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Pizzeria Da Marco, Neapolitan in Downtown Bethesda and Germantown next to Wegman's


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Damarco's pizzeria appears to be opening in the new building between the three streets of Woodmont Ave, Cordell Ave and St. Elmo Ave. It is the two (three?) story brick building with dark glass that has an LA Boxing fitness going in the basement/ground level.

This place, Damarco's, is facing Woodmon't on the top floor (a small stairway up from street level). Looks like it should be opening within the month. Anyone know anything about it? Is this related to Da Marco in Silver Spring? Anyone ever try their pizza?

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Oh jeebus, if this is froma guy who knows how to make proper Italian pizza, I think I might have a cow. I guess I know where I will be on Monday at lunch.

Note that the GoG post is from February. I believe after it was written, it was reported somewhere else that the original opening date got pushed back.

Also, see original thread here.

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Latest scoop:

Pizzeria Da Marco will be opening in 2 weeks. Pizzeria Da Marco will be a Casual, Up-beat, Fun Environment serving Authentic Neapolitan Pizza.

Now accepting Resumes for the following Position.

* Server * Bussers * Hostess * Bartenders * Food Runners

* Pizza Makers * Pantry/Line Cooks * Prep Cook * Dishwashers

You can also drop off your resume at 8008 Woodmont St. Bethesda Monday-Friday between the hours of 10am-5pm.

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Pizzeria da Marco opens for dinner on Monday, May 16th, at 5pm and they'll be featuring FREE PIZZAS for their grand opening (limit one per customer). If you can't make it on Monday, stop by the 17th - 31st for 50% off one pizza. If you have kiddos under 12, they get a free scoop of gelato after dinner.

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Excited to go there for lunch today. There's a big sign out front that says "OPEN" and their website touts their lunch menu and their lunch hours. UNFORTUNITELY, a little sign on their door says "closed for lunch." very disappointing first experience.

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We went to da Marco for dinner last night. Got there early - shortly after 6 - and found it half full. By 7, it was full. I thought the space was comfortable and attractive. We had a good view of the oven from our seats and it's performing like a champ! The pizzas cook in mere minutes.

I ordered a Margherita Classica and my husband had a sausage and rapini. We have eaten at da Michele in Naples, and I think this Margherita comes close to theirs. The crust was tasty and sort of bubbly with a little char here and there and the topping of home-made mozzarella, tomatoes and basil was good. They will bring you pepper flakes and Parmesan. I also asked for olive oil and got a little pitcher of that so I could mop the un-topped pieces of crust in it.

We shared one mixed salad which was nice if unremarkable and one scoop of chocolate gelato. They only had vanilla and chocolate for now. The gelato was pleasant but not intense. They have a good list of wines (all Italian, I think) and I was impressed to find quite a few priced in the $20 range!

For now the pizzas are all half-price. Not sure if that promotion is for the rest of the week or the rest of the month. A great deal anyway!

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We went to da Marco for dinner last night. Got there early - shortly after 6 - and found it half full. By 7, it was full. I thought the space was comfortable and attractive. We had a good view of the oven from our seats and it's performing like a champ! The pizzas cook in mere minutes.

I ordered a Margherita Classica and my husband had a sausage and rapini. We have eaten at da Michele in Naples, and I think this Margherita comes close to theirs. The crust was tasty and sort of bubbly with a little char here and there and the topping of home-made mozzarella, tomatoes and basil was good. They will bring you pepper flakes and Parmesan. I also asked for olive oil and got a little pitcher of that so I could mop the un-topped pieces of crust in it.

We shared one mixed salad which was nice if unremarkable and one scoop of chocolate gelato. They only had vanilla and chocolate for now. The gelato was pleasant but not intense. They have a good list of wines (all Italian, I think) and I was impressed to find quite a few priced in the $20 range!

For now the pizzas are all half-price. Not sure if that promotion is for the rest of the week or the rest of the month. A great deal anyway!

Ditto comments on the space. Very nice. Also appreciated the half price on the pizzas! I will dissent on the crust. We ordered the Salame, Bianca, and rapini and sausage. I found all our crust really soggy because of too much cheese. The crust itself was charred without being crusty or brown, bready really. Not pizza expert enough to know if this is how it should be. Best of luck as this should be a popular place once they get the kinks out.

Ignacio

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Ditto comments on the space. Very nice. Also appreciated the half price on the pizzas! I will dissent on the crust. We ordered the Salame, Bianca, and rapini and sausage. I found all our crust really soggy because of too much cheese. The crust itself was charred without being crusty or brown, bready really. Not pizza expert enough to know if this is how it should be. Best of luck as this should be a popular place once they get the kinks out.

Ignacio

Four pizzas last night. The ingredients are fresh, and there was no problem with soggy crust -- the oven and pizzaiola did their jobs. Everything looked spot-on, and worthy of, say, Pupatella. But the pizzas were oddly bland, especially the crust. Suppose it goes to show that the starter really is key when it comes to a Neapolitan pizza. This places shows great potential; but something's missing, at least for now.

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The wife and I stopped by for dinner last night. Split an Insalata Mista -- good but nothing special. Ordered two pizzas: a Marco and an Americana. Both had a nice char on the their flavorful crusts and were topped with high quality ingredients, especially the tomato sauce. Service was great but that was possibly due to the folks seated at the two-top next to us -- Tom Sietsema and Mark Furstenberg. All in all, a nice meal, especially with the pies at half price. We'll be back.

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I had some yesterday. It was okay but not great. The crust dough needs a lot of work - bland and not sufficiently springy for my taste. But they just opened so I hope they'll improve it over time.

Agreed. I ate there earlier in the week and thought it was good, but not great. I like Neapolitan pizza so I understand its suppose to be soupy. Its just the flavor of the crust that needs work. With the chef calling Washingtonians close-minded on thefeast.com earlier in the week, I will probably stick to Mia's for the time being. Who does he think he is, Spike Mendelsohn B) ?

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We went to da Marco for dinner last night. Got there early - shortly after 6 - and found it half full. By 7, it was full. I thought the space was comfortable and attractive. We had a good view of the oven from our seats and it's performing like a champ! The pizzas cook in mere minutes.

I ordered a Margherita Classica and my husband had a sausage and rapini. We have eaten at da Michele in Naples, and I think this Margherita comes close to theirs. The crust was tasty and sort of bubbly with a little char here and there and the topping of home-made mozzarella, tomatoes and basil was good. They will bring you pepper flakes and Parmesan. I also asked for olive oil and got a little pitcher of that so I could mop the un-topped pieces of crust in it.

We shared one mixed salad which was nice if unremarkable and one scoop of chocolate gelato. They only had vanilla and chocolate for now. The gelato was pleasant but not intense. They have a good list of wines (all Italian, I think) and I was impressed to find quite a few priced in the $20 range!

For now the pizzas are all half-price. Not sure if that promotion is for the rest of the week or the rest of the month. A great deal anyway!

Had pizzas there again last night and I still like them a lot. Tastes like Neapolitan pizza to me!

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Made it in for dinner here on Sunday night. Arrived around 7:20 or so and was told it would be a 20-25 minute wait, which seemed odd since I could see 4 open tables - but no big deal we were in no rush. The bar was fairly empty, maybe 4-6 people at the bar and another 8-10 people tucked into a few tables in the corner. I'm not sure our bartender ever tended bar before in his life - despite not much going on we had to wave to get his attention after about 5 minutes of standing there - no menus, nothing. Finally he approached and asked if we wanted to order anything - I asked for recommendation on a wine and he told me he has not tasted any so he had no idea. Ok. Finally got some drinks and I began to notice more and more tables open up but no one was getting seated, finally after I saw 10 open tables I approached the hostess who told me they were not seating anyone else for 10 minutes so the kitchen could catch up. I must have seen at least 20 people come in and see the empty tables and then be told a 20 minute wait, turn and walk out - not the best first impression.

Finally got seated after 25 minutes and service was fine. Waiter explained to us that one of the servers walked out in the middle of dinner and they were shorthanded and apologized in advance for any delays. Once we were seated we did not notice any real delays, our guy was hustling pretty good all over the place - seemed like he was put in a bad spot by someone.

Ordered a couple salads which were a decent size and nicely dressed, nothing special but solid. Tried 3 pizzas and all were soupy and the crust undercooked - not crisp at all but chewy and lacking flavor. The ingredients all seemed fresh - if they can improve the crust and perfect the cooking they could be on to something.

Wines were affordable if nothing else - although the pours are pretty lame and they were out of a couple bottles already.

Will probably wait a few more week to return until they have everything ironed out but we will likely return. Pizzas were 50% off and the kids got free gelato (believe today is the last day for the deal).

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Agreed. I ate there earlier in the week and thought it was good, but not great. I like Neapolitan pizza so I understand its suppose to be soupy. Its just the flavor of the crust that needs work.

Hmmm, I couldn't disagree more. I was there last week around 4:30 with my son and I thought the flavor of the crust and the ingredients were not just good but great. I was slightly concerned when the Salsiccie E Friarelli pizza arrived b/c i didn't realize it was a white pizza, but my first bite was a "Wow" moment. I loved the flavor combination of the rapini, cheese, and fennel sausage. The crust was pretty well charred but, if I was being picky, it could have been done a slight bit more (literally seconds in that oven). I was in the restaurant with basically 3 other people so I got my pie very quickly. The first slice was crisp from tip to crust but it did get much droopier after sitting for a bit. Overall, I loved the pie.

I also got the Affettati Misti b/c I love cold cuts and this was decidely mediocre so I won't spend $13 on it again, but it did have a decent assortment and I liked the grilled vegetable idea though I did add salt to them since I usually ate them solo and not with the salty meats.

Service was gracious as they all appropriately fawned over my adorable son. The interior also is quite attractive as others noted. My biggest concern about this place was parking but I forgot about the metered lot directly across the street from it.

I hope they stay consistently good b/c I did like this pie more than my many positive pizzas at Mia's.

Pax,

Brian

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GF and I stopped by for a meal recently. Insalata MIsta was fresh and good balance of ingredients, and the deserts were liked as well. We both felt the explanation of the pizza being 'soupy' and it not being cut by the wait staff was unnecessary, and a bit strange. It was kinda of defeatist in a way which was weird to experience in an Italian restaurant. Come on, be Italian, a little cocky and a little arrogant! One minor quibble, the menu was a bit difficult to read with the font and back ground color with the ambient lighting of the room of an early evening night. I literally had to squint and hold it up to my eyes to read it!

Getting to the real draw: Margherita D.O.P

The basil and cherry tomatoes were tasty, however the buffalo mozzarella was just a bit light on the pizza. The soupiness was enjoyed. GF didn't like the amount of char. I felt like the crust was slightly less flavorful.

One interesting thing that I observed as ate my slices, was that I found my taste readjusting to less taste coming from the crust and more flavors from the toppings. In a sense the pizza did get better as I ate more, which impressed me. I just wish the crust a little more bite to it to ground the rest of the tastes as I was eating.

Overall, it was a nice night, and Pizzeria Da Marco takes it's place at the top end of pizza places in the DC area.

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We've now had a few meals at Pizzeria DaMarco, and I think it continues to get better and more interesting. Of the last two pies that we had, one pie was flabbergastingly great--with smoked mozzarella and pork shoulder. The other was a spicy meatball pie that was very good, not at the level of the pork shoulder pie, but up there. I've now had their nutella 'calzone' a few times, and I can't think of a better finish to a pizza dinner--it's huge and something that, for me, requires another diner to share it with. I was initially satisfied but not blown away by the crust, but this seems to have improved over our last few visits.

Their beer list is limited, but I'd assume that has quite a bit to do with Montgomery County? Maybe not--they could work on this. But for pizzas? I'm developing the same sorts of excitement to go there that I used to have for Two Amys (which I still love, but live too far from for a weekly dinner, unfortunately).

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Went for dinner last night with limited expectations. Based on the reviews, I thought the pizza would be fine but unremarkable -- somewhere in the mix of Two Amy's wannabees. I left thinking this may be my favorite pizza in town. The key is the crust. Not the floppy center of the pie -- yes, I know it's authentic; I just happen not to like wet crust -- but the five-inch penumbra around the outside. It's tender, almost spongy, but with enough char and crispness to give it character. This may sound trite, but the only pizza I remember with a crust like that was in Naples. I had the Marco, with sausage, mushrooms, and smoked mozzarella, and the toppings showed the same care and attention to detail. No hunks of fatty sausage or wan mushroom slices -- both could have stood on their own.

For dessert, the waitress touted their salted caramel budino as better than the butterscotch budino at Pizzeria Mozza in LA. It was good, but not nearly as good as Mozza's -- and a much skimpier portion. But I was playing with house money at that point and didn't really care.

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The key is the crust. Not the floppy center of the pie -- yes, I know it's authentic; I just happen not to like wet crust -- but the five-inch penumbra around the outside. It's tender, almost spongy, but with enough char and crispness to give it character. This may sound trite, but the only pizza I remember with a crust like that was in Naples.

Ditto on that--I had the salsiccia e friarelli on Friday night, and that was exactly the character of the crust that I had--really outstanding. The sausage and the rapini worked great together with the mozzarella.

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There's an old saying that a pizzeria is only as good as its pizzaiolo.

(Okay, so it's not that old - I just made it up.)

But I think it's often true, which is why I believe people when they say that Local 16 (due to the arrival of Edan Macquaid) is putting out some of the best pizzas in the area right now.

Dino Santonicola seemed to come out of nowhere when he opened Pizzeria da Marco, but it doesn't take much research to see that the gentleman is serious about his craft.

Here's hoping that chef Santonicola stays with us for a long, long time, and isn't just an opening consultant (but just in case, it never hurts to go sooner rather than later).

Cheers,

Rocks

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Here's hoping that chef Santonicola stays with us for a long, long time, and isn't just an opening consultant (but just in case, it never hurts to go sooner rather than later).

Following my own advice, my young dining companion and I had dinner here last night, and boy oh boy do I have some appetizer advice 4 U !

We ordered a Prosciutto di Parma with Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella ($14 (would only have been $12 with regular mozzarella, but the buffalo is worth the upcharge). Our pleasant server told us that normally, they give out an order of Focaccia (normally $5) for every two people ordering appetizers, and since we split one, we qualified. Great!

So we waited awhile for the appetizer to arrive, and it's because their "focaccia" is essentially an entire pizza - just the crust, with rosemary, garlic, and fresh oregano - and it is awesome when self-topped by the prosciutto and mozzarella. We liked it even more than the regular pizzas which followed as entrees (although Matt is down there, right now, exclaiming that his D.O.P. Margherita is "even better this morning than it was last night!") The only flaws last night are that they used just too much cheese (if that's possible), almost surely an American adaption, and the olive oil finish was to a fault, as it ended up pooling all over the empty plate when the pizza was cut. It's the leaky olive oil, however, that is visually absent this morning, having soaked into the crust, and making it a better morning pie (reheated in a 400-degree over for just a few minutes).

The wines by the bottle here are well selected and gently priced, with many in the $20s. They have wine doggie bags, too, so you can take home whatever you don't finish.

And Pizzaiolo Dino Santonicola, while not baking every single pizza, was exerting a strong presence last night - the perfectly charred pies were positively roaring with a blast of steamy smoke as they were pulled from the oven.

Cheers,

Rocks

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I had a very good, but not faultless, Margherita Classica today. I agree with you, Don: definitely too much cheese, and I didn't care for the olive oil finish. It wasn't quite the perfect balance of fat, acidity, and crust (it also could have used more basil), but there's great potential here.

Also, I'd observe that the serving platter was cold, thereby allowing the pizza to cool too quickly (can't the plates be kept under a heat lamp?).

That being said, this was an excellent exemplar of the Neapolitan tradition (what a tasty crust, and deliciously wet but never soggy), and I'm happy to see them in Bethesda.

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Used my MIL's visit as an excuse to eat out two nights in a row. Sometimes you just have to make the best of a given situation.

Upon being seated, our waiter immediately explained that they don't slice their pizzas. We immediately begged them to slice our pizzas. We like to share, we explained. The waiter seemed a little reluctant so my wife then said, it'll be easier to feed the baby, or something to that effect and that worked.

We started with Antipasto Misto - a big board of prosciutto, what they called Italian salame that was spicy and is probably capicola, cheese, veggies and olives, served with a foccacia (pizza crust). The meats were tasty, and the veggies were not lacking in olive oil, thyme, and garlic.

We ordered 4 pizzas - sausage and rapini, prosciutto and arugula, Americana (pepperoni), and a special vegetarian pizza. I really like the crust - very light, slightly chewy, with nice char on the edges. I like this crust as much as the Orso crust. As others have noted, it's a little heavy on the cheese for a Neopolitan pie but nothing compared to the typical grease fest of a chain pizza. Our pizzas were not oily - no puddle of grease from the cheese or olive oil. It's possible they didn't drizzle the pizzas with olive oil given that we asked for the pizzas to be sliced. This to me is a good thing.

Overall, really good pizzas. The Sam Adams on tap was skanky though.

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Yesterday, I happened to park directly across the street from this place while on an errand in Bethesda and decided to grab an order to go. The Napoli panino survived the car ride intact and the bread was still crispy 15 minutes later when I turned to it for my lunch. I thought it was a generous amount of prosciutto di parma compared to what you typically find in such sandwiches. The use of eggplant was definitely a nice touch in addition to the more customary mozzarella and tomatoes. It was boxed with a small side salad. The bill was $8 before tax and tip and it was definitely worth the price.

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Here's hoping that chef Santonicola stays with us for a long, long time, and isn't just an opening consultant (but just in case, it never hurts to go sooner rather than later).

Anyone that wants to try chef Santonicola's pizza better go soon. According to Eater, he's on his way out. :mellow:

Hope they can keep up the quality after he leaves.

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You are correct, Dino is now at Cane Rosso, and I wish him the best of luck, Jay Jerrier is a great guy over there as well. We are making some changes (new menu), and tweaking the pizzas (Sauce, dough fermentation) and working to improve as much as I can. If you stop in, be sure to say "hi"! I'll be there most dinner shifts...

Rob Bristow

Chef/Pizzaiolo

Pizzeria DaMarco

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Stopped in for a first visit, lunch, earlier this week and liked it. Prefer Two Amys, which works out well since it's closer to me but, more specifically:

Since it was a first visit, I ordered what I normally would get at any serious Neapolitan pizza place: a margherita with bufala mozz and sausage. I get this because, to me, it's the classic that started it all and, by adding sausage, can see if they're more about creating or buying their ingredients. Housemade sausage is a great way to assess a kitchen's chops (no pun intended). I also ordered a marinated grilled vegetable starter.

The starter was just okay. Really heavy hand on the olive oil. I love olive oil but these vegetables were swimming in it. The veggies, eggplant, zuch, rapini, olives, etc, were all fresh, still a bit crunchy and nicely grilled. The rapini's natural bitterness could be better neutralized with more or different seasoning. This was served with a huge flat bread type thing, basically a 12" pizza crust without any sauce, cheese or toppings. A couple of wedge slices of this worked fine with the vegetables but seemed like an odd thing to do rather than something more appropriately sized and baked...like a nice bread?

The 12" pie was nicely done. I enjoyed the tang and freshness of the tomato. They use sliced cherry tomatoes or romas (I think?) along with the sauce. Nice portion of the cheese. The sausage was just meh for me though. I'm not sure if it's made in house but might guess it isn't. Either way, it just wasn't that strong of any flavor per se and the crumbles were very small so kind of scattered all over. Finally, relative to Two Amys and the couple of other better Neapolitan pizza places we have in this area, this one was a bit larger and wetter than those. Maybe sub-optimal relative to the standard or maybe just a matter of personal taste. While I love this style of pizza, I prefe the crust to be more charred/crispier and the pie to be a bit smaller so it's more manageable.

But, again, I did like it and thought it better than the great majority of pizza places in our area. Just not quite at the same level as our area's best.

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I was here 2 weeks ago for my 2nd visit and I left still impressed with the flavors of the pizza. I got the Napoli this time and swapped the mozzarella with the smoked mozzarella. This time the whole pie was totally limp and I finally understood the crust criticisms others have pointed out, but it was also beautifully charred and I thought the flavor was there. One service thing that annoyed me was that they wouldn't let me put in an order to go in advance (once again I wandered in during their closed time during 3-4 PM even though the front door was open and there were several people working and transitioning to dinner) AND they said I couldn't call with an order when they reopened at 4 b/c they only take takeout orders in person at the bar. I persevered and came back at 4 mostly out of curiosity, but I have to say that not being able to put in a phone order is a deterrant to return on nights when I'm Mr. Mom and want to grab dinner early before leaving dowtown Bethesda to pick up the kids at daycare. Not taking an order when you're "closed", ok, I can understand that. But it would just be convenient to put in phone orders no matter what time you want takeout.

Pax,

Brian

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Any recent reviews. Have never been but was thinking of finally trying.

I went there for the second time last week, and to me there's still nothing to get excited about. It's good, don't get me wrong, but nothing exceptional. If I was in the mood for pizza and Mia's was too crowded, I wouldn't mind going here. The middle is still a bit soupy for my taste, and the crust a little too pillowy and charred. Sausage is normally my favorite topping, but I'm not a fan of theirs.

I've heard that many people say this is the most authentic Neapolitan pizza around, but that takes a back seat for me.

For those who haven't tried it, I recommend the lunch special...salad, pizza and soft drink for 10.50 I believe.

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I've heard that many people say this is the most authentic Neapolitan pizza around, but that takes a back seat for me.

I'm sorry to confirm that Pizzaiolo Rob Bristow has left Pizzeria da Marco, and joined opening Pizzaiolo Dino Santonicola in Dallas. This is not a good sign.

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I'm sorry to confirm that Pizzaiolo Rob Bristow has left Pizzeria da Marco, and joined opening Pizzaiolo Dino Santonicola in Dallas. This is not a good sign.

And to show how little people care ... a little birdie told me that last weekend (Saturday, I believe) was their single busiest day ever.

The key to opening a successful restaurant: pay your opening employees well, dazzle the critics, and then fuck everyone (opening employees, diners, critics, everyone but the investors) six months down the road after the reviews are plastered on the windows. I'm not accusing da Marco of this, but let's face it: restaurant reviews are worthless unless they're constantly updated *and* unless people care enough to read the updated reviews.

(Speaking of which, is it true Jon Harris left The Gibson?!)

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I have faith that whoever takes over as Pizzaiolo, the cooks, and the business will do fine. All the current pizzamakers were there since we opened. Led by John and Wilmer, they will be just fine. Good luck.

Rob Bristow

Chef/Pizzaiolo

Pizzeria DaMarco

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Finally made it here. Good crust, decent pizza. Worth a look but did not wow me. I prefer Mia's if in Bethesda.

But honestly Puputella is my local standard now for stunningly good pizza. I went there for the first time and was blown away.

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Ate here recently and the pizza was good, but I think the only think that really wowed me was the price. You'd think I'd be used to it but a pizza dinner for 3 (2 apps, 2 pizzas, 1 dessert, 3 drinks) costing $90 all in? Interestingly they seem to have given in to local custom and started slicing pizzas.

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Revisited this place a few days ago, and I was really impressed. An order of arancini had a good flavor and quality cheesiness, but seemed a little skimpy (only three to an order). The pizzas I tried were excellent. A porchetta pie special had just the right amount of crust char and the porchetta with gorgonzola on top was delicious. The san marzanos on the standard magherita pizza I tried really made that pizza stand out.

I've seen some posts on here indicating the pizza maker here has long ago left, but this place hit all the right notes for me recently. I think I may have disparaged this place in another post about another pizza place a few weeks ago, if so, I take it all back.

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I have a work function here tonight, can I get my hopes up for something really good that will be worth the calories?

I'm sorry to answer so late, but the answer is no.

I went about a month ago, and a Burrata ($8.50) was pleasant, but refigerator cold, and nothing special albeit quite large.

I *think* (and I'm going from memory) that I had a Heavy Seas Märzen Oktoberfest ($5.5) with tropical fruit and sweet bready malts.

Then, for my main, I had a Salsiccia ($12.75) with tomato sauce, basil, fresh mozzarella, sausage and parmesan, and while the dough was fine, the execution in the oven was not. Not only the oven time, but also the ratio of ingredients - it was under-charred, and the ingredients were something less than I thought they'd be.

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I'm sorry to answer so late, but the answer is no.

I went about a month ago, and a Burrata ($8.50) was pleasant, but refigerator cold, and nothing special albeit quite large.

Definitely not worth the calories, this was a work event so we took over the entire restaurant and they were trying to serve (buffet style) about 200 people at once so it would not be the regular restaurant experience, definitely not worth the carbs and calories.

Pizza was soft bland and floppy, baked rigatoni had temperature issues (half the tray was cold and the other part hot) also very bland. The meatballs were forgettable and not enjoyable, the meatballs were swimming and covered in a boring bland red sauce (so swimming that when I looked at the tray I thought it was just sauce then the servers reached in and looked for the meatballs.

They have a very nice large space in a good location but the kitchen needs some major help.

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Definitely not worth the calories, this was a work event so we took over the entire restaurant and they were trying to serve (buffet style) about 200 people at once so it would not be the regular restaurant experience, definitely not worth the carbs and calories.

Pizza was soft bland and floppy, baked rigatoni had temperature issues (half the tray was cold and the other part hot) also very bland. The meatballs were forgettable and not enjoyable, the meatballs were swimming and covered in a boring bland red sauce (so swimming that when I looked at the tray I thought it was just sauce then the servers reached in and looked for the meatballs.

They have a very nice large space in a good location but the kitchen needs some major help.

This restaurant (like Againn which popped into my head just now) is a classic example of an "Our Business Strategy Is To Dupe The Critics" opening, with a full-court press applied for several months to get the media attention they desired (*). Remember Pizzeria da Marco had a rock-star pizzaiolo when they opened in Dino Santonicola, but both he and his protégé, Rob Bristow, departed. The night I last went, I sat at the bar and observed the kitchen, and the organization and attention to detail were just not there.

(*) However, it must be said that I know absolutely nothing about their opening business plan, so no accusations are being levied here. It's just that the symptoms, and aftereffects, are very typical of this type of strategy which happens so frequently that it's both frustrating and infuriating. I hope they can pull themselves back together - it really was the best pizza in the Maryland suburbs for a brief period of time. It is beyond me why they aren't going after Edan Macquaid with relentless conviction - he would be perfect there, they need him badly, and this restaurant has enough business to pay him a decent salary.

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