Comet Ping Pong
Monday, June 28, 2010 at 07:57AM After a fun but swelteringly hot day exploring Capitol Hill and watching the Nats battle the White Sox, the other weekend Mark and I decided to check another D.C. pizza offering off our to-do list. So we got in the car to drive up Connecticut Avenue to Comet Ping Pong. We were greeted by a very young, very laid back staff and ushered into half-full pizzeria (it was a little after 9 pm). On our way to the table, our host took a quick detour and ran over to pick up an errant ping pong ball. Later, both he and our (also very young) server enthused over my Subway-parody Zombies Eat Flesh shirt. As my choice of attire may indicate, I'm a perpetual college kid at heart, so I think I was bound to like this place. And luckily, the pizza is pretty decent, too.
The interior made me feel like I was in someone's basement, albeit someone very artistic, with a lot of money. And I mean that in the best way. I loved the high, unfinished ceilings and exposed brick, and immediately felt very comfortable. The theme of Comet Ping Pong is echoed in all the little aspects of decor: white bulbs hang from the ceiling, like bright, floating ping pong balls, and every table - no matter its actual dimensions - is painted with the official lines of a ping pong table.
That's in addition to the actual ping pong tables set up in the back room and on the sidewalk out front. I may be years past my college graduation, but I still really appreciated the playful atmosphere.
Excepting Comet Ping Pong's creative signature pies, the options on the menu are fairly conventional (and limited), including wings, your typical salads (caesar, green, Greek). Our Italian chopped salad with romaine, savoy cabbage, radicchio, salami, provolone, chick peas and oregano dressing was nice, but pretty standard. For $8, it's substantial, but could have used a little more salami.
The menu presents much more creative and fun pizza options. I've never seen a softshell crab pizza before, so I had to order the Softie, with softshell crab, thyme, lemon, garlic, and caramelized onions (below). I really enjoyed it - the softshell crab was perfectly battered and fried and delicious, although it proved a little difficult to ensure that I got a tasty crabby bite with each slice. I also wouldn't have minded a little more of the deep fried crustacean. Mark doesn't care too much for crab, but found the combination of lemon with the pizza's thin crust to be a minor revelation.
Mark stuck with a meatier pizza sporting sausage and roasted peppers. The toppings were delicious, but (as with my pizza), they were a little too heavy for the wafer thin crust, so picking up a slice required very proper handling to avoid a landslide of toppings. Food monsters be warned - these pizzas are on the smaller side, and will not necessarily fill you up the way pizzas with heartier crusts might. In addition, the crusts of both pizzas suffered a bit from underseasoning, but in light of the excellent, tasty combinations of flavors adorning them, it was a flaw we were willing to overlook for the most part.
For dessert, the menu offered a conventional selection of cookies and basic sundaes. Mark got the strawberry sundae, which was fine, if a little short on the strawberry. The chocolate macaroon, on the other hand, tasted a little on the stale-side.
Overall, we really enjoyed our meal. While Comet Ping Pong doesn't unseat other D.C. pizza favorites (2 Amys, Pizzeria Paradiso, Pete's Apizza), I don't really think it has to - with its fun atmosphere/decor and unique pizza toppings, Comet Ping Pong will definitely appeal to young (and young-at-heart) diners.
D.C., Pizza in Reviews: On The Town
Reader Comments (4)
Any place that serves food, booze (i hope) and has ping pong... well, that's my kind of place. The pizza with crab and lemon sounds incredible... I love putting lemon zest on my pizza... definitely recommend it.
Great post!
Thanks, Brian! Actually just thinking about it makes me want to make pizza (with lemon zest) tonight. I like this place a lot, so fun!
This is incredible wondered about Ping Pong spots. S loves to play! There is a for lack of of spots for teenagers and parents too:).
Shulie-
It's a fun place - we saw a good combination of younger people and families. I'd totally go back if I was in the area.