Pizzeria Paradiso (Old Town)

We opened Pizzeria Paradiso so we could make the kind of pizza we longed for but couldn’t find in the DC area; the kind of pizza where the crust was the most important part.

So we started with a wood-burning, domed, stone oven able to cook at a temperature of 650 degrees. We also wanted our guests to feel like they were being treated to the warmth and comfort of a close friend’s home, so we placed the oven at the heart of the restaurant.

Next, we developed a dough that would respond to our oven the way we dreamed. We let our dough rise slowly, work it by hand, lightly grace it with the finest quality toppings, finish it with extra virgin olive oil and cook it in our beloved oven.

As Phyllis Richman wrote about us, “[m]aking great pizza isn’t all that difficult. You need good yeast dough – left to rise long enough to develop the flavor. Then a tomato sauce of quality, cheese that’s delicious and fresh herbs from the garden, honest olive oil and vibrant toppings. Plus a good hot wood-burning oven. In other words, all it takes is a commitment to quality. That’s what makes the difference at Pizzeria Paradiso.”

The original Pizzeria Paradiso, located on the second floor of a small townhouse in Dupont Circle, opened its doors in November 1991. The restaurant received immediate critical acclaim and has since been consistently ranked among the finest restaurants in Washington, DC. This location was upgraded in 2009, and is now located at 2003 P Street. A second location, in histo