06. Pizzeria Venti

PIZZERIA VENTI
301 John Carlyle St
Alexandria, VA 22314

As you can see the surroundings are either frightening or oddly spooky. More than likely because of this Parking is a breeze!

The simple storefront led us into expecting a simple pizza place, we would soon learn the truth.

We headed inside to find a layout we have not come across in the months of We're Hungry. There are a lot of tables set up almost in a Deutschland Cafeteria. Lots of tables in a square shaped area. YOU DO NOT SIT DOWN FIRST! You walk up to the counter and order what you want right then and there then grab a seat and wait.

After we ordered we noticed the other part of the restaurant, The Bar/ Lounge Area. Off to the side from the main eating hall was this basement style chillax area. Large leather couches and big comfy chairs await you in this area as well as a Vizio LCD Televsion, showing a Cat Trade Show! We all found this fascinating, especially John.

Here is the bar area, no one was sitting here and it didn't seem to get much use. We greatly appreciated the effort as it gave the place a very comfortable basement vibe which we are all accustomed to.
THE MEAL!

MEATBALLS! Richard should've just ordered these because they are whopping in size! Taste wise I would have to say they were very authentic and held they shape as they were bitten into! +1!

John got this! We think its Lasagna!

Ahmed got this! Some kind of Breaded Sauce!

SAUSAGE AND PEPPERONI PIZZA! These reeked of FCPS style pizza. I mean look at the shape! Clearly the chef went to Lake Braddock and just felt the need to improve upon the pizza he had eaten for 12 straight years. One would normally think this was a criticism of the pizza but that couldn't be farther from the truth, we all loved the FCPS Pizza!

LADIES NIGHT! This place had a higher concentration of women than any other restaurant we've been to! All MILFs by the way. John thought they were more than likely a Lesbian Group who met at Pizzeria Venti every week to discuss lesbain things.

John drowned his bread and made a guy taking a sauce bath. Notice the bread arms and head sticking out screaming for help, or enjoying the relaxation. You decide!

Final Notes:
Pros: Ahmed said the place was 'good'
Ahmed loves the basement vibe but suggests a table be added to the mix so you can eat in the lounge, he also gave the meatballs an A+.
John was underwhelmed.
We all loved the bathroom except John who seemed to have had an unpleasant time in there, he gave us no details on what went down.

!!!SWEATER ADVISORY!!! It's drafty in this place!

We realized at the end of the meal that we should've taken the cannolis. Damn.

RATINGS
Ahmed- 7
John - 7.5
Richard 7.5 (+.5 for the bathroom sink!)

Total: 22

Special Note

In hindsight we all felt that Pines of Florence was the far better restaurant even though it received a lower score. We will try to keep this from happening again.

03. Pines of Florence (Gino's?)

Now it's Richard's turn! Being the pizza expert of the group Richard decided on an Italian restaurant. That place was Gino's of King Street. At least it was Gino's on the internet. Upon arrival we realized we were in fact eating at Pines of Florence. So this will be the Pines of Florence review! This restaurant was only one block from Tiffany Tavern, shudder. I mean really don't eat at that place it stills keeps a nasty taste in the back of my throat.

PRE-MEAL
Parking: A breeze we literally parked right out front.

View from the Street: A nice photo opp. of the Masonic Temple. Also very close to the comic book store, which is awesome.

Outside Decor: A quaint nook right on the corner. With green awnings and a vertical sign leading you inwards.

Inside: A stocked section of tables and booths with a slight Italian design influence but nothing over the top. The only other people in the place were another group of three guys, could they be We're Hungrying Old Town as well?

We were served Bread and Olive Oil before even giving our drink orders! We decided to give that a +1.5.

We almost immediately took that away as John and Ahmed both figured that bread could've been warmed a bit.

DATE NIGHT: We all agree that a Caesar Salad and a Pizza is the perfect High School Date. Not just at Pines of Florence but at any place really. We also wish we had this knowledge in High School.

We ordered our drinks.

Does Pines of Florence check I.D.'s for adult beverages?
Yes.

The Vibe: We all agreed that P O F had a Nice Vibe. You feel relaxed, like they appreciate your business. Unlike other places in Old Town that treat you as if they are doing you a favor by getting you another beer The waiter was also hilarious! Sort of.

The Music: WASH-FM which was a welcome change from the whining vocal cord shrieking provided by Juniper Lane's hang out.

We also realized children were working in the kitchen as we only saw one little girl come out of the kitchen carrying a 5 gallon sauce drum with her.

The Bathroom: Really freaky sound when you open the door! We almost don't want to tell you so when it happens to you can freak out just as much as we all did. Otherwise the bathroom used it's limited space and came off as another quaint part of the restaurant. Not as bad as you would think.

Out of the Moleskine: PRESERVE THE NO CHECKING REDS STARCADE RULE
No idea what that means.

We kept hearing bells and Ahmed soon realized its the "Foods Ready!" indicator.

DING DING DING on that note:

THE MEAL

Ahmed - Meat Lasagna

John - Spaghetti w/ Meat Sauce

Richard - Pepperoni Pizza

John commented that the spaghetti sauce was Improved Upon Fairfax County Public Schools spaghetti. Anyone who has eaten that sauce knows that that is quite the compliment.

The pizza went down quick but suspicions were raised as to whether it was Frozen or Fresh Pizza. The crust and evenness of the undercarriage almost firmly stamped the pizza a Frozen. We hope this isn't true as it was actually quite tasty. GO investigate yourself.

No comment on the Lasagna I suppose as nothing was written down.

RATINGS!

Ahmed - 7
Richard - 6
John - 6.5

Total: 19.5

This leaves us with the burning question where is Gino's? We figured it was an After Hours Club out behind Pines.

EDIT: As mentioned in the Pizzeria Venti review, this place was much better than 19.5. We're sorry.