Image: Deep thoughts.
Last Updated: October 2024
Overview:
The frills are limited, but the options are bountiful. Della Barba does four different takes on pizza with lots of topping options for each one. The options are: Chicago deep dish, Detroit-style, NY thin, and a thicker Sicilian “Nonna” style. Meat toppings include classics like pepperoni, sausage, and meatball as well as chicken. Vegetables are also classics like peppers, onions, olives, spinach and tomatoes.
The place took off as a pandemic-era take-out phenomenon operating out of any Ivy City kitchen. In 2022, they took a spot on the east end of Capitol Hill. They have added tables to take-out. Drink options are limited pending liquor license approval. They do offer a few other items (untried by us) like wings, hummus and meatballs. We’d steer away from the simple Caesar salad, but the fennel arugula one is solid.
The restaurant is semi-eponymously named for Joey Barber who left the law to pursue a pizza passion, including going to pizza conferences and attending the International School of Pizza in San Francisco. The pies reflect regional distinctions beyond just thickness. The Detroit version is done with Wisconsin brick cheese melting into crispy corners. Like all three of the non-thin versions, the pizza is doughy, though this one is less dense. The deep dish one is made from a dough of flour, butter and corn. It is fermented for two days, before being rolled out and filled with large amount of toppings with the meatball one coming in at five pounds. They offer a “mini” version which is still substantial. The Nonna is done in a square and cut into triangles.
Other Guidance: Restaurant located at street level. No GF pizza options available.
Summary:
Cuisine: Pizza
Neighborhood: Capitol Hill
Address: 1382 East Capitol St NE, Washington, DC 20003
Website: https://www.dellabarbapizza.com/
Reservations: Walk-in
Other Critics/Voices:
Washington Post: Places in DMV to get good Chicago-style pizza. Carman put the meatball version on a top 10 list.
Washingtonian: Preview
Washington City Paper: On a Laura Hayes list when they were still in Ivy City.