JSnake

This is probably my favorite Italian in the entire area and is usually my go-to choice when family or friends visit from out of town because of how close by it is and my god, the parking is just a dream. There should be a website that rates restaurants based on how easy it is to park and Osteria Marzano should be #1. Oh, right, the food. It's excellent! The place is owned and ran by a father-daughter team. The old man runs the kitchen while the daughter runs everything else. Their pastas, of which there are many, are made daily in-house. The menu is huge. I've been here maybe about, 7 or 8 times and I've still yet to try everything on it. Normally I'd take this as a bad sign but Osteria Marzano is just super consistentI'. I've had beautiful and delicious plates of grilled orata, rich and flavorful ravioli filled with braised short rib and some of the biggest meatballs you've ever seen. Seriously, those meatballs. They're almost as big as your head and they pack flavor to match. There's a 10 dollar appetizer on the menu that gets you get two of them placed in tomato sauce and topped with a generous amount of ricotta cheese. This is not an appetizer. This is a full meal. If you order this and manage to eat all of it, you are not eating anything for the rest of the night. For real, this place packs some serious balls. Last time I was here was a month or two ago and I had a wonderful waitress. An older woman, she was Italian-born. I wish I could remember her name but she had a wonderful sense of humor and had extensive knowledge of the menu. When I couldn't decide between two specials, lobster-filled ravioli and a crab-meat risotto, I asked for her advice and with a wink, she replied "Oh like you need to ask. The ravioli, of course." I was served about 5 or 6 large and plump ravioli, which were practically bursting with fresh lobster meat. Leakage is a problem I often find when served ravioli but there was none here. The meat stayed perfectly encased in its pouches during my meal. This was a rich meal and it left me stuffed, but ultimately I was very pleased and very thankful to my waitress for the suggestion. My favorites on the regular menu are the Ossobucco, which they serve atop a bed of delicious saffron risotto. The veal itself falls right off the bone and is flavored with a rich and hearty white wine sauce. It is fabulous. I also like the Penne Vodka, which is a large plate (this is a common theme. Osteria Marzano does not skimp on the portions. Personally I like this) of perfectly al dente penne pasta covered with a pink vodka sauce and sprinkled with hefty bits of smoked salmon. This might be too salty for some but honestly I love it. It takes all of my willpower to not order this dish every time I go here. Smoked salmon is my all-time favorite fish and each bite is spiked with that distinct flavor. I've had one dud at this place and that's the Arancini from the bar menu. I've ordered it twice and it's just too sweet for my tastes. When I order Arancini, I expect a savory, creamy and cheesy flavor. I got the latter two, but instead of savory, it was more sweet than anything. Both of the times I ordered it, I took one bite and passed it off to one of my dining partners. They seemed to enjoy it, so go figure. It had a great soft crunch when I bit into it, though, so there's that. Here are some pics (in order, Ossobucco, Penne Vodka and Arancini).

I'm just going to come out and say that this is the best pizza to be found outside of NY. Wiseguys serves up a quintessential NY slice, one that brings me back to my childhood of skipping right over to 7 Carmine St in the West Village as soon as the school bell rang. The slice has a beautiful char to it, yet it remains pliant enough to be easily folded like a NY slice should be. There is no drooping or flaccidness here -- the crust remains sturdy and crispy the entire time. And what a crisp that crust has. When I first walked into Wiseguys and bit into my first plain slice, well, you might be expecting me to drop a cliche and say it was "a revelation." But a revelation wasn't what I was looking for and it certainly isn't what I got. Rather, what I felt was a warm sense of comfort, brought on by a crisp texture from the crust and a savory but slightly sweet flavor resulting from the cheese and tomato sauce. This is not a slice for those who think more cheese equals better pizza. The cheese is sprinkled on by a deft and careful hand, resulting in a slice where the tomato sauce visibly peeks out from underneath the melted mozzarella. This is what a NY slice should be. I understand how some people prefer the neapolitan pies that DC so frequently slings but for this New Yorker, this is what pizza is. Those other pies might as well be completely different foods. Also: never leave without ordering the garlic knots. They're great and a perfect oldschool complement to these oldschool pies. Keep in mind I am talking about the DC location. Have not yet been to the Rosslyn outpost. Here's some pics I took from my last visit here

Hello, I'm John. I live roughly 15 minutes outside of the city proper, in the Alexandria area near Old Town. I've been living here for 10 years but my home is still and always will be New York. Been reading DR for a while (few years) and finally got off my ass and signed up. My favorite cuisines are French, Italian, Asian (Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese, Chinese-American, you name it, it's all good) and, of course, American. Really I'll eat anything. Well, almost. It has to be edible. But my all-time favorite is pizza. Specifically, a classic New York style slice. If you offered me the choice of, say, a free meal at Noma or Joe's, I'd pick the latter every single time. To me, there is no greater pleasure on this earth than a perfectly charred, foldable piece of NY style pie, with that perfect balance of cheese and sauce melding together in blissful harmony. My favorite DC restaurants are, in no particular order are: Le Diplomate, Central before it went downhill, Daikaya, Toki Underground, Donburi, Rose's Luxury, Osteria Marzano, the various Ray's establishments, Restaurant Eve and most importantly, WiseGuy's NY Pizza. It is the best pizza you can find outside of NY. Anyway, glad to be here and to finally engage in the discussion. Beware, I have very strong feelings about pizza.