A wood-fired brick oven in a Salvadoran restaurant? You bet. This storefront in DC’s Petworth is among the most encouraging signs in the current pizza boom. Its crusts, rolled thin and flavored with olive oil, are chewy on the perimeter, crunchy inside. Owners Jose and Reyna Velasquez used to work at Pizzeria Paradiso, but their pies are closer to the New York or Philly style than to the boutique standard of Paradiso. This is prole pizza—lots of sauce, lots of cheese—and proudly so.
Signature pie: Diavola (tomato sauce, sweet peppers, jalapeño peppers, red onions, mozzarella, sausage).
-From "Pizza Wars," in the October, 2007 issue.
