Northern Virginia Restaurant Blog: November 2016

Tuesday, November 1, 2016

1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria Fast Casual - Arlington, VA

3400 Columbia Pike

Arlington, VA 22204
Tel: (703) 920-9000

Everyone knows that when pizza originates in New Jersey, it's gonna be good. Nuff said.

Straight out of Bridgewater, NJ, the brainchild of an Italian American, the first Northern Virginia storefront of 1000 Degrees Neapolitan Pizzeria opened in Arlington about a month ago. It is only the third one in the State of Virginia.

We went for a Sunday lunch. Here is what we thought.

If you are from the New York - New Jersey area, like we are, you undoubtedly appreciate good pizza and lament its lack outside the Empire and Garden States. Our favorite go-to in this area for just under a decade has been The Italian Store. While 1000 Degrees Pizza is very different from The Italian Store pizza, it was definitely a pleasant surprise.

To be clear, 1000 Degrees Pizzeria doesn't claim the New Jersey taste or make lofty promises of tri-state authenticity. But both in its concept and its execution it's definitely New York - New Jersey. How? Easy. First, it offers a ton of topping choices - all for a flat price, depending on one of two crust sizes. Have you ever taken the subway in NYC? If so, you know that for one flat price you can go anywhere you like in any of the boroughs. Same with this pizza. There is literally no limit to how many toppings you can put on your pizza. All the sauces, all the cheeses, all the meats, and all the veggies combined in any quantity any way you like. Split the pizza in half, or even in quarters, if you choose to do so. It's all up to you - no extra charge.

The second way this pizza demonstrates its tri-state origins is speed - it's ready in TWO MINUTES. Yes, you read that right. The pizza with ALL your toppings goes into the oven and comes out fresh and delicious in two minutes, thanks to the high heat of the brick oven.

Even though the restaurant is "Fast" Casual, there is a lot of preparation done by the friendly staff ahead of time to make every part of the dining experience pleasant and speedy. Staff mix and bake the dough on premises two days ahead of baking it. There are no trucks that drop off frozen crusts that have sat on dry ice for many miles. Ingredients are fresh and numerous. The crust is not thick, it is not thin - it is just right. You can customize every aspect of the pizza toppings - about 6 or 7 sauces, 6 or 7 cheeses, and even more meats and veggies. Note - the jalapenos are not for the wimpy at heart. They are goooood.

You can get a 10" or a 14" pie and either eat-in or carry-out. As you move down from the sauces to the cheeses to the meats to the veggies, the staff assembles your pizza exactly how you tell them. If you choose from the menu of pre-selected combinations, like The Classic New Yorker, The Philly, or The Trenton Tomato Pie, you simply can't go wrong. But you can also tap into your own creativity and design any kind of pie you want. Then watch the whole thing come together right in front of your eyes from start to finish.

Getting there and parking is easy. The newly-opened restaurant is on the first floor of a brand-spankin'-new residential building. The spacious modern dining room is shiny and clean with large ceiling-to-floor windows. Parking in the building is free and relatively plentiful, or at least it was relatively plentiful on Sunday at lunch time, when we went. So, the logistics are great.

And for the added bonus - they serve wine AND beer. AND ice cream. Seriously, how can you go wrong here?

Below are pictures of the restaurant and the food we had, all of which was fresh and delicious. We will definitely be back.