32 replies to this topic

[Demetrius]

Has anyone had an opportunity to visit Fireworks Wood Fired Pizza in Leesburg, Virginia?

http://www.fireworks...a.com/HOME2.htm

My family and I have eaten at the restaurant once, and ordered take out twice.

On our first visit, the first pie we ordered was the: quattro carni. The second (take out) was the: smokey blue, and the third (take out) was the: fire cracker.

Our favorite pie thus far has been the: smokey blue, but felt that the service each time has been poor. During our first visit, the wait staff neglected to remember one-half of the order for my family. As a result causing the food delivery to be staggered. Each time we have called to place take out orders, the phone manners from the wait staff/bartender taking the order has been less than stellar.

[pax]

I haven't tried it yet but thanks for the heads up on this place. I have been underwhelmed by the pizza I can find in Leesburg thus far, I'll give this a shot and report back in.

[Malawry]

I find it hard to picture this being a better option than American Flatbread for pizzas, or the bars at Lightfoot and Tuscarora Mill for a casual Leesburg meal. But I'll give it a shot sometime and see for myself.

[pax]

Yes, but AFB doesn't open for lunch.

[RaisaB]

Fire Works Pizza has been great everytime I have been there. The crust in light as they are in Italy, the toppings plentiful and fresh. Service is young there but efficient. This is a pizza place not fine dining, the owners were looking for an alternative to all the chains out in the suburbs. (Disclaimer: I am friends with the owners.) This is owned by the same family who owns Tuscarora and Magnolia's. Personally I like it better than 2 Amy's and Paradisos' Pizza. though 2 Amy's has it beat with their winelist . They also do not serve as many cool appetizers as 2 Amy's but I know that they tried to establish what their "market would bear".

[jamesttt]

Fire Works Pizza has been great everytime I have been there. The crust in light as they are in Italy, the toppings plentiful and fresh. Service is young there but efficient. This is a pizza place not fine dining, the owners were looking for an alternative to all the chains out in the suburbs. (Disclaimer: I am friends with the owners.) This is owned by the same family who owns Tuscarora and Magnolia's. Personally I like it better than 2 Amy's and Paradisos' Pizza. though 2 Amy's has it beat with their winelist . They also do not serve as many cool appetizers as 2 Amy's but I know that they tried to establish what their "market would bear".

Have you seen that a new location is going into Arlington?

http://dcmetrocentri...finally-leased/

[Waltrules]

I find it hard to picture this being a better option than American Flatbread for pizzas, or the bars at Lightfoot and Tuscarora Mill for a casual Leesburg meal. But I'll give it a shot sometime and see for myself.

You will love it!

[theakston]

Have you seen that a new location is going into Arlington?

http://dcmetrocentri...finally-leased/

Any news on this? the website says it will open in July....did it?

[goodeats]

Any news on this? the website says it will open in July....did it?

Not that I'm aware of. But I'll report back, when I walk past it this weekend. Paper was still up, iirc.

[DonRocks]

Any news on this? the website says it will open in July....did it?

They have a sign up now.

[goodeats]

As of 2:15pm today, the papers are down, cleaners are there in full-force cleaning windows, chairs, with more bar stools outside to be moved in.

The trio I talked to (did not ask their affiliation to the restaurant, though), said there's a soft opening Sunday, with the official opening "sometime next week" (no more specifics than that quote).

Lettering on the door said "open daily from 11:00am."

HTH.

[goodeats]

The trio I talked to (did not ask their affiliation to the restaurant, though), said there's a soft opening Sunday <snip>

If the soft opening happened, it was certainly over by 8pm, as there was no one inside upon a walk over there. Since this is close by, I'd be happy to keep updating this post.

[Rovers2000]

Their Facebook page said that their opening date will be next Wed August 18th for lunch.

[Waltrules]

Their Facebook page said that their opening date will be next Wed August 18th for lunch.

we should be open early next week. we had some electrical problems that delayed us. Hope to serve you soon.

[goldenticket]

Sign on the door today says opening Saturday, August 21 - looked like (private) soft opening activities were going on this evening. I'm looking forward to a new lunch spot in the area.

[wristband]

Having never been to the Leesburg site, could someone please fill those of us who are clueless as to the merits of FW?

I am interested in trying the Arlington spot but there are a plethora of wood oven pizzerias in the area all of which tout their cutie pie specialness. Plus, the FW site lacks a description of their product. What say ye posters? Why should I spend time and money on the FW Arlington pie vs. the nearby robust competition?

Pizza lovers, start your engines!

[TSchaad]

Went by a little before noon today. Saw staff in the kitchen, apparently doing some prep. The sign on the front door now says they will open at 4 PM on the 24th.

TSchaad

[TSchaad]

The Facebook page now says they open at Courthouse tonight at 5pm.

TSchaad

[goodeats]

"]DCS's article link noted that they will sell growlers here, apparently.

[goldenticket]

The Facebook page now says they open at Courthouse tonight at 5pm.

TSchaad

Latest sign on the door says they are open for dinner at 5:00pm, with the bar open an hour earlier (4:00 pm) and hope to be serving lunch in 3-4 weeks.
Looks like a decent size selection of beers on tap - as seen from the sidewalk.

[TSchaad]

Decided to go to Fireworks at Courthouse last night. I was early (6pm), but when the wife and I arrived the bar area was full (and loud). We asked to be seated indoors, as it still looked like it might rain, and we were quickly placed at a two-top in the middle of the dining area. I would have preferred one of the available booths, or one of the two-tops along the divider between the bar and the dining area, but wasn't inclined to ask for it, since the seating along the divider had more of the noise from the bar and all the booths were set up for parties of four. As it happened, most of the booths were filled with only two people each by the time we left.

Before I talk about food, I should tell you that my wife is an Italian American, born and raised in the Bronx. She has very specific ideas about what constitutes good pizza. I ordered a 'little bite' of roasted olives, and decided to try one of the standard pizzas on the menu, the Soprano. The olives were a good start, with an assortment of different kinds of black and green olives roasted to the point where they were warm and slightly soft. The Soprano pizza was topped with cheese, tomato sauce, mushrooms, onions, sausage and truffel 'essence'. What suprised me when the pizza arrived was how strong the scent of the truffel essence was. You could literally smell nothing else of the ingredients on the pie. I thought that the scent aside, the mix of mushrooms, onions (nicly soft and sweet) and sausage was a good combination. My wife was not as enthusiastic, complaining that the smell of the truffle essence was too overpowering - she called it almost "industrial".

I tried the only Cider option on the menu (cannot remember the name) and a brown ale. Both were quite good, and I noticed that they use a number of different types of glassware to serve the beers in, depending on the brewing style.

Overall, a good looking space, with friendly, enthusiastic servers. I would probably opt for the outdoors seating for dinner in the future, as the loud crowd noise from the 20 to 30 somethings bar scene inside really washes over the divider into the dining area.

TSchaad

[thetrain]

The reasonably priced beer list and the service, especially for a newly opened restaurant, were excellent. The food (calamari and their version of a supreme pizza) was 'meh' - not bad, but not particularly great either. Hopefully just an off night; be back when I'm thirsty for beer and hungry for something other than chili covered tots and vegan hot dogs.

[dcs]

DCS's article link noted that they will sell growlers here, apparently.

No doubt these growlers will be put to good use as they have quite an extensive offering of beers on tap. They are now open for lunch in Arlington, BTW.

[Genevieve]

We had a truly excellent pizza here about a week and a half ago. The crust was crackly and tasty, the toppings were superb. My guys went for the multiple meat pizza, so we had: their housemade sausage, which was extremely flavorful (but not too spicy for the kid) and plump and just marvelous; meatballs, which were large but still well-cooked throughout, and tangy and lovely; and two other meats I can't remember, I think a house-made pepperoni and something else. All of the meats were nitrate-free, which was a good thing to see.

My sandwich was tasty but not quite as successful: roasted veggies and Coach Farm goat cheese on foccaccia. The bread was lovely, rosemary-scented and well-textured. I think the generous amount of veggies (eggplant and mushrooms and squash, maybe something else too) overwhelmed the sandwich, without something to mellow them. The terrific goat cheese would have done so, if there had been more of it compared to the veggies - it was just a light spread. Well-intentioned and just needs some tweaking, I think, to be a very good sandwich. Maybe a little arugula or something green to temper the roasted veggies a bit and offer a contrast? And definitely more of the cheese.

The kiddo was a huge fan of the warm chocolate chip cookie dough sundae dessert. We all liked it, but he's a fan for life. The cookie dough is part soft and part cooked by the intense but brief heating in the oven -- an unusual texture to have both cookie and dough in the dessert, and it worked well.

Service was very good and attentive, though the server didn't know the non-pizza menu items that well yet.
I would very much like to see the thoroughly-stocked bar offer a few non-alcoholic cocktails as well.
Overall, we were fans - we're in the neighborhood and will definitely be back with some frequency. I need to try the less meaty pizzas (some sounded very appealing), though I'll make sure to sample the guys' meatballs and sausage.

[SeanMike]

I've now been there twice and both times my appetizers were, at best, luke warm.

Last night I had the goat cheese stuffed lamb meatballs. They were delicious! But it would've been nice if they'd been hot.

The service was rather off as well. My waiter was spending a good bit of time at the bar or just out of sight.

The pizza (the quattro carni or however they spell it) was tasty, though.

[dcs]

I've now been there twice and both times my appetizers were, at best, luke warm.

Last night I had the goat cheese stuffed lamb meatballs. They were delicious! But it would've been nice if they'd been hot.

That was the same reaction we had to the smoked gouda tomato soup today at lunch. It was a good soup, but would have been far better if it were hot. The quattro carni is a fine pizza.

[Mark Slater]

That was the same reaction we had to the smoked gouda tomato soup today at lunch. It was a good soup, but would have been far better if it were hot. The quattro carni is a fine pizza.

The Quattro Carni and the Fireworks pizzas are both OK. We do carry-out and the pizzas have never been really hot, either.

[dcs]

Has anyone else noticed that the "classic" margherita is made with cherry tomatoes instead of sauce? It tastes OK, but is that really the "classic" formula? I am by no means a pizza expert, and do not insist on authenticty at all costs. I only noticed because of some persnickety youngsters that love tomato sauce, yet will not tolerate tomatoes. Margherita is usually a go-to pie for them. At least the menu identified the cherry tomatoes. Sadly, this has caused problems at Pizzeria Paradiso, where the menu is not so specific.

[mdt]

They had the very tasty Oliver's E.S.B on cask last night, which made me happy when I got to the bar.

For dinner I had the Thick Cut Pork Chop, served with an olive plum sauce, roasted shallots, and buttery linguini. The lean rib chop was slightly overcooked, resulting in a rather dry piece of meat. The pork was rather mild and would have been improved by brining. The sauce helped a bit, but it would have been nice of the small olives had been pitted. The linguini was properly cooked and surprisingly garlicky, considering no mention of that on the menu, and needed a touch of salt.

[Rovers2000]

Stopped by the bar for a quick lunch. Sampled the Oliver's E.S.B. and the Victory Yakima Glory to go with one of the pizzas (topped with Gorgonzola/bacon/onions).

The beers were excellent but the pizza was just average. Very little taste in the crust, it served as only a vessel for the tiny bit of gorgonzola, bacon that could've been a tad more crisp, and onions drizzled with a balsamic reduction. The bartenders were very pleasant and there were only about 3 others at the bar when I stopped in at 2:30. It's not a place I'd make my plans around going to, but for a late lunch it served the purpose today as I was in courthouse running errands.

[SeanMike]

I decided to give FireWorks another chance. I swung by on a hot and muggy Tuesday night and snagged a seat right in front of the oven.

At first I regretted it but then I realized - I was acclimating to the temperature. When I left later, it didn't feel so bad!

That night I just had a couple of cask beers, a couple of beers from the kegs, and a plate of their "THS Wings" (Tangy, Hot, Sweet, if I remember correctly) that came with a side of creamy gorgonzola. The wings came out hot and delicious, unlike my previous experiences, which made me happy.

So I went again yesterday. I hadn't been there for the happy hour - from 3-6:30 they've got a number of beers at $3 and some of their pizzas at $5 (for the 10"). I'd been curious to try the Guadalajara, which features spiced beef, fresh jalapenos, lettuce, and a sour cream drizzle so I ordered it.

WOW that was spicy. Totally kicked my butt. I was being kind of a wimp but WOO. So I got a box for it and ordered a "Sopranos", with mushrooms, Italian sausage, onions, and truffle oil essence(?). That was a bit more my speed last night, and I took half of it home too. Drank through a few beers and called it a night.

Had I remembered I had an ice cream sandwich I might've finished off the Guad today, but alas, I got confused and ate the sandwich first. Had to cut through the wrapper with kitchen shears. What up with that, Good Humor?!

[dcs]

FYI, Fire Works in Arlington is hosting Blue Point Brewing Company on Tuesday, March 27 at 4:30PM. I know that the Fire Works Events web page and their Facebook posting in some places indicate that this event took place in 2011, I was just there yesterday and saw a sign at the door indicating that this was happening this week.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012 at 4:30 pm
Blue Point Brewing Steal the Pint Night!

Come to Fire Works Arlington & Steal the Pint! We'll play host to Blue Point Brewing Company Tuesday, 3/27/11 at 4:30PM. They will join us as we pour their Rastafa Rye, Sour Cherry Imperial Stout, Blueberry, and No Apologies Imperial IPA. Come grab a pint or two at the bar* & take home official Stone glassware - yours to keep when you buy the beer!

*Glassware available at bar & bar tables only (limit 1 per customer)

Via Twitter Fire Works announced that they have added Hoptical Illusion to the lineup for Tuesday.

[chaofun]

In Leesburg, Fireworks is far and away the best pizza. Not that there is a lot of competition.... They have a couple things I do really like, one, they do an awful lot of local sourcing, which gets a thumbs up from me. They also have a solid beer tap of good brews (usually in teens on tap).

Try the meatball, sausage and mushroom calzone, its pretty good.