Iggie's Pizza, Mount Vernon

[crackers]

For Neopolitan-style pizzas, Iggie's on Calvert St. in Mt. Vernon is worth seeking out. It's a funky little space - self-serve and seating at mismatched chairs and tables, and there is a great long communal table in the middle, but the pizzas are what makes it worth coming back for.

The thin crusts have a really nice char, and hold up well to the toppings. My favorite is the "Alice" which is fresh tomatoes, spinach, goat cheese, pesto, and garlic with parmesean cheese. Their plain Margharita is also good. For something different I tried the Anatra, which is duck confit, blue cheese, red onions and asparagus. It was ok, but you have to be in the mood. There are two sizes, the 8" and the 14" - prices are $6.50-$10 for the smaller and $10.50-16.50 for a large. That's probably a little high for Baltimore, but nothing out of the ordinary for DC. There's also salads (avoidable), pastas and soup, but it's the pizza that I go for.

The owner, Linda Heckman came from the now-closed Soigne. They don't take tips, but there is a jar for the "charity of the month" which is always a local charity. And it's only a couple of blocks north of Center Stage.

[bugsy]

geez, i really liked the salads.no license, so bring byob, store a block away. i always bring my own stemware, since the available stuff is really bad.i do enjoy iggie's..best pizza in Baltimore. btw, it's lisa, not linda as the owners name.

[1000yregg]

friends of mine told me that in the whole month of august on weekends, if you bring your own booze, pizzas are half off

[Whitemarshjohnny]

friends of mine told me that in the whole month of august on weekends, if you bring your own booze, pizzas are half off

MY RESPONSE: I took this off their website: "OK, here’s the deal… You already know that we’re BYOB, so in August, bring in a bottle of wine (or a six pack of beer) anytime on any Saturday, and we’ll give you your pizza for half price! Uh, large pizzas, dine-in (and drink-in) only*. ..."

http://www.iggiespizza.com/

I think we'll try them out this Saturday - I'm really poor this weekend but just can't bare to sacrafice eating out.

[1000yregg]

Went to Iggie's last week with some friends. We brought a nice bottle of sparkling shiraz.

I liked the Caesar's salad- anchovies were delicious.

We got the Funghi pizza with mushroom ragu, leeks and goat cheese, the Salsiccia with sausage, fennel, and tomato ragu, and the Alice. I liked the Salsiccia best.

We finished with delicious blood orange sorbetto.

It might be my favorite place for pizza in Baltimore now.

[cjsadler]

Had a great lunch here on Saturday with a friend of mine. Grabbed an outside table (the weather was perfect for it), brought a good bottle of wine (love the BYOB) and we shared an 8" duck confit and red onion and 14" smoked mozz and salami. They get great gelato from Ciao Bella in Brooklyn too.

[Tweaked]

Made a rare trip up to Baltimore this weekend and dined at Iggies, a BYOB pizza joint on Calvert, in the Mt. Vernon area, serving thin crust Neapolitan pizza. Charming in its serve yourself, drink your own wine in mishmash of glass ware, bohemian vibe.

We went with a pepperoni, a Funghi (mushrooms, leeks, mozzerella and goat cheese) and the Verdura Fresca (seasonal veggies, spinach, mozzerella, balsamic reduction).

Best signage - Attention vegetarians, Pancetta is MEAT.

[deangold]

Best signage - Attention vegetarians, Pancetta is MEAT.

Appropos of nothing except that Pizze are Italian, I love the signs on the electric powered train towers that translate as "To touch this pole is death"

[ol_ironstomach]

Is it Neapolitan? I guess I'd have to go to Naples to be certain, but it doesn't quite resemble other VPN pies that I've had, either in crust or level of topping. The Baker's Pride deck oven certainly isn't part of the authentic equation. They're a bit pricey too; a rather small 8" pie is $9-10.

Those aside, Iggie's turns out some delicious combinations. G and I split an anatra (duck, asparagus, bleu cheese, red onion, mozz), a cipolla (onion confit, pancetta, mozz, ricotta), and the pizza of the month: a finocchiona (broad, thin slices of its namesake sausage, tomato sauce, mozz). All veritably hooveriffic, although the onion confit proved to be almost too generous both in sweetness and acidity. We also nibbled at our friends' Alice (pesto, mozz, tomato, garlic spinach, goat cheese, parm), which was a home run combo, and my favorite of the day.

FWIW, the tomato sauce is pretty straight-up, made from DOP San Marzano tomatoes, and predictably good.

Far more important than the pancetta warning is the sign painted on the back wall where nobody looks, warning you that the large shaker of white stuff is flake sea salt, not grated parm. Also: picture on the wall of hounds wearing bee costumes.

[pizza man]

Never been there, and I don't mean too dis, but from what you describe this falls under the "gourmet" genre. Certainly nothing Napolitan about these toppings.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Bakers Pride makes a fine oven. If I were doing a "collegiate" pizza, (in the cards? Who knows?) Baker's would be my second choice.