October is Pizza Month, DC! Here's Where We're Getting Our Fix

We don't need an excuse to eat pizza, but October gives us one anyway, and we're calling it research. DC has become a legit pizza town, not just a place where you settle for a slice between meetings ... in the last few years there's been a real explosion of offerings, from old-school Italian trattorias to weekend pop-ups slinging pies out of a fryer stand.

Whether you like yours by the slice or super soupy, wood-oven fired or peeled into a deck, there's so many ways to get it and get it good in the DC area. Here's where we're getting our 'za fix during National Pizza Month:

2 Amys — 3715 Macomb Street NW; Chef-owner Peter Pastan has been running this Cleveland Park mainstay for over two decades, and it's still one of the most beloved Neapolitan-style pizzerias in the DMV, the kind of place regulars have been loyal to since before "Neapolitan" was a buzzword.

Alfreda — 2016 P St NW; Chef Russell Blue Smith traded fine dining (he worked his way up to executive chef at The Source by Wolfgang Puck) for New York-style pizza, landing on a sourdough starter crust that gives it a little sweetness and complexity before it hits the brick oven. The restaurant's named for his late grandmother, and even the gluten-free pizza has a personal story — his daughter was diagnosed with celiac. Happy Hour is buy-one-pie-get-one-free with $8 spritzes.

All Purpose — Locations vary; Chef Michael Friedman (also behind Red Hen and Aventino) built All Purpose around pizza-focused Italian-American cooking. Worth noting: the Capitol Riverfront location has closed, so Shaw and Bethesda are your spots now.

Bar Del Monte — 3054 Mt Pleasant St NW; From the same owners as 2 Amys, headed up by Oliver Pastan, this Mt. Pleasant spot was recently added to the Michelin Guide and serves Neapolitan pizza made with freshly milled flour alongside simple, seasonal Italian plates. AND, no tipping. 

Boogy & Peel — 1 Dupont Circle NW; Chef Rachael Jennings is behind the "guilty pleasure" pizzas here, the kind that take nostalgic, junk-food-adjacent flavor combos and zhuzh them up into something you'd actually order at a sit-down restaurant.

Frank Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana — Alexandria, Bethesda; The New Haven original, dating back to 1925. Known for coal-fired "apizza" and the legendary white clam pie, now with outposts close enough that you don't need a trip up I-95 to get it.

Frankly…Pizza! — 10417 Armory Avenue, Kensington, MD; Chef Frank Linn started this as a mobile wood-fired pizza stand before it grew into a real restaurant, and the wood-fired pies still carry that same chef-driven, one-guy-obsessed-with-getting-it-right energy.

Fryer's Roadside — (Friday–Sunday pop-up) 12830 New Hampshire Avenue; Owners Ed Reavis and Jennifer Meltzer (also of Money Muscle BBQ) run this fried chicken spot, and their wood-fired pizza leans hard into their barbecue roots, think smoked meats and a house-made sausage topping instead of standard toppings.

Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana — 12207 Darnestown Rd; Chef Tony Conte walked away from fine dining to make Neapolitan pizza in Darnestown, and it paid off, he's been a James Beard Award finalist for his work here. Get there early, when they run out of dough the doors close. 

Il Canale — 1065 31st Street NW; Chef-owner Giuseppe "Joe" Farruggio, a Sicily native, has made this Georgetown spot one of the few in the country accredited by Italy's top pizza-making authority.

J&J Pizza — 550 Morse Street NE; Co-founders Julian Addison (pizza) and Jake Endres (wings) split duties, and it shows: 48-hour cold-fermented NYC-style dough with Grande mozzarella and Ezzo pepperoni, plus jumbo wings, inside Crooked Run Fermentation's Union Market taproom.

L'Ardente — 200 Massachusetts Avenue NW; Chef David Deshaies, a James Beard semifinalist, cooks glam wood-fired Italian here, and yes, the pizza oven is genuinely gold-plated.

La Merna — 2153 P Street NW; Co-founders G. Bradley Shorten (a Chicago native) and Meg Schmitt brought real Chicago tavern-style pizza to Dupont. This is not deep-dish. Ready for a cracker-thin crust, cut into squares, in a wood-paneled, red-vinyl-booth room built to feel like a supper club.

Lucy Bar — 1350 Florida Avenue NW; Giulio Adriani, the same 5-time World Champion pizzaiolo behind Slice & Pie, mans the oven here too, turning out authentic Neapolitan pizzas (the Hawaiian's a surprise standout) alongside daily homemade pasta, in the old Pizzeria Vetri space at 14th and Florida.

Martha Dear — 3110 Mt Pleasant Street NW; Chef-owner Demetri Mechelis, a Tail Up Goat alum, brings Greek influences to sourdough-crusted pizza that's become one of Mt. Pleasant's hardest reservations to snag.

Nick's Riverside Grill — 3050 K Street NW; Less chef-story, more vibe-story,  a casual Georgetown waterfront bar and grill where pizza is just one more reason to stay for the water views and the happy hour crowd.

Nighthawk Pizza — 1201 S Joyce Street, Arlington, VA; Launched by Michelin-starred chef Johnny Spero, who's since decamped for a new project out west, but the pizza he set in motion is still going strong, now leaning into hand-tossed pies and thick Detroit-style squares alongside Nighthawk's own house-brewed beer.

Piccolina — 963 Palmer Alley NW; Chef Amy Brandwein (of Centrolina) brings her wood-fired, all-day Italian café concept to CityCenterDC and it’s delicious.

Pizzeria Paradiso — Dupont, Georgetown, Hyattsville, Spring Valley; Founder Ruth Gresser opened the original Dupont location over 30 years ago and basically helped put gourmet pizza on DC's map before selling the business in 2024 to a longtime employee who worked her way up from dishwasher to co-owner.

Pupatella — 1801 18th Street NW; Founder Enzo started this as a food cart in Arlington and grew it into a regional group without cutting a single corner. Pupatella holds actual Verace Pizza Napoletana certification, with dough hand-stretched using the traditional slap technique and cooked in a wood-fired oven built from Vesuvius volcanic brick. $5 Happy Hour at every location except North Arlington.

Slice & Pie —Multiple locations, Founder Giulio Adriani, a master pizzaiolo, has built this into a NY-and-Detroit-style slice shop good enough to be ranked the country's #2 slice shop by Italian pizza authority 50 Top Pizza.

Slice Joint — 1401 Pennsylvania Avenue SE; Chef-owner Rachael Marie earned her "Pizza Regina" stripes during four years at Roberta's in Brooklyn, and now she's slinging NY and square slices at The Roost food hall on Barracks Row.

Stellina Pizzeria — Multiple locations, Chef and co-owner Matteo Venini, alongside partner Antonio Matarazzo, developed a signature "Neo-Neapolitan" dough — lighter and crispier than the classic — inspired by southern Italy's street food culture.

Timber Pizza Co. — 809 Upshur Street NW; Started out of a pickup truck back in 2014; today owner Luke Watson and head chef Dani Moreira keep the wood-fired pies going strong in Petworth, plus mobile ovens that show up at farmers markets and breweries around the DMV.

But Wait There’s More:

Coming Soon: Bizzeria — Georgetown; opening this fall; Albi chef Michael Rafidi is spinning off Yellow's cult-favorite "(not) pizza" into its own restaurant. A 48-hour fermented sourdough crust and housemade cheese from pastry chef Alicia Wang, topped with Levantine flavors like spiced lamb and peppers or burnt eggplant with urfa chili crisp.

That's the whole spread — from a $5 happy hour slice to a gold-plated oven, DC's not lacking for ways to celebrate Pizza Month. Want me to turn this into a doc so it's easy to edit and hand off?