Eater has released a list of ‘7 Exciting New Pizza Places to Try Around D.C.’ and the top two spots have got to two new Montgomery County restaurants.
Coming in at #2 is the recently opened Underground Pizza, which opened its first Montgomery County location in February after serving the area via pop-ups since 2020. Underground Pizza is located at 8235 Georgia Ave in Silver Spring. in the space that was formerly home to Olazzo.
Owner Evan Weinstein, a concert promoter and founder of Steez Promo, started Underground Pizza Company (UPC) in 2020 after concert venues in the area closed their doors due to the pandemic. Underground Pizza started selling its Detroit-style pizzas at local “pop-up” events that were marketed through social media. Costumers would pre-order pizzas and then meet at a designated location at specific times to pick up their order.
UPC opened its first brick & mortar location inside of Power Plant Live! in Downtown Baltimore in December 2020. In addition to pizza, UPC serves over-stuffed sandwiches, salads, hot honey bacon, and mozzarella sticks. The full menu can be seen here.
Coming in at #1 is Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana, which officially opened its first DMV location at Bethesda’s Westfield Montgomery Mall (7101 Democracy Blvd) on Monday, March 28.
“It may have taken nearly a century for America’s best pizza to arrive in the DMV, but we are thrilled to finally be here.” said Jennifer Kelly, granddaughter of Frank Pepe. “These are our family’s original recipes,” she added. “We even replicated our signature coal-fired, hand-built brick oven using iron castings from the original restaurant.”
Founded in New Haven by Frank Pepe in 1925, who immigrated to the United States in 1909 at the age of 16, Pepe’s Pizza is the originator of New Haven-style pizza, which is characterized by its signature crispy yet chewy, slightly charred crust.