The next restaurant on the list is the first chain of the list, &Pizza. I hope this does not compromise the guidelines of my blog post because &Pizza is not exclusive to Washington DC. In fact, multiple &Pizzas can be found all over Maryland. &Pizza is cool because it is a chain that presents itself to the customer in a few different ways. Most of t &Pizza’s restaurants can be found in DC. It also can be found many places as stands on street corners, in train stations, and in shopping malls. Lastly, &Pizza, as you can see above, also serves its customers through food trucks, which are especially popular in Downtown DC around Capitol Hill.

One way to describe &Pizza is Snap Pizza, but better. Their menu consists of a handful of signature pizzas divided up into two sections called “The Hits”, their most popular and frequently ordered pizzas, and “The OGs” or their original pizzas. My favorite from “The Hits” is the Dirty Bird which consists of, garlic ricotta, shredded chicken, jalapeños, shredded mozzarella, blue cheese, ranch, buffalo drizzle, and baby kale. Served piping hot, each bite is perfectly satisfying on the taste buds. From the “OGs” I would highly recommend the Gnarlic, consisting of garlic ricotta, fresh mozzarella, grilled onion, basil pesto, and parmesan. This pizza does have an acquired taste though; a lot of people are not the biggest fans of pesto sauce and thus may be turned off just by the sight of it. However, I think if you give the pizza a try, you will be pleasantly surprised. The rest of the pizzas made at &Pizza are all custom; you choose your dough, sauce, toppings, and proteins. Unlike a traditional pie, all pizzas here are served as large ovals (basically the shape of a racecar track) and presented to you in a rectangular box for you to enjoy.

&Pizza is great for various reasons. If ever in the area with a significant other, or potential significant other, it is a great place to start date night; the food is filling over hopefully flowing conversation. It is also very good to eat while taking a break from shopping. In fact, my first time at &Pizza was after spending two hours at the Tanger Outlets looking for a new suit. In my opinion, the best time to get &Pizza, though, is when in a train station and getting a quick bite to eat before getting back on the train. Especially in the afternoon after a long day of doing whatever, &Pizza hits the spot and makes your hunger go away. &Pizza is a place I would recommend if you have a busy day planned and are on the move all day. You do not need to set aside much time to eat here and it is open at all times of the day.