Food

Cheap Eats 2010: Comet Ping Pong

100 great places that offer great food at low prices.

Why go: The rumpled servers and industrial decor channel Brooklyn coolness, and the Ping-Pong tables add a college-party vibe, but the kitchen—despite the departure of chef Carole Greenwood—turns out some of the city’s best boutique pizzas.

What to get: Cheesy veal-and-beef meatballs; wings with horseradish-heavy dipping sauce; spicy chickpea salad cut with citrus; thin-crust Yalie pizza with clams and slow-cooked onion; spinach-ricotta pizza; the Smokey, a pie with bacon and smoked Gouda; calzone with thin slices of pork; caramel ice-cream sundae.

Best for: A quick weeknight meal for kids and parents; an easy group dinner (booths fit eight, and there’s a communal table).

Insider tip: Most weekends there’s live music—often by indie bands—after the kitchen closes at 10:30.

>> See all 2010 Cheap Eats restaurants here      

Ann Limpert
Executive Food Editor/Critic

Ann Limpert joined Washingtonian in late 2003. She was previously an editorial assistant at Entertainment Weekly and a cook in New York restaurant kitchens, and she is a graduate of the Institute of Culinary Education. She lives in Petworth.