Eat Great Cheap 2015Last year, Frank Linn traded his mobile pizza oven, which he’d been toting to Maryland farmers markets, for this shoebox-size permanent space. He installed an oak-burning pizza oven, crafted light fixtures out of wood planks salvaged from a family barn, and branded the name of his new place into the wall. His handmade ethos extends to his puffy-crusted pies, too. Take the excellent Hot Mess, accessorized with a trio of cheeses—mozzarella, Gruyère, and Romano—plus deeply sweet caramelized onions, pickled jalapeños, and bacon that Linn cures himself. Or the plain, but not plain-tasting, cheese pie featuring tangy-sweet tomato sauce made from an heirloom recipe. There’s wine on tap, a few local beers, and not-too-sweet sodas in flavors like blood-orange/vanilla. No surprise, Linn makes those, too.
Cuisine: Pizza
Where you can find it: 10417 Armory Ave., Kensington; 301-832-1065
Also good: Arugula salad with lemon vinaigrette; mixed greens with orange-sesame dressing and goat cheese; sausage-and-peppers, pepperoni, and bacon-and-egg pizzas.
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.
Anna Spiegel covers the dining and drinking scene in her native DC. Prior to joining Washingtonian in 2010, she attended the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University’s MFA program in New York, and held various cooking and writing positions in NYC and in St. John, US Virgin Islands.
