Famous Luigi's, 19th and L Streets Downtown - Downscale Pizzeria with Homemade Pasta since 1943 - Closed

[The Hersch]

Luigi's

One thing I love about this restaurant is that its name is actually "Famous Luigi's". I ate there for the first time in decades a year or so ago, and thought it was not bad at all. It didn't feel quite as much like entering a time warp as I had imagined it would, but there was a bit of that. Excellent fried squid. Decent pasta. I don't think we tried anything else. You can see their menus and other stuff on their WEBSITE.

When we first were seated, the server asked if we'd like drinks, and I said I'd like a Campari and soda. This was clearly a first for her. I had to repeat it a couple of times before she got it down, but then she returned from the bar saying they didn't have any Campari. So I ordered something else, and then she came back and said they had Campari after all, and did I still want the Campari and soda. So I said yes. A couple of minutes later, she returned with my drink, which appeared to be plain soda water (or I suppose it could have been 7-Up). I said, what's this? And she said "That's your Campari and soda". I said no it isn't, Campari is bright red. She said "oh", and took it back and moments later reappeared with an actual Campari and soda, which was perfectly fine. To be fair, she appeared to be about 16, and it was all so weird and silly that it made the whole evening.

[qwertyy]

Luigi's has excellent pizza if you're dining in. It doesn't really survive delivery, but it's the best pan pizza I've had in the city (including Alberto's!).

[DonRocks]

This may sound a bit daft, but after my tuna-based meal at Smith and Wollensky last night, I wanted a bit of cheese, but didn't feel like running my tab beyond three digits.

So I went next door for a carryout "cheese course" at Famous Luigi's, the Washington DC area's oldest pizzeria, in operation since 1943.

Like Smith and Wollensky, it had a pretty decent crowd on a Saturday night. I ambled up to the bar, and very much unlike Smith and Wollensky, I got a smile, service within a matter of seconds, and a glass of ice water poured without asking the first minute I was there.

I've been to Famous Luigi's perhaps ten times in my life, and although I've never loved it, I've never hated it either, and last night was no exception. For my cheese course, I ordered a carryout Cheese Pizza for 1 Person ($7.50) which consists of nothing more than pizza crust, tomato sauce, and melted cheese. I had no desire to finish it; I merely wanted a few bites of cheese to round out my dinner.

While I waited, I ordered a bottle of the reliable Moretti La Rossa ($5.75) which I like because of its maltiness, and as I saw it sitting on the bar, I remembered that this beer is exactly what I ordered the previous time I was in.

So I finished my La Rossa just as my pizza came out. I paid my check, left a nice tip to the friendly bartender, walked out to the car, put on Beethoven Op 12 No 2, and began driving home. The pizza was super hot, so I opened the box for a minute to let it cool, but there was no way I was going to make it home without my cheese course, so I began.

One thing I noticed, for the very first time, is that the underside of Famous Luigi's crust has no char. Zero. It's blanched white, with diamond-shaped indentations in the bottom of the crust. Although I can't be certain, this tells me that it's placed on some type of metal screen, and perhaps sent through a top-heated conveyor belt system (although I suppose it could be a top-heated non-dynamic oven) - the cheese is abundant, gooey, and beautifully browned which is clearly the main drawing card of the pies.

Even though the bottom had no char whatsoever, the pizza was still cooked (I didn't feel like I was eating raw dough), so whichever method they use, they've got it down pat.

The cheese was gooey and satisfying; the crust was nondescript and I didn't eat much of it - certainly none around the periphery (at $7.50, I have no problem wasting unexciting pizza crust). The tomato sauce tended towards being slightly sweet, but didn't steal the show - it's a benign pizza, undoubtedly loved for it's gooey, well-browned cheese which I have to admit has a certain appeal.

By the time I got home, I was pretty well stuffed. I took the box, the remaining crust of the pizza, and the napkins, and walked directly to my recycling bin, where everything is sitting outside right now for a morning pickup.

At $7.50, there was nothing to complain about, but for the first time in my life, I realized why I've never loved Famous Luigi's pizza: it's the baking method. Well, okay, the crust is nothing to write home about either. But I certainly got my money's worth, so I have no complaints. The pastas I saw when I walked around the restaurant looked like the restaurant didn't skimp on meat sauce, so there is a primal appeal to this restaurant that (along with it's relentless advertising campaign in key publications) is very attractive to customers, and especially tourists.

[hoosiereph]

Well-described, Don. Not favoring my after-dinner cheese course heated and served with tomato sauce, I've never tried Luigi's Rocks-style, but reading the review above and noticing that it's the only discussion of the pizza at Famous Luigi's, I thought I'd add my $.07.

This is topping-driven pizza, with an inoffensive crust. The same process commended above for the "well-browned cheese" improves the sausage, basil, olives, anchovies, etc. from their form as ingredients -- for some reason, a lot of chefs seem to like serving nearly-raw pizza toppings to showcase the quality of those ingredients. That's fine. But proper pizza can be so much better, and Luigi's often gets it right. Also adding to its appeal for a casual pizza pick-me-up (and to tourists) is the menu setup: a grid of prices based on the number of toppings and the number of people (i.e. "pizza for two," "pizza for four," etc.). Who hasn't spent time at an unfamiliar pizza place trying to figure out whether to get the 14", the 16", the 18" x 12" rectangle, etc. At dinner for three last year, where our appetites proved larger than we expected, and we had asked the server whether "pizza for three" and salad would be enough, Luigi's offered to trot out an "after-dinner cheese course" or a pair of cannoli gratis for having steered us wrong. We did not regret choosing the cannoli, which holds up reasonably well against Vaccaro's.

Can you have a great pizza without a great crust? Probably not. And between District of Pi and the maddeningly-inconsistent but sometimes-great pies at Pete's, I can't justify being a regular at Luigi's anymore. But I'm glad to have been one when I worked nearby and there were far fewer decent pizza choices around town (remember when people cited Armand's for "best pizza" and went to Mario's before midnight?). Still, I make it back to Luigi's every 6 or 9 months or so and rarely regret it.

[qwertyy]

This is topping-driven pizza, with an inoffensive crust. The same process commended above for the "well-browned cheese" improves the sausage, basil, olives, anchovies, etc. from their form as ingredients -- for some reason, a lot of chefs seem to like serving nearly-raw pizza toppings to showcase the quality of those ingredients. That's fine. But proper pizza can be so much better, and Luigi's often gets it right.

YES. It's been a while, but I remember the best part about that pizza being the cheese and Italian sausage. It's nothing fancy, but it's solid. I need to head back there soon...

[The Hersch]

This is topping-driven pizza, with an inoffensive crust.

You know, I haven't had pizza at Famous Luigi's since I was about 20 (which is a long, long time ago), but this was certainly true back then. When I was a callow youth, pizza to me was all about toppings, and I thought Luigi's pizza was the best in town. My more mature taste finds toppings ideally serving as garnish to the main focus, the bread.

[BookGuy]

Luigi's is a vestige from the days that there was only one Italian restaurant downtown and one of the few with pizza. AV was too far away and was about the only other Italian around. Now, when you can't walk a block without finding another purveyor of pizza, we are going for whatever pleases our tastes because there is no longer just one choice. When I lived around Dupont Circle, a then girlfriend told me that Luigi's made its own sausage and that kept me going back. Now I live in rustic Rosslyn and there are too many good pizza choices, in many formats, within a short bus ride of where I live.

[DonRocks]

You know, I haven't had pizza at Famous Luigi's since I was about 20 (which is a long, long time ago), but this was certainly true back then. When I was a callow youth, pizza to me was all about toppings, and I thought Luigi's pizza was the best in town. My more mature taste finds toppings ideally serving as garnish to the main focus, the bread.

I think my fairly benign post has turned into a very interesting conversation, spurred on by hoosiereph's *excellent* response.

Luigi's is a vestige from the days that there was only one Italian restaurant downtown and one of the few with pizza. AV was too far away and was about the only other Italian around. Now, when you can't walk a block without finding another purveyor of pizza, we are going for whatever pleases our tastes because there is no longer just one choice. When I lived around Dupont Circle, a then girlfriend told me that Luigi's made its own sausage and that kept me going back. Now I live in rustic Rosslyn and there are too many good pizza choices, in many formats, within a short bus ride of where I live.

This is another very insightful response, and I'd also point out that Luigi's seems to have adapted to this very nicely by advertising in national publications, pulling in the tourist crowd (not unlike Ben's Chili Bowl - they're both DC institutions, and are taking full advantage of it).

[The Hersch]

Luigi's is a vestige from the days that there was only one Italian restaurant downtown and one of the few with pizza. AV was too far away and was about the only other Italian around.

There were a few more Italian restaurants than you're remembering. These were within a fairly short walk of Luigi's: Anna Maria, Cantina d'Italia, and (a half block away) Gusti's. I don't believe Anna Maria or Cantina d'Italia (which was very fancy and expensive) had pizza, but Gusti's did.

[BookGuy]

I really should have remembered Gusti's. When the building came down, there was a plaque put up placed on the new building. I will have to check to see if it was still there. Anna Maria's was one of those place's that always looked more pretentious than it actually was. The Cantina was probably the first upscale Italian restaurant in the District, Northern Italian rather than Sicilian. Of course, none were "Famous" as Luigi's was.

[The Hersch]

I really should have remembered Gusti's. When the building came down, there was a plaque put up placed on the new building.

I think you'll find that the former home of Gusti's is still standing, now proudly housing Boqueria and a Chipotle.

[Kibbee Nayee]

Sad to see another old-timer close its doors....

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/famous-luigis-will-close-its-doors-on-saturday-night-after-more-than-70-years-in-dc/2013/12/20/493b93a8-6919-11e3-ae56-22de072140a2_story.html?tid=hpModule_d39b60e8-8691-11e2-9d71-f0feafdd1394

[squidsdc]

Dang, how did I miss this. Wow, my office just moves from around the corner last week and there goes the neighborhood. In all seriousness, it is the end of an era on that strip of street.

[saf]

I read about this and was sad.

At the same time, I have not been there since I was an undergrad, and that is now long ago (although not far away, because I went to GW). We did love this place then.

[DonRocks]

Sad to see another old-timer close its doors....

I don't know what the current status is, but most maps on the internet show the property is for lease:

whereas trying to find a listing implies it's off-market:

[evanmilberg]

I don't know what the current status is, but most maps on the internet show the property is for lease:

Screenshot 2015-04-06 at 00.10.37.png

whereas trying to find a listing implies it's off-market:

Screenshot 2015-04-06 at 00.18.46.png

Called the number. Confirmed that the property will indeed be replaced by some type of food establishment. Obviously they wouldn't give me the name.

[The Hersch]

Called the number. Confirmed that the property will indeed be replaced by some type of food establishment. Obviously they wouldn't give me the name.

Still for rent as of last week, according to the signage. Is the economy really still this bad, that a prime location like the old Famous Luigi's can't find a tenant after what, two years? Or is there something else going on with this specific property?

[Mark Slater]

Still for rent as of last week, according to the signage. Is the economy really still this bad, that a prime location like the old Famous Luigi's can't find a tenant after what, two years? Or is there something else going on with this specific property?

I'm sure the landlord wants some outrageous amount of rent money.

[The Hersch]

I'm sure the landlord wants some outrageous amount of rent money.

And would rather it sit vacant than lower the rent? Is that how markets work nowadays?

[Rhone1998]

And would rather it sit vacant than lower the rent? Is that how markets work nowadays?

Well, the longer the term for the lease you can expect, the longer you should be willing to wait for the price you want.  And commercial leases can be pretty long term, right?

[jpbloom]

That is hardly a "prime location" these days.  Look at all of the empty space up and down 19th Street, Vidalia closing for lunch, various restaurant closings or non-openings, etc.  Everything has moved east.

That's the cyclical nature of DC real estate.  When I started working downtown 35 years ago, Farragut Square was the relatively new downtown, with the Hecht's at 7th and F dying and Lansburgh's and Kann's recently gone.  Woodie's at Metro Center and Garfinkel's were still alive but not for much longer.

[DaveO]

That is hardly a "prime location" these days.  Look at all of the empty space up and down 19th Street, Vidalia closing for lunch, various restaurant closings or non-openings, etc.  Everything has moved east.

That's the cyclical nature of DC real estate.  When I started working downtown 35 years ago, Farragut Square was the relatively new downtown, with the Hecht's at 7th and F dying and Lansburgh's and Kann's recently gone.  Woodie's at Metro Center and Garfinkel's were still alive but not for much longer.

I think you are right about this.  I wouldn't call 19th street "non prime".   It still has enormous office density around it, sufficient to draw large crowds if the offerings are good.

But the mass of retail, eating, and so much office space, plus a plethora of hotels have opened on the east side.  Over the long term the attractiveness of the downtown has been cyclical as jpbloom has referenced.

There are days I walk around 7th street and the arena and the most active blocks have the feel and density that remind me of NYC.

As to Luigi's, who knows what is going on among the property, the ownership and any possible tenants....or if the owners have a lease sign up but are really trying to sell the property.  Who knows?

[DonRocks]

There are days I walk around 7th street and the arena and the most active blocks have the feel and density that remind me of NYC.

Yep, even in its prime, Wisconsin and M in the heart of Georgetown didn't feel this crowded - we have Abe Pollin to thank for much of this. Verizon Center has created a "line of prosperity" that has been slowly traveling west-to-east, consuming everything in its path similar to the way that the Crystalline Entity devoured planets.

[ylkim30]

Verizon Center has to be the first time in the history of the universe a new stadium actually led to the revitalization of a neighborhood.

http://www.downtowndc.org/reports/verizon-center-economic-impact

[The Hersch]

That is hardly a "prime location" these days.  Look at all of the empty space up and down 19th Street, Vidalia closing for lunch, various restaurant closings or non-openings, etc.  Everything has moved east.

That's the cyclical nature of DC real estate.  When I started working downtown 35 years ago, Farragut Square was the relatively new downtown, with the Hecht's at 7th and F dying and Lansburgh's and Kann's recently gone.  Woodie's at Metro Center and Garfinkel's were still alive but not for much longer.

I don't spend a lot of time on 19th Street, but haven't gotten the impression that it's quite the ghost town you imply. Obviously 19th Street and that whole vicinity (roughly the 20036 zip code) isn't "hot", like 14th St. NW and H St. NE, but I'd say it's still prime, especially given its density in both office buildings and high-priced residential property.

As to the department stores in the old downtown dying out, that is emblematic of the general death of traditional downtowns as shopping destinations for suburb-dwellers, and more particularly the decline of the department-store paradigm.

[The Hersch]

Verizon Center has to be the first time in the history of the universe a new stadium actually led to the revitalization of a neighborhood.

http://www.downtowndc.org/reports/verizon-center-economic-impact

Note, though, all the goodies the DC government kicked in, and also the concluding sentence of the document:

It is our view that all of this redevelopment would have happened without the Verizon Center, but the Verizon Center accelerated the redevelopment of surrounding areas by seven to 10 years.

[Deac]

I don't spend a lot of time on 19th Street, but haven't gotten the impression that it's quite the ghost town you imply. Obviously 19th Street and that whole vicinity (roughly the 20036 zip code) isn't "hot", like 14th St. NW and H St. NE, but I'd say it's still prime, especially given its density in both office buildings and high-priced residential property.

As to the department stores in the old downtown dying out, that is emblematic of the general death of traditional downtowns as shopping destinations for suburb-dwellers, and more particularly the decline of the department-store paradigm.

There are plenty of lunch places around there that have lines out the wazoo daily: Chipotle, Greek Deli (within arm's reach of Famous Luigi's), Taylor, Bub and Pop's, Shake Shack, District Taco, Surfside, and the forthcoming Cava Grille (I assume), and plenty more I'm forgetting. I just don't think people have as much time for a full sit-down lunch a la Vidalia. And it can definitely be a ghost town after hours and on weekends.

[DaveO]

There are plenty of lunch places around there that have lines out the wazoo daily: Chipotle, Greek Deli (within arm's reach of Famous Luigi's), Taylor, Bub and Pop's, Shake Shack, District Taco, Surfside, and the forthcoming Cava Grille (I assume), and plenty more I'm forgetting. I just don't think people have as much time for a full sit-down lunch a la Vidalia. And it can definitely be a ghost town after hours and on weekends.

A ghost town after hours....now that is stunningly cyclical.  Going back to what jpbloom wrote above from at least the late 70's well into the 90's that neighborhood's happy hour volume was significant and often overflowing.

[RWBooneJr]

A ghost town after hours....now that is stunningly cyclical.  Going back to what jpbloom wrote above from at least the late 70's well into the 90's that neighborhood's happy hour volume was significant and often overflowing.

The neighborhood is still packed after hours. It just isn't this website's demographic.

Actually, I'd bet this website's demographic is astonishingly old, at least by Internet standards. But I'm astonishingly old by Internet standards.

[DonRocks]

The neighborhood is still packed after hours. It just isn't this website's demographic.

Actually, I'd bet this website's demographic is astonishingly old, at least by Internet standards. But I'm astonishingly old by Internet standards.

You're correct on both counts.

I remember a few years ago in one of Todd Kliman's chats, he mentioned this website, and said (I'm pretty sure this is an exact quote because I remember it so well), "The Rockwell site skews young." I laughed when I read it because I knew he was *so* wrong, and in recent years, we've only gotten older.

Hell, I'm no spring chicken - I was old by internet standards when we started in 2005, and now I'm getting old by just about any standards.

I covet a younger demographic just because of long-term survival (I feel like "Panorama"), but I don't want to sacrifice standards just to get it - given one or the other, my heart lies with the elderly and always has. They're wiser, more educated, and have more to say just because of their life experiences (and that's good news for younger people, since they have something to look forward to). That said, gosh I'd like to find some younger people with the same attitude, who want to teach us old crows a few things *and* learn from us at the same time. Maybe I should change my first name to Tyler?

[DaveO]

The neighborhood is still packed after hours.

Whew.  I was worried hell had frozen over.

[cheezepowder]

PoPville:  "Bonfire Coming Soon Signage and Now Hiring at Former Famous Luigi's Pizza Space"