About Restaurant Openings Around DC
A guide to the newest places to eat and drink.
J&J Pizza (inside Crooked Run Taproom), 550 Morse St., NE.
Crooked Run Brewing’s Jake Endres is giving pizza a second try at his Union Market taproom. The Leesburg-based brewmaster—whose year-old collaboration with Chris Morgan, Pizza Serata, closed in late January—is working with Grazie Nonna chef Julian Addison to open J&J Pizza. The shop is already slinging slices to accompany Crooked Run’s pints, and will host a grand opening on March 1.
Joon chef Chris Morgan and famed pizza consultant Anthony Falco had partnered with Endres for Pizza Serata in early 2023. Although their thick, focaccia-like pies, with toppings like porchetta and ‘nduja, got a positive critical reception, Endres says the unusual style wasn’t a lasting success and the partnership went south. Endres hopes J&J Pizza, with its classic, straightforward red and white pies and slices, will be more approachable and enduring: “With beer, you want something that’s easy to grasp and universally appealing. New York-style pizza is exactly that.”
Along with plain, pepperoni, white, and sausage-and-pepper pizzas, J&J offers thin, crisp creations like the Hot Hawaiian—pineapple, jalapeño, sriracha bacon—and the Cream of the Crop, a white pie topped with kale, crema, and caramelized onion. Slices go for $5, and until 6 PM on weekdays, you can get two slices and a beer for $12.
Addison, the younger brother of Grazie Nonna executive chef Gerald Addison, started experimenting with pizza during the pandemic, and got his final dose of inspiration on a pilgrimage to classic New Haven pizzerias like Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, Sally’s Apizza, and Zuppardi’s.
“All those places really blew me away,” Addison says. “[The pizzas] are crispy, they’re charred and almost burnt.”
Wings, flavored with lemon pepper seasoning or mumbo sauce, are Endres’s department. He made an “ungodly” amount at home to develop the best possible wing to accompany his own brews, like the U-Bae sour, Noriega triple IPA, and the Alora Italian-style pilsner.
Crooked Run’s Union Market taproom is open Monday through Wednesday from 4 to 9 PM, and Thursday through Saturday from 11:30 AM to 10 PM (it closes earlier on Sundays). J&J fires up pizzas seven days a week for dinner, and for lunch too on weekends.
