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Italian Pizza Kitchen, Van Ness and Now on U St


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We all know Van Ness is a culinary wasteland*, but the Italian Pizza Kitchen is a small beacon of light. Having done take out from there 4 or 5 times over the past couple of months it is now the default lazy night what should we order for dinner spot.

Although they use a conveyor belt style "pizza oven," they do a decent, if perhaps a little pricey ($17 for a large) pizza...I recommend the Siciliana, roasted red pepper, prosciutto and olives. I would call this pizza a mid-range pie...better than your regular take-out joints but not done to the level of the high end wood fire places.

The real winner has been the small pasta selections...this is red sauce gooey Italian/American style stuff. the Manicotti stuffed with cheese, doused in a thick tomato sauce, covered in more cheese and baked...order it with a side of the yummy house made meatballs.

The mixed green salad is large and basic with a tangy dressing. The brushetta with prosciutto is also worth ordering. The flat bread app is not.

We are not talking culinary epiphany here, just a simple family run joint that you hope survives. Grab a bottle of wine from Calvert Woodley, pop in a movie, and Italian Pizza Kitchen is the answer to a rainy April day.

*ok, so why is Van Ness a culinary wasteland?...with UDC, a bazillion apartment buildings, plenty of nearby residential housing, and a metro stop why can't this neighborhood support a few decent-to-good restaurants? Not too mention a bar/pub...I'd even take some faux Irish wanna be place festooned in Guiness posters! Surely not everyone in the neighborhood is walking down to Cleveland Park to grab a pint or two...

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*ok, so why is Van Ness a culinary wasteland?...with UDC, a bazillion apartment buildings, plenty of nearby residential housing, and a metro stop why can't this neighborhood support a few decent-to-good restaurants? Not too mention a bar/pub...I'd even take some faux Irish wanna be place festooned in Guiness posters! Surely not everyone in the neighborhood is walking down to Cleveland Park to grab a pint or two...
Well CP down the block does already have 2 faux Irish pubs, plus a sports bar with the same kind of vibe, so maybe potential bar owners are scared away. That being said, I fully agree with you that Van Ness could use a few more eateries.
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Lack of parking is a factor. Not the deciding one, but a factor.

What do you order at Italian Pizza Kitchen? I can't imagine getting pizza there when Vace is so close.

ummm, perhaps if you read the post you will see what I have ordered ;)

Vace is like a Metro stop and 8 or 9 blocks away...Italian Pizza Kitchen 1 block away.

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This place has become my go-to pizza delivery option. They have a new location on U, and you can do online ordering for either location (Connecticut or U). Here's the website. I love that they have alternative sauces (garlic, herbed olive oil, etc) as I'm not a fan of tomato sauce. They also have wheat crust, it's thin and a little sweet. Quite good. Boyfriend loves the paninis and wings -- he really likes the bread they use for the sandwich. They're quick, incredibly polite and very nice. A nice leg up on the Dominos/Pizza Hut/Pizza Bolis options.

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Does anyone have any more recent thoughts on this place? There's one opening in Woodley Park, between Jandara and Debonair cleaners. (I don't know where I've been -- I walked through the neighborhood on Sunday and saw that, and that Sherry's is moving from Calvert to Connecticut, and the rug store is closing. I'd like to hope all these changes will lead to good new dining options, but we don't have a good track record on that front.)

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Does anyone have any more recent thoughts on this place? There's one opening in Woodley Park, between Jandara and Debonair cleaners. (I don't know where I've been -- I walked through the neighborhood on Sunday and saw that, and that Sherry's is moving from Calvert to Connecticut, and the rug store is closing. I'd like to hope all these changes will lead to good new dining options, but we don't have a good track record on that front.)

Unfortunately, the CVS is steamrolling those businesses out of the way to make way for... an even bigger and more prominent CVS! What an awful use of a prime corner. Too bad DC doesn't have laws against banks and large drug stores on corners. I'm only half-kidding :)

The two issues with the the strip are the fact that tourists-who-don't-know-better frequent the strip, keeping awful places alive, and the restriction on % of restaurant frontage along the strip, also keeping the awful places alive by artificially limiting the supply of restaurants.

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Does anyone have any more recent thoughts on this place?

Italian Pizza Kitchen is our fall back take out joint in Van Ness (not that we have a lot of options!).

We very much enjoy their roast eggplant pizza with roasted red peppers and olives. I'm a fan of the lasagna, which has that thick red sauce and melted cheese thing going on. and their calzones and sandwiches in general are solid.

It's a friendly, low key sort of place that all neighborhoods should have.

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