Ledo Pizza, An Annapolis-Based Franchise - Spinoff of the Adelphi Original now in Numerous Area Locations

[mdt]

Word. (Although I had to pass up an opportunity to stop at American Flatbread last week when we were driving through Middlebury.)

These are some serious disturbances in the Force. UPN was superb, and a move to SF will not count as making it more convenient for me to get to. The pizza of my childhood is defined by the Adelphi Ledo's, and it's still our go-to place for irregular reunions with a handful of college pals. The franchise locations may have the crust, but never the garlic bread with its crusty cap of parm, nor were the grease cups ever as properly thick as at the original.

I'm gonna go sulk now. Pizza Man, we need more pie options!

Do all the Ledo's have super sugary sweet sauce? Can't say I care much for the crust either, just not my thing.

[hm212]

The Ledo's by Montgomery County Mall has a very sweet sauce. We got a pie last week during the school's fundraiser night, but i won't normally go there since I don't like their sauce.

[ScotteeM]

After reading in the Washington Post that Ledo offers a gluten-free pizza crust, I decided to try a pie tonight. I ordered it with pepperoni, mushroom and onion.

When I picked it up, it didn't seem very warm in the box. I got home and found it was cold and looked under-cooked. (Maybe it was one of their "half-baked" pizzas?). I rewarmed it in the oven.

The pepperoni was thick-cut as they mention on their website, but didn't taste or look like most pepperoni.  The mushrooms were just weird. They say on their website that the mushrooms are "cool-blanched" but no one else does that. The crust was OK in texture, but very sweet, which can happen with gluten-free flours.

I "took one for the team," and will cross Ledo off my list for pizza.

[Joe H]

I grew up with Ledo's Pizza having first gone to the old Adelphi (!) original with my parents a year or so after it opened in the late '50's.  Before they closed  my wife and I would make annual pilgramages from Reston there just to have a pizza. I should also mention that I spent eight years at the University of Maryland and ate a lot of pizza there. I write this because I have no idea what a "gluten free" Ledo's pizza crust is. I do know that years ago they still had some pizza pans that dated to the '50's and the pies that came out of them had the best crust  of all.

I also have never had a pie in one of their outposts that had anything to do with the University Blvd. original.

If Ledo's is now making a "gluten free" pizza it is not a Ledo's pizza.

A good reason why Crozet shouldn't franchise.

Note:  Ledo's is to UM as Crozet is to UVA.

[ol_ironstomach]

My understanding is that the family split the business years ago, with one cousin operating the restaurant, and another cousin pursuing the franchise path.

Having said that, while location-to-location variation (and a different menu) made the franchises generally inferior to the original Adelphi location, unfortunately I'm no longer convinced that this is true in comparison to the "new" original location in College Park.  See other thread for an explanation.

[DonRocks]

The South Arlington Ledo at 1035 S. Edgewood St., just south of Columbia Pike, delivers ($1 charge), has online ordering, and the pizza is consistently decent - it's a hair better than The Broiler. Don't get me wrong - they're both comparable, but these days, if I vote with my pocketbook, I vote Ledo's (I've never gotten anything other than the pizza, and that's usually a Veggie - it's almost shockingly mild to the point of being bland, but you don't feel gross after eating it - in fact, it benefits from a touch of salt (I doubt I'd be saying this about the Pepperoni).

The obscure franchise in Springfield is perhaps even a hair better, and it's a fairly pleasant place to have a beer while you wait - it's across Rolling Road from Whole Foods, at the same intersection of Rolling and Old Keene Mill Road.

[lion]

Tyson's near the Library has been a good one compared to the other franchises. 

[DaveO]

Tyson's near the Library has been a good one compared to the other franchises. 

Lion:  You beat me to the punch; was going to say the same thing.  .....and after many years and many different Ledo's in many different corners of the region, that one has been heads and shoulders better than any other I've visited.

[DonRocks]

Tyson's near the Library has been a good one compared to the other franchises. 

Well, as long as we're comparing franchises, the best I've been to was Laurel, but that was a long time ago - Fulton wasn't bad either; I haven't had much luck with the one in Colesville (although it was really good when it first opened), but even that has been a few years - it always seemed to do a very brisk business. In general, Ledo's franchises are better than the national chains.

[Dr. Delicious]

There's one in Falls Church that I'm partial to (near the Trader Joes). I rather like the sweet tasting sauce they use and they don't skimp out on the toppings, even the meat ones.

[DonRocks]

There's one in Falls Church that I'm partial to (near the Trader Joes). I rather like the sweet tasting sauce they use and the don't skimp out on the toppings, even the meat ones.

That was my "Home Franchise" for quite awhile.

All Ledos that I've seen use a sugared-down tomato sauce, as well as a croissant-like crust - I suspect, but am not sure, that the franchises get their ingredients from the Ledo Central Repository (but I'm uncertain if every location has the infamous "thick-cut pepperoni" along with the apocryphal story of how it came into existence).

[ScotteeM]

All Ledos that I've seen use a sugared-down tomato sauce, as well as a croissant-like crust - I suspect, but am not sure, that the franchises get their ingredients from the Ledo Central Repository (but I'm uncertain if every location has the infamous "thick-cut pepperoni" along with the apocryphal story of how it came into existence).

Not to mention the weird mushrooms, explained on their website.

[Bob Wells]

We get Ledos a couple times a year -- there's one on 29 that's fairly close. I'm partial to the green olives as a counterpoint to the sweet sauce. I like the crust and agree they are very generous with the toppings.

Update: According to their website, green olives are no longer available as a topping, but apples and baby arugula are. To quote Gunny Hartman, "You gotta be shittin' me, Joker!"

[Kibbee Nayee]

Shout out for Springfield here....not that the food is something special, but more because there's a large area in the back of the restaurant that is more or less a neighborhood sports bar. You almost wouldn't know it existed unless you live in the area, and as sports bars go, it's very good. Add Ledo's food to the drinks and the flat screens, and you have a really nice sports bar.

I've been to the Ledo's in Hanover, MD....it is not a good version of a Ledo's. It's the one to go to if you want to see the difference between Ledo franchises, top to bottom.

[DaveO]

That was my "Home Franchise" for quite awhile.

All Ledos that I've seen use a sugared-down tomato sauce, as well as a croissant-like crust - I suspect, but am not sure, that the franchises get their ingredients from the Ledo Central Repository (but I'm uncertain if every location has the infamous "thick-cut pepperoni" along with the apocryphal story of how it came into existence).

Oh lordie, I hope they don't go sugar crazy or add sugar at all.  A mirepoix with a very high percentage of carrots adds a very noteworthy amount of sweetness to a red sauce.  Some other veggies have a similar effect  (pureed sweet potatoes or peas for example).  I've been doing those for years.  In my experience its the carrots that really add sweetness a la ledo's red sauce.

But then I'm not in their kitchen.  Who knows what they add?

I know I visited a lot of different Ledo's over a couple of decades while driving throughout the extended burbs.  One would have thought it was a "dependable" consistent franchise....but they weren't consistent by any means.  I've been to the one in the BW corridor in Hanover and I agree with KN above--Not good.  The Tysons/Fall Church Rte 7 one was consistent and better than most in my experience...I don't recall hitting the S;pringfield one.

[DonRocks]

Oh lordie, I hope they don't go sugar crazy or add sugar at all. 

Sorry to burst your bubble.

If I said which other restaurant sugars down their food, about 20,000 people, thrilled to get a table, would collapse in a state of cataplexy.

[DaveO]

Sorry to burst your bubble.

If I said which other restaurant sugars down their food, about 20,000 people, thrilled to get a table, would collapse in a state of cataplexy.

Ledo Sauce Ingredients: Vine-Ripened Fresh Peeled Ground Tomatoes, Extra Heavy Tomato Puree, A Special Blend of Spices and Herbs (Sugar, Salt, Aromatic Herbs, Spices), Soybean Oil, Fresh Onions, Fresh Garlic. Smoked Provolone Cheese Ingredients: Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Cultures, Salt, Enzymes, Natural Smoke Flavor.

Ugh!!!!    use carrots.  geez.  

[MsDiPesto]

When I renew my lease, the landlord gives me a choice: $25 of free gas, which is the better choice, or $25 of Ledo's (Tyson's) food. I've only been to that location a couple of times (come to think of it, it's the only Ledo's I've ever patronized). It's like stepping back into the 1970's. Plus, a lot of jerks think nothing of just parking on the curb in front of that Ledo's while they go wait for a pizza or whatever, creating a one-lane aisle outside and lots of death glares from other drivers.

[DonRocks]

When I renew my lease, the landlord gives me a choice: $25 of free gas, which is the better choice, or $25 of Ledo's (Tyson's) food. I've only been to that location a couple of times (come to think of it, it's the only Ledo's I've ever patronized). It's like stepping back into the 1970's. Plus, a lot of jerks think nothing of just parking on the curb in front of that Ledo's while they go wait for a pizza or whatever, creating a one-lane aisle outside and lots of death glares from other drivers.

The gas is obviously the more logical choice since it's a non-optional purchase, but the Ledo's card will force you to give it a try (assuming you take the illogical route, I say go for a large Ledo Deluxe and use it all in one visit).

Oh, and be sure to enjoy that super-special "Angus hamburger" on the pizza.

[reedm]

Sorry to burst your bubble.

If I said which other restaurant sugars down their food, about 20,000 people, thrilled to get a table, would collapse in a state of cataplexy.

You're not going to leave us wondering, are you? 

I don't think there is a separate thread, so I'll ask it here: Is there any decent pizza to be had in the Fairfax City area?

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Havabite Eatery (DonRocks)

Pomodoro (Monkeyrotica)

Paisano's (JSnake)

[DonRocks]

Would an employee of the South Arlington Ledo Pizza please write me at donrockwell@dcdining.com?

Thank you - this will obviously be in strict confidence, and you don't have to give me your name.

[DonRocks]

Ledo has introduced a cauliflower crust.

[lion]

On 3/27/2020 at 4:22 PM, Ericandblueboy said:

Thought it might give each other ideas based on where and what you're ordering for take-out or delivery.  

We finally did Ledo's pizza for take-out. It was a good change of pace after such a long time.