Cheap Eats 2012: Pupatella

This Neapolitan pizzeria rolled into our culinary consciousness when owners Enzo Algarme and Anastasiya Laufenberg plied their doughy wares from a cart outside the Ballston Metro station. Today they operate out of a sliver of a restaurant that opens up into an indoor/outdoor area where young families and Peroni-sipping twentysomethings gorge on pizzas and fried risotto balls at wooden tables.

The springy crust tastes great beneath a layer of salty Parma prosciutto and peppery baby arugula, while the Margherita DOC—the initials stand for the Italian designation recognizing true Neapolitan pizza—makes an elegantly simple dinner well complemented by a glass of Chianti. Smoked mozzarella dominates the sausage-and-onion pie, but fans of that cheese’s deep, ashy flavor won’t mind a bit.

Also good: Frittura sampler, with prosciutto-filled potato croquettes, eggplant, and polenta arancini; sausage-and-mozzarella panini.