights (can’t get out of that store for under $200 and neither can anyone else -- what recession???) yesterday, we walked over to check out Pete’s.
In a phrase borrowed from Kung Fu Panda: Pure awesomeness.
Pete’s has a warm, communal and casual dining room that can get crowded but not overly-loud. Kids are happy here if they have something to play with at the table. Luckily, we had a mini robot.
The drill is, you go to the counter, read the chalkboard for the specials, and order what you want. Slices, special pastas, and even whole pies appear at your table in a few minutes.
Yesterday’s antipasti plate consisted of a cold green lentil salad studded with tiny chunks of salty cheese, pink beets and grapefruit and microgreens salad, roasted sweet potatoes with balsamic glaze, and some sort of sweet Italian fried rice squares. Texture, color, and intense flavor were all there. For $4.95, we tasted them all while waiting for the pizza.
The pies, crispy and thin dough, New Haven-style, were topped sparingly with quality ingredients, just the way I like it. The clam pie is a specialty, sweet and garlicky, but the sausage and mushroom shined, too. The sausage was crumbly and crisp, not soggy.
The list of about a dozen craft beers and suggestions for pairings with pizza was tempting. I went with Dogfish Head 90-Minute I.P.A., and ordered Illy coffee to boot. Pete’s offered several tempting desserts ranging from a mini chocolate cake with chocolate glaze to traditional tiramisu and cannoli, but I had no room left.
I will be back very soon.
