Church St. Pizza (Vienna)

[MikeR]

Haven't seen this place mentioned for a while, but it seems that it got some good reports. Is it still there? I realize it's more "American" style than the recent run of "real" pizza places, but is it still a good place to go when you just plain want a pizza? Is it better, worse, or just different from Joe's Pizza? (that's the quality I'm anticipating)

[chowser]

I haven't been in a few months but I like it. I don't know what you mean by "american" pizza (NY, Chicago, RI....?) but the crust is nice, thin and crusty/chewy, good flavor. For me, it's more about the crust than the toppings. I've never been to Joe's but Church St is better than others I've had in the area. Oddly enough, the best pizza I've had recently is in Gettysburg, PA. Far better than what I've had here.

[MikeR]

"American pizza" = not artisan pizza, not specifically regional Italian (Neapolitan, for example), not thin-for-thin-sake crust, not thick-for-thick-sake crust, just kind of like pizza house pizza, only a little better, where a $20 pizza is about right for three or four people.

[chowser]

I'd say it's closest to NYC style pizza but IIRC, a large pizza, less than $20, would be fine for 3-4 people but not really hungry people.

[MikeR]

With "really hungry" people, all bets are off. ;)

Does anyone go to Z-Pizza any more? They used to get good press here when they were new. That's another example of a pretty good pizza that I wouldn't try to classify by region or country of origin.

[chowser]

I've been recently but not by choice. As chains go, I'd say it's the best but it's way too pricey for what you get which is decent pizza, at best. I think it does depend on location and I go to the Lorton one. I think of that as California pizza if there is such a thing. Church St is far better and more reasonably priced. People I know who IRL who love Z-Pizza also love Cheesecake Factory.

[MikeR]

My local Z-Pizza is in Falls Church. I haven't been there in a while, but they still have a sign out front advertising two slices with a drink for $6 ($1 more than Filppin' a couple of blocks away). That's a fine lunch for me at a price I'm not unhappy to pay. Never thought of it as "California" pizza. What the heck's that? Like California Pizza Kitchen pizza? I used to know what that was before they started making thin crust, crispy crust, rising crust and whatever else instead of just pizza with chicken on it.

We're getting far too specialized, I think. I think it's OK for things that are truly different, even to a non-discriminating eater, like barbecue or chili, but once that TV show about cupcakes gets around and it's no longer a DC phenomenon, people will start categorizing cupcakes by region. And next will come burgers. <G>

[Jeremy303]

Church Street pizza is still around and the pizza is decent, I am unfamilar with Joe Pizza so I cant compare the too. The plain pizza at Church Street is fine, you could do a lot worse. You should go to Pizzeria Orso! I dined there on Friday night and there pizza is very similar to 2Amy's it was great.

[MikeR]

Thanks for the report. Orso's reviews seem to be very polarized. Either people really like it or really don't like it. Same with 2 Amy's. I was going to write something like "don't bother telling me that if I wanted good pizza I should go to 2 Amy's" because, at least for this situation, it ain't gonna happen.