Comet Ping-Pong - GM James Alfantis' Pizza and Ping-Pong on Connecticut Avenue in Upper NW

[edenman]

The smoky pizza was drowning in grease yesterday. Delicious (the mushrooms!), but the crust was completely soaked through in places, and the grease literally rolled off the first few slices that were extracted. The pitcher of Victory Prima Pils helped cut the grease, but at $22, our group only had two. I know it's good beer and I should expect higher-than-average pitcher prices, but damn. The other pizzas were quite good, and I'll second the wings: they were juicy, dry-rubbed, and delicious. I am not normally a wing fan, but these were awesome. It was my first trip up to Comet, and certainly won't be my last. Especially since I trounced my friends in ping-pong, and they want a rematch.

[alan7147]

The smoky pizza was drowning in grease yesterday.

Mine was the same way today. It was so soggy that it made 2 Amy's pizzas look like they were sprinkled with Viagra. Bad Bad Bad.

[collije]

It's not toasted, but my astute young dining companion insisted that "they cheated" because the rolls had been hollowed out. I was so busy scarfing that I didn't notice; he told me this on the way home. I've never had this sandwich before, but this one needed a large roll because the stuffing (meatballs, cheese, and tomato sauce) was so plentiful.

Cheers,

Rocks.

Dang, making me hungry. Had a decent meatball sub at Vace, but am yearning for those versions I grew up with in Philly. Gonna have to give that a try soon.

[Heather]

Good sauce, cheese, and meatballs, but the bun was too chewy and too much bread. It would be better if it was hollowed out a little, and toasted.

The meatball sub has completely changed since December. It's much larger, the sauce has a more cooked taste, the cheese is more plentiful (too much, IMO), and the bun is now toasted and slightly hollowed out, just as I suggested.

They seem to be using different cheese, and a lot more of it on the pizzas. It's more like regular pizza cheese instead of fresh mozzerella; "stretchier" is how my daughter put it. Our smoky & white pizzas were leaden and much greasier than usual.

[jparrott]

The format of the menu (lack of apps--I mean, what about a plate of Blue Ridge mozz with some grilled bread...SOMETHING other than afterthought salads) and hordes of waiting pizza-eaters make it difficult for two diners to finish a bottle of wine here. And DC, unlike VA, doesn't have a recorking law (STOOOPID). Which is too bad, because there's some awesome juice here. And at the tippy-top, available by the bottle only, is the zippy, fresh-as-a-daisy Domaines des Baranes Cotes du Ventoux "Les Agapes" 2006. 75/20/5 grenache/syrah/mourvedre, only the syrah (lightly) wooded. Fresh, fruity, but PERFECT grenache tannins, mouthwatering acidity, and controlled (not restrained) alcohol. And all this for Twenty-One Frickin' Dollars. That's right, for a buck less than a pitcher of Allagash (which is Middle Arcadian for "Ubiquitous") White, you get twenty-five-point-four fluid ounces of pure Provencal sunshine, imported by DC's very own version of Kermit Lynch (c. 1975), Mr. "Steady" Eddie Addiss of Wine Traditions.

The "Smoky" was way overtopped and floppily underbaked. The clam pie is awesome, if you don't mind a surfeit of thyme. Caesar salad slightly overdressed and more than slightly boring.

[baczkowski]

The "Smoky" was way overtopped and floppily underbaked. The clam pie is awesome, if you don't mind a surfeit of thyme. Caesar salad slightly overdressed and more than slightly boring.

I think inconsistency has to be this place's achilles heel b/c my wife an I went last night and both of our pizzas were fantastic. That makes three times that I've been: First experience was eye-opening and inspring of heresy (i.e. "could this actually be better than 2 Amy's?"); second was very disappointing with jaw-aching chewiness and boring flavors on my Smoky; and last night's pies again conjured heresy. When this place is on, it's an ethereal experience. When it's not, you leave feeling as though you were kicked in the gonads.

Pax,

Brian

P.S. My wife also got the caesar salad and thought it was overdressed, over-"garlic-ed", and under-"accompanied" (to invent my second phrase).

[hillvalley]

KG had an unusual pie tonight that made me wonder what thoughts led to this combination: green beans, hazelnuts, garlic, mozzarella, and maybe red pepper flakes. The green beans surprised me because it is the end of February so where in the world is Carol getting green beans? But they were as good as a summer green bean-someone must be using a greenhouse. Yum. The rest of the combination was just odd-I didn't get it.

My smoky was greasy (so was KG's green bean, BTW) and the mushrooms were almost intolerably salty. That's saying something because I love salt. I didn't have bacon on mine but the shrooms made the whole thing so salty I can't imagine what it is like with the bacon (but I'll dream of it tonight). KG's crust was much more soggy, it barely held the toppings while most of my slices held up.

I like the over garlicky Caesar but the toast was cold and soggy-a disappointment because we like the salad so much.

[deangold]

The green beans surprised me because it is the end of February so where in the world is Carol getting green beans? But they were as good as a summer green bean-someone must be using a greenhouse.

We are getting our from Homesetad Organic Farms in Florida. Green Beans are a cool weather crop (thinl spring or fall here). Florida's "winter" is like our wonderful spring and fall days!

[DonRocks]

Some people justifiably grumble that the Caesar Salad ($6) at Comet is too simple and too small for the price, and if I was feeding a family of four, I might be joining them. As a solo diner, however, it's worth it for me to know I'm getting high-quality greens, and dressing that's not made with bad oil. The $7.50 Tomato and Cheese pie is something everyone can rally around - it remains one of the great restaurant deals in town. This time around the pizza was different, with an over-exuberant ladling of tomato sauce, and a slightly glazed-looking crust that perhaps contained a touch more honey. Crust aside, the overall impression of this pizza reminded me of Ella's when it first opened, and if anyone remembers just how tasty Ella's pies were during their first few months, you'll know that's a complement. Soft shell pies are listed as "coming soon." The price? "Mucho," according to the menu.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Waitman]

Some people justifiably grumble that the Caesar Salad ($6) at Comet is too simple and too small for the price, and if I was feeding a family of four, I might be joining them. As a solo diner, however, it's worth it for me to know I'm getting high-quality greens, and dressing that's not made with bad oil. The $7.50 Tomato and Cheese pie is something everyone can rally around - it remains one of the great restaurant deals in town. This time around the pizza was different, with an over-exuberant ladling of tomato sauce, and a slightly glazed-looking crust that perhaps contained a touch more honey. Crust aside, the overall impression of this pizza reminded me of Ella's when it first opened, and if anyone remembers just how tasty Ella's pies were during their first few months, you'll know that's a complement. Soft shell pies are listed as "coming soon." The price? "Mucho," according to the menu.

Cheers,

Rocks.

With all due respect, the Caesar's is horrible. I'd rather throw money into the street than eat it again. Agree on the rest of the stuff, though. And the Minestrone deserves a shout out.

[DonRocks]

With all due respect, the Caesar's is horrible. I'd rather throw money into the street than eat it again. Agree on the rest of the stuff, though. And the Minestrone deserves a shout out.

Hmm... I can see "not worth the money" or "no great shakes," but horrible?! It's too simple to be horrible, no?

[Waitman]

Hmm... I can see "not worth the money" or "no great shakes," but horrible?! It's too simple to be horrible, no?

Dude, it was nasty. So simple -- as you say -- that one had to wonder how they could screw it up so bad. That being said, we may just have hit the particular night where they were off their game. But it was aggressively evil...about a 3-to-1 ribs-to-leaf Romaine ratio and a dressing that made you wonder how something could be so overdressed and yet so tasteless at the same time.

Hey -- I still love the place, but that salad was unfortunate.

[synaesthesia]

Soft shells on menu today. Old model of chicken wing, though more honey than heat. Horseradish cream not as horseradishy as it used to be. Tomato sauce on the basic tomato and cheese was not as beautiful and strong as it was in the fall of last year. That was sad news. Service has been very charming the last few visits. Tonight Dominic made our evening great. Nice guy who dealt with my friend's ribbing in stride.

[pronk]

Horrible the same way that Comet's chicken wings are horrible? Because if so, maybe we should change the meaning of the word horrible to inedible.

[jhermes]

Shared a "Jimmy" pizza here with my son last Saturday lunch - a meatball, cheese and tomato pie. The outside crust was very good but the middle of the pie was a soupy mess. The flavors were still good, and the meatballs were decent but nothing to write home about. I've been here three times now and they're batting .333, but I'll try again from time to time.

[pronk]

I went to Comet again recently and had a sausage pizza since it's pretty hard to screw up sausage on anything (especially pizza).

Needless to say, it was bland, bland, bland.

Literally, the cheese had more bite than the sausage.

But there was a gold lining to this trip this time... I didn't fall victim to ordering their horrific chicken wings.

[synaesthesia]

The meatball sub is currently on whole-wheat ciabatta bread. Not really sub-style whatsoever, and had to be eaten with a fork and knife. It reminds me of English muffin pizzas with its four meatballs a pile of sauce and some cheese thrown on top. It wasn't foldable and the two sides were not conjoined. Delicious, but not a sub. The tomato sauce is back in form, thankfully.

For some reason they decided it was a good idea to put wax paper underneath this monster. While I recognize it's to keep the pizza shop aesthetic, it kept getting shredded along with the slightly challenging to cut through bread (all we had were butter knives). The problem is bunched up it started to look a little like the cheese, and we repeatedly came close to getting mouthfuls of wax paper. When we ate enough to move the pile of food, we pulled off the wax paper and put it to the side.

[pronk]

As much as this place frustrates me, I was enraged to read that a neighborhood commissioner/committee person shut down the ping-pong tables on the front sidewalk.

Totally ridiculous.

[synaesthesia]

Horrible the same way that Comet's chicken wings are horrible? Because if so, maybe we should change the meaning of the word horrible to inedible.

I went to Comet again recently and had a sausage pizza since it's pretty hard to screw up sausage on anything (especially pizza).

Needless to say, it was bland, bland, bland.

Literally, the cheese had more bite than the sausage.

But there was a gold lining to this trip this time... I didn't fall victim to ordering their horrific chicken wings.

As much as this place frustrates me, I was enraged to read that a neighborhood commissioner/committee person shut down the ping-pong tables on the front sidewalk.

Totally ridiculous.

Why are you so angry?

And actually... please be specific why you think the wings are terrible. Thanks!

[Heather]

And actually... please be specific why you think the wings are terrible. Thanks!

I can't speak for pronk, but the times I have tried them they have been a little flabby, and the spicing and the sauce were not at all to my taste.

[zoramargolis]

The place was packed tonight with families, twenty-somethings out on dates, and a big table of noisy celebrants in the middle of the room. I enjoyed my softshell crab pizza, though I did end up leaving a fair amount of the outer edge of crust uneaten. I loved the middle of the pie, which was juicy with crab and onion, once I smooshed up the fried softshell and spread it around. Jonathan enjoyed his smoky bacon pizza, and liked the thin crispy crust a lot. Veggie-teen ate every bite of her white pizza with ricotta and onions, despite refusing to eat any of the mixed green salad beforehand, because she "wasn't that hungry." What had killed her appetitie was the utter ignominy of going out on a Saturday night with her hopelessly uncool parents, but the pizza that was set in front of her overwhelmed her teenaged funk and restored her interest in eating. On the way home, after a stop at Politics and Prose, she declared that Vace's white pizza was "the best pizza on earth" and that Comet's hadn't even come close. I had an Allagash white on draft, which was refreshing and lemony with the salty crab. We shared a piece of chocolate cake which was rich, dark and moist.

[Anna Blume]

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but remember the bit about the safety hazards presented by the ping-pong table up front?

This just in: lest the restaurant be singled out as a bad neighbor, Frank Winstead, the elected ANC rep for the area seems to have championed a request by the city to remove all benches, tables and chairs currently in front of stores. This is what is being reported on a tony listserve as a complaint from one beloved business with benches and owners known for standing up for their rights.

Does this mean that restaurants lining the same stretch of Connecticut Avenue will be asked to let go of outdoor seating? If not, how come you can sit in front of another pizza joint south of Comet, say, and not the Marvelous Market (store without indoor tables) or Politics & Prose?

[synaesthesia]

I hope this isn't too off-topic, but remember the bit about the safety hazards presented by the ping-pong table up front?

This just in: lest the restaurant be singled out as a bad neighbor, Frank Winstead, the elected ANC rep for the area seems to have championed a request by the city to remove all benches, tables and chairs currently in front of stores. This is what is being reported on a tony listserve as a complaint from one beloved business with benches and owners known for standing up for their rights.

OT: Someone needs to find this dip a gf. Or he needs to do something more useful with his time than photographing parking violations and posting videos on YouTube. This is hurting the experiences of the whole neighborhood.

[giant shrimp]

This is hurting the experiences of the whole neighborhood.

people are being encouraged to let frank winstead know what they think about his latest assault on the bench outside politics and prose, or maybe challenge him to a friendly game of ping-pong. his e-mail address is: fwwinstead@hotmail.com.

also, the one time i tried them (without the dipping sauce), i liked the chicken wings at comet, though they are better at colorado kitchen.

[synaesthesia]

Appears to be one w - fwinstead@hotmail.com

And it looks like he also hit Marvelous Market too...

[giant shrimp]

i'm not up on the price of clams these days, but the $18 yalie pizza, which was topped with a few, was good, perhaps a dollar or two overpriced, more about the onions than anything else, almost an unsharp version of a pissaladiere. i've grown addicted to the spicy chicken wings after ordering them only two or three times, and it was my main reason for coming here, though they were wearing a pronounced clove flavor that didn't seem to be there before. i am also grateful for the hot chick pea salad as an alternative to the green salads that are more than a little bit defiant in their simplicity. i've always thought this place was enjoyably wacko, and it seems to have calmed down some, though i couldn't honestly tell because there was still daylight outside, and darkness is one of this restaurant's best friends. the children, though, can be even more out of control than at 2 amy's, encouraged by the premises, but the vibe they provide is entirely different, more bounce and clatter than a roar, jangling off hard surfaces and high ceilings. for a while we were able to listen to ourselves talk about how much we like the salads -- brined big eye tuna pastrami with beans and lettuce and big chunks of lobster and beets -- up the street at palena. if you don't like the oozing chocolate cake for dessert here, which is especially good when it's immersed in dollops of whipped cream (and i'm a bit confused about whether you get it here or more of it at buck's), then you might consider finishing your meal at buck's, where there's usually another cake or pie to choose from. the home-made bread was missing the last time we looked for it, and it wasn't a sunday.

[DonRocks]

I HATE trying to drive a stick down the steep switchbacks of Rock Creek Parkway on a dark rainy night while trying to eat pizza.

"So why do it, Don?"

Because I must.

At 8 PM Saturday evening, there was a 30-minute wait for a table at Comet, so we got our pizzas to go, and they were as good as they've ever been.

A Steel Wills ($12) has a spreading of Comet tomato sauce, topped with farmer's market spinach, lots of fresh garlic, good black olives (regretfully pitted), and remarkably buttery dabs of fresh ricotta.

The plain old Tomato Pie ($7.95) remains the best value on the menu because it highlights the three biggest strengths of Comet on the cheap: crust, sauce, and cheese. This time around with Pepperoni ($1), and a pint of Victory Prima Pils ($6) while waiting for the pizzas to cook.

Comet was at capacity and they still put out amazing pies - this makes about four times in a row where the pizza was so good that it left me shaking my head.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Marty L.]

That's funny, because I was there for lunch for the first time in a while on Saturday, and I was shocked by just how mediocre -- tasteless, really -- the pizzas were. In the early days, Comet's pizzas were alternatively delicious or inedible, but never dull -- aggressively flavored and salted, a wild crapshoot that sometimes paid off. This weekend, however, there didn't seem to be any salt at all in the crust, and it was all (i.e., two pizzas and the chickpeas) just so . . . blah. I couldn't believe it was the same joint. (Well, I still love the architecture, and the ping pong, and the staff is terrifically friendly, but I'm referring to the kitchen.)

Which is not to say that Don is wrong -- to the contrary, I'll bet he did, indeed, receive fabulous pizzas. It's merely to suggest that this remains one of the more maddeningly inconsistent restaurants around, and that there's no "formula" in the kitchen, for better and for worse.

I HATE trying to drive a stick down the steep switchbacks of Rock Creek Parkway on a dark rainy night while trying to eat pizza.

"So why do it, Don?"

Because I must.

At 8 PM Saturday evening, there was a 30-minute wait for a table at Comet, so we got our pizzas to go, and they were as good as they've ever been.

A Steel Wills ($12) has a spreading of Comet tomato sauce, topped with farmer's market spinach, lots of fresh garlic, good black olives (regretfully pitted), and remarkably buttery dabs of fresh ricotta.

The plain old Tomato Pie ($7.95) remains the best value on the menu because it highlights the three biggest strengths of Comet on the cheap: crust, sauce, and cheese. This time around with Pepperoni ($1), and a pint of Victory Prima Pils ($6) while waiting for the pizzas to cook.

Comet was at capacity and they still put out amazing pies - this makes about four times in a row where the pizza was so good that it left me shaking my head.

Cheers,

Rocks.

[Seanchai]

That's funny, because I was there for lunch for the first time in a while on Saturday, and I was shocked by just how mediocre -- tasteless, really -- the pizzas were. In the early days, Comet's pizzas were alternatively delicious or inedible, but never dull -- aggressively flavored and salted, a wild crapshoot that sometimes paid off. This weekend, however, there didn't seem to be any salt at all in the crust, and it was all (i.e., two pizzas and the chickpeas) just so . . . blah. I couldn't believe it was the same joint. (Well, I still love the architecture, and the ping pong, and the staff is terrifically friendly, but I'm referring to the kitchen.)

Which is not to say that Don is wrong -- to the contrary, I'll bet he did, indeed, receive fabulous pizzas. It's merely to suggest that this remains one of the more maddeningly inconsistent restaurants around, and that there's no "formula" in the kitchen, for better and for worse.

I was there with the fam for a Saturday lunch a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I have to say, I was whelmed. The pizza was OK to good (we had the tomato pie, a white pizza and one other one I can't remember) but no more memorable than other boutiquey restaurant pizza I've had. The best I've had in the DC area the last couple of years remains the Gtown Pizza Paradiso.

[jdl]

Our most recent pizzas here were verygood+, save for one thing: One of them was a build-your-own, with salami among the requested ingredients. And there were all of two pieces of the stuff on the entire pizza. That's $1 per piece of salami, for those keeping score at home. WTF?

[Heather]

The prices for the pizza toppings are probably the worst value for the money in town.

Until you realize they're farmer's-market stuff instead of Sysco - then they become worth every penny and more (at least they are to me).

I knew that, Don, and still consider $2 for three small slices of salami to be a poor value.

Our most recent pizzas here were verygood+, save for one thing: One of them was a build-your-own, with salami among the requested ingredients. And there were all of two pieces of the stuff on the entire pizza. That's $1 per piece of salami, for those keeping score at home. WTF?

The salami is now $1 a slice? It had better rock my world for that price.

[DonRocks]

The salami is now $1 a slice? It had better rock my world for that price.

FWIW, the pepperoni was $1 for the entire topping, and came with many slices.

(The menu is now online here.)

[ulysses]

I was there Sunday and all I really want to know is: What is a match point?

[ICD]

I was there with the fam for a Saturday lunch a couple of weeks ago for the first time, and I have to say, I was whelmed. The pizza was OK to good (we had the tomato pie, a white pizza and one other one I can't remember) but no more memorable than other boutiquey restaurant pizza I've had.

I was also there at Saturday lunch a few weeks ago and greatly enjoyed the experience, especially the chicken wings. However, I thought the pizzas were underdone. This also happened at Two Amys a few months ago when were also the some of the first ones there. Could it be it takes a time for the pizza oven to warm up and they are better at night? Or was it they saw we were with two pre-schoolers (both places) and thought they must want underdone pizza?

Ignacio

P.S. We had the cheese and tomato pizzas with pepperoni and anchovies, respectively. At one dollar each, I felt I got my money's worth with six or so pepperonis and anchovies.

[jdl]

What does the price of pepperoni on Connecticut Ave have to do with anything? I wanted salami. And it wasn't worth $1 per piece. It's not like we're talking about Alba white truffles here.

[Heather]

What does the price of pepperoni on Connecticut Ave have to do with anything? I wanted salami. And it wasn't worth $1 per piece. It's not like we're talking about Alba white truffles here.

I was not sure why that was relevant either. My son doesn't like pepperoni & wanted salami. At $2 for three small slice, he ain't getting it.

[ICD]

My point was that while some toppings may not be worth the money, salami or clams for example, others such as pepperoni and anchovies were not expensive given their cost of $1 and the amount you get. This could be a bit of useful information to Comet newbies like myself who was reluctant to go because of the price/value issue.

That's all,

Ignacio

[hm212]

I went tonight for the first time. Was hoping they were on tonight - It was not bad but not really good either.

We had 3 pies;

Tomato - Was ok - nothing special but ok

Smoke special - Smoked Gouda did not combine well or add anything - felt forced rather than a meeting of flavors

BBQ Duck - BBQ sauce was too sweet and overwhelming

Ordered a piece of cake and ice cream for dessert - The cake was good but a very small square for $5, even my daughter asked where the rest was. Ice Cream was acceptable but for homeade in house ice cream was just expecting something creamier and more special.

At $63 after tip - My conclusion is probably won't be back with Two Amy's up the Road and Mia's more in my backyard.

[lekkerwijn]

At 8:30 pm the place is packed with a mix of families and young hipster types. We are seated right away in a semi-clean booth. Our waiter is disinterested and perhaps stoned? He informs us that they do not have unsweetened iced tea, only Honest Tea. Seriously, they don’t make their own iced tea!?!?! So I inquire about the Italian Blood Orange Soda. He tells me it is very sweet, but very good. So I try it. My husband orders a NY dark beer with a weird name.

Our salad comes out quickly with the beer and a second beverage. The salad, not what we ordered. When flagged down, the waiter looks confused and admits it is for another table. A few minutes later, our Caesar salad arrives. The portion is kind of small. It is garlic-y, appears fresh but is a tad overdressed. Unremarkable. Second beverage, by the way is water. No Italian Blood Orange Soda ever materializes. Not worth sending the waiter back to get it, he has disappeared.

A new waiter materializes and clears away the salad plate and my fork, which is never replaced. Our pizza arrives and we are informed it is very hot. It is a fork and knife, gloppy, wimpy version of thin crust pizza. We ordered the Jimmy- tomato, mozzarella, garlic, onions and meatballs. There are precisely 4 meatballs on the 12 inch pie- perfectly described by the Washingtonian as lilliputian they are heavy on fennel flavor and gummy. If garlic and onion are on the pizza, they are invisible and tasteless. It isn’t a bad pie, but $13?

The check arrives. We need the Italian Blood Orange Soda removed. The original waiter is genuinely shocked when we explain the big, red, plastic tumbler in front of me contained only water. We paid $26 plus tax and tip for: 1 beer, 1 Caesar salad and 1 small pizza. Dinner tonight proved than any restaurant capable of producing half-way decent food with mediocre service at a price that does not constitute total highway robbery can thrive in a neighborhood with limited choices and a high density yuppie population.

[dlebby]

After spending a week on the beach in Connecticut and having the single best pizza of my life (a clam at Pepe's) I returned with a devout wish to experience something close to the epiphany I'd had in New Haven. Unfortunately, the Yalie at Comet didn't do it. The crust was cracker crisp and there wasn't even one clam per slice. I never thought I'd be saying that I miss Carole.

[DonRocks]

This piece, in a perfect world, would pay some deference to Comet Ping-Pong.

P.S. Still undefeated, with nary a challenger in view.

[DPop]

P.S. Still undefeated, with nary a challenger in view.

Beating up on the local grade schoolers who take up that back room every Friday and Saturday night is hardly something to puff your chest out about, Donald......

[synaesthesia]

Things have really changed since Carole left. The crust is totally different. Not a ton of flavor development from dough that hasn't risen long enough. I don't think it's the same whole wheat flour blend. It doesn't have the nice random saltiness that I found so appealing about the old kind. It's softer and closer to regular crusts, rather than the thin, crackery crust that I enjoyed before. The sauce and cheese are still good, but it's a real shame. A can of Old Chub is only $4 though, and for all the talk of how great a $3 PBR is they go for $2.50 at Comet.

[giant shrimp]

looking at the sunday times recipe redux for asparagus alla fontina, 1977 made me think of the special pizza on the menu at comet recently, and it is probably still there. the main difference would be that the egg cooked into the part quiche/part frittata of yesteryear appears boldly at the center of the pizza, the handsomest egg i have seen in a while, with a luxuriously bright yolk that looks like the setting sun, orange turning red. the pancetta is worth adding; it's more robust than what goes for italian. The charge is $4, bringing the pizza up to the $18-$20 range, don't recall exactly, but this is enough food for two. the pizzas here have gradually morphed from their original paddle shape into the familiar round pie. i like the crust for what it is, which is pretty much standard these days. admittedly, some of the excitement has gone elsewhere, but not everyone appreciated the quirkiness of the earlier kitchen, and eating here now is a smoother experience.

buffalo wings were on the dry side, not bad, but i have had them better here, under the current regime. the chickpea salad picked up some emulsion by mashing a few of them, or rubbing them together. they can tend to be almost undercooked, so this is an improvement.

as far as the times discussion of whether or not asparagus should be blanched first, i lean to sautening them directly in the pan. i don't know how they handle this at comet, but the asparagus was perfectly cooked -- tender and crisp. one way or the other, i would be worried about not giving them a head start on the stove before putting them in the oven. carole greenwood didn't seem too open about telling you how she accomplished things. i would suspect the new kitchen wouldn't be as tight lipped if you were looking for an answer.

[monavano]

Comet Ping Pong was featured on a Farm to Table episode on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The segment was terrific and Fieri seemed genuinly enthusiastic about the pizzas, as in "best ever" kind of praise. Actually, I think he recommended getting to CPP if you are north of the equator!

The Philly calzone looked amazing, and the local connection to the products they use and make was impressive.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/farm-to-table/index.html

Catch a re-run.

[Pat]

Comet Ping Pong was featured on a Farm to Table episode on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. The segment was terrific and Fieri seemed genuinly enthusiastic about the pizzas, as in "best ever" kind of praise. Actually, I think he recommended getting to CPP if you are north of the equator!

The Philly calzone looked amazing, and the local connection to the products they use and make was impressive.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/diners-drive-ins-and-dives/farm-to-table/index.html

Catch a re-run.

I had wondered about the variety of places they seemed to hit on their DDD visit here recently. It hadn't occurred to me that they were splitting them up into different episodes...well, duh!

[DanielK]

Fieri seemed genuinly enthusiastic about the pizzas, as in "best ever" kind of praise.

Everything Fieri has ever eaten is the best ever.

[fuzzy510]

Everything Fieri has ever eaten is the best ever.

Actually, to be fair, I think he offers a lot of "among the best" or "one of the ten best" compliments.

Doesn't mean that he's not still overreacting, but he at least doesn't seem to go completely overboard.

[DPop]

Still dreaming about the Philly Calzone I had on Saturday night. That and a pitcher of Lagunitas IPA, which was a perfectly reasonable $19, made me want to go back to Comet. Unlike previous visits (going back to 2008) the pizza was consistently cooked and not drowning in grease. Even my wife, who swore off this place after our last visit, loved her Hottie with merguez substituted for pepperoni. I'm not sure when Don's comment in the dining guide about the pizza not being as good as it used to be came from, but I feel like this place has finally hit its stride apart from the fact that they have live music on Friday and Saturday nights instead of ping pong

[yfunk3]

So I went this past Saturday because my dining companion had a LivingSocial coupon. Around 3:15ish on a Saturday, and there were only a few other people there and starting to fill up when we left around 4:30 (after a round of ping pong, of course).

Had The Philly, The Drive and the hot wings.

I wanted to like everything, really I did. The ingredients sounded great, I saw the DDD segment and the Philly looked amazing...the concept of everything looked great, I had read this thread long before going...

But all I tasted was salt. Salt salt and more salt. We paid the $4 extra for the proscuitto on The Drive, and I dunno if it was the ingredients on that pizza or if they just oversalted EVERYTHING. The egg didn't seem to mellow out any of the salt, so there must've been A LOT. I've never had that big a salt problem while eating out, though I do like to take it a bit easier on the salt than most. But it just over-rode EVERYTHING. I could barely taste the other flavors, and couldn't even taste the bitterness of the broccoli rabe on both the pizza and the calzone because of the salt.

The wings were okay. Unexpected Asian spices, and I could taste the ginger the most. But even they were a tad too salty (though not nearly as bad as the other two things we got), and the hot pepper flakes were unevenly distributed, so only the two bottom wings or so had any heat to them. The dipping sauce was good, but I didn't even notice it had horseradish in it until I tasted it by itself, either because of the salt problem or the weakness of horseradish (not a HUGE horseradish fan, so I liked it kinda weak).

The Philly had very little pork, way too much broccoli rabe, not enough of the other veggies. The sauce was okay, but again...THE SALT! I could taste the parm cheese in the sauce, but it also tasted like they added more salt in addition to the parm cheese.

I'm not sure what to think. Maybe we just ordered the wrong items? But I had heard the wings were great, and The Philly was worth it, and the ingredients seem like they would be great together on The Drive. I'm sure everything WOULD have been delicious and worth paying full price if they just calmed down the salting.

Hate to be negative about such a raved-about place, but it was a bit of a let-down. I might have a chance to go again around New Year's for lunch, so I'm willing to give them a second chance...but it's sort of a long haul to go for the off chance that they ease up on the salt. Has anyone had any success asking the kitchen to be easy on the salt? I usually don't worry about salting, but this was seriously a huge (and the only) problem.