Its not every day that a restaurant gets caught up in a fake news alt-right scandal, but this is D.C., isn’t it? Comet Ping Pong is a pizza restaurant in Northwest D.C. caught up in a super wild conspiracy theory during the 2016 election scandal (which you can read about here). But, this isn’t a conspiracy blog, i’m just here to eat the food!
Located north of Van Ness and a little east of Tenleytown, Comet is located on a cut little street with restaurants, a bookstore, and some coffee shops. They have outdoor seating with cute string lights and ample bench seating (+ping pong!) inside.
The restaurant features a classic American menu, with a variety of appetizers, salads, make-your-own pizzas, signature pizzas, and old-fashioned deserts. They serve lunch on the weekends and dinner every night. The tables are lined with red gingham cloths and the decor is very brightly colored.
There are many fantastic pizza options – it took us so long to decide what we wanted! Comet has a variety of tomato sauce and a surprising amount without any sauce at all. We ended up going for The Slam, with tomato sauce, arugula, La Quercia prosciutto, and mozarella.
Zach and I are incredibly partial (and rightfully so! to La Quercia prosciutto). Made in Newton, IA, their pork comes from sustainable sources in Iowa and cure it in the state. It has won many national and international awards – so we love to see it here on the East Coast!
The pizza itself was good, but could be improved. The tomato sauce was definitely homemade, but tasted too much like canned San Marzano to me. A little more spice in the sauce would have covered up that flavor. I think the pizza could have used more cheese and prosciutto to balance out the amount of arugula – I want to get all the ingredients in the same bite. $16 for a personal (ish) pizza – so i’d like the flavors to be a little bit better to be worth the price.
We also had their hot wings on the side – which were surprisingly good! They didn’t do a typical Frank’s buffalo sauce, but it was well-spiced and juicy, the meat was so tender it was falling off the bone. Served with a sort of buttermilk ranch sauce, I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were!
As one does, we finished off the meal with a scoop of local pineapple and coconut ice cream. Not sure where they’ve sourced it from, but it was a good little scoop. I definitely want to come back to try their ice cream sundaes!
Comet is a good pizza joint with a good atmosphere, extensive selection, and food that hits the spot. However, a few small tweaks could really improve the quality of the food – better spices and ratios in the pizza as the main thing. I’d come back here but i’m not *glowing* about the quality.
The Bottom Line
Good (not great) pizza with a nice atmosphere.
Cone Rating: 3.25 Cones 
Location: Van Ness/Tenleytown, Washington, DC
Price: $$ (Around $15 for a pizza)
aditi eats 