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221 N East ST

Frederick, MD 21701

This is a new place from the same group who run Brewer's Alley, Isabellas, and Ayse. It replaces what used to be the Shab Row Bistro and Wine Bar, in a somewhat awkward to reach part of East street adjacent to a tiny park. As you can probably guess, they specialize in Neapolitan pizza and feature beers from Monocacy Brewing (the Brewer's Alley guys).

We heard about this place from my dad actually, who heard about it from the FOAM club. We'd been wondering what was going on with this building for a while, since we drive past it fairly often and they had covered all the windows for a time. Turns out this place had opened in early April, and has quickly become a new trendy spot in Frederick. There appears to still be a side of the building dedicated to wine casks, I'm not sure if that's in use, planned to be put to use, or planned to be turned into an expansion for the restaraunt.

We got there pretty early on a Tuesday, around 5:30. The place has a decent amount of seating, a number of oversized tables which they may seat multiple parties at, two bars right next to each other (a proper bar and a bar overlooking the pizza oven), and outdoor seating. It was still pretty empty at this point, so we got seated immediately.

Down to the important stuff. My wife decided to try the Blu Fico (gorgonzola, yukon gold potatoes, figs, mozzarella, rosemary oil), and I dared try recreate a favorite of mine (panna sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, prosciutto). The pizza here is fantastic, this is easily the best pizza you can get in Frederick. People who have eaten at Pizza CS in Rockville are going to find the style and taste of the pizza very familar. Delicious crust and toppings. We've only been here the once so far so I can't speak for any of the other options, but I'm desperate to go back and try a pesto & chicken pizza next.

As far as desserts go, I got the Chocolate Bundino (which is the same one they serve at Ayse), wife ended up getting a Cannoli. These were fine, but next time I'm definitely going to try out some of the cookies instead.

Beer selection is mearly okay, they have a few of the Brewer's Alley beers on tap, and a few random bottles and cans from Maui, Monocacy, and Oscar Blues. While I'm a fan of Monocacy's stuff, it's kind of a small and boring list by comparison to many other places in town. I don't know beans about Wine, so someone else will have to chime in on the quality of the wine list.

Our food came out pretty darn fast I should mention, only took a few minutes for the pizzas to come out. The service was very good, friendly and fast and answered my many dumb questions. By the time we were leaving at around 6:30 or so, the place was already completely full and people were waiting for tables, and keep in mind this was on a Tuesday and two months after opening. I suspect this place will be quite impossible to get into on a Friday or Saturday, at least for a good while anyway.

So there you have it. I'll be back here soon enough to try some other items, but if everything else is as good as what I had on my first visit, I'm pretty sure this will be locked in a tie with Pizza CS for my favorite pizza in Maryland. Give it a shot and see what you think, just make sure you go early.

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Pizza time!

I had some sort of bizarre creation called the Sunday Surprise. It had panna, mozzarella, speck, sausage, egg, potatoes, and maple syrup. It tasted like breakfast. All the breakfast. Wife ended up getting the Blue Fico again, and my in-laws decided to split a regular old Pepperoni. Pictures of all three are attached.

My dad also went here and mentioned that he got the Bianca and really enjoyed it. He also said he liked the spinach, fig, and gorgonzola salad, and the artichoke appetizer.

So we're 2 for 2 so far here. I failed to try a pesto&chicken pizza this time, but there's always next time I suppose.

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Website

221 N East ST

Frederick, MD 21701

This is a new place from the same group who run Brewer's Alley, Isabellas, and Ayse. It replaces what used to be the Shab Row Bistro and Wine Bar, in a somewhat awkward to reach part of East street adjacent to a tiny park. As you can probably guess, they specialize in Neapolitan pizza and feature beers from Monocacy Brewing (the Brewer's Alley guys).

KF, the website says that Nezih Pistar is the owner, but does he (solely?) own all these other places too, or is he only a part owner? Do you know?

Thanks if you can help. This place sounds worth a try.

Cheers,

Rocks

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Fountain Rock Management is the name of the group that owns these restaurants, and it appears that group is owned by both Nezih Pistar and Phil Bowers. I don't really have any good details on how the company operates or owns their restaurants unfortunately. Articles seem to give the impression that either one or the other is the owner of each, but the business end may be much more complicated than that for all I know.

They also own Monocacy Brewing, which bottles and distributes locally, based out of what used to be an ice cream factory.

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Fountain Rock Management is the name of the group that owns these restaurants, and it appears that group is owned by both Nezih Pistar and Phil Bowers. I don't really have any good details on how the company operates or owns their restaurants unfortunately. Articles seem to give the impression that either one or the other is the owner of each, but the business end may be much more complicated than that for all I know.

They also own Monocacy Brewing, which bottles and distributes locally, based out of what used to be an ice cream factory.

Thanks, KF. Now all we need is for you (or someone else) to start a Brewer's Alley thread so we can "close the loop." :)

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Been here a few more times and feel like I should add a few negative notes from our experiences.

The big thing, that both me and my dad have noticed, is that the red sauce here is kind of weak. If you've read my previous posts you've probably noticed I prefer white pizzas and similar, so it took me a while before I even tried something with tomato sauce on it here. Anyway, I wasn't real impressed by the one I had, so I suppose I'll stick with other types of pizzas here. (My dad had harsher things to say, but considering he makes his own pizza routinely and grows all his own vegetables for his own sauces in his back yard, he's a little harder to impress when it comes to pizza.)

Second big thing... acoustics. I have no idea what is going on with the walls or ceiling or whatever with this place, but holy cow is the noise level here high. We made the horrible mistake of coming here during the World Cup, and a single table of people cheering and pounding on the tables and walls was ear splitting. Maybe a better question to ask is why nobody asked them to keep the noise down, but you know how hooligans get.

Anyway, not to make this an entirely negative post, my dad did have very high praise for the Gorgonzola salad that he got. I still quite enjoy this place in general... and somehow still haven't had a change to try a pesto and chicken pizza here yet. Next time's for sure.

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