I’m excited to find another good pizza place nearby besides Angelico’s. Comet Ping-pong is a new venture from the folks at Buck’s, and it’s only about three blocks from my place. We ordered a pizza with smoked mozzarella, melted onions, roasted red peppers and garlic. The mozzarella was wonderfully smoky with the onions melted beautifully. The roasted red peppers didn’t really have much of an impact on the flavor, since there weren’t that many on the pizza. The garlic, in addition to the basil pesto was wonderfully garlicky and a little spicy. The crust was crispy and a little burnt. With the addition of the sauce the crust was a great texture. I really like this place, and though it’s a little bit pricey, would be a good treat for takeout for me every now and then.
Beware the service though. I don’t know if it was just really busy or they’re not quite fully staffed yet, but we were standing at the door for about five minutes by ourselves before the hostess came up. During that five minutes the waitstaff would see us, look at us and ignore us. It would be one thing if the pizza was cheap, but I don’t really want to pay that much money to be ignored.
* Just an update – 11/15/06 – I feel strongly enough about this to write an addendum, seeing as how this is a relatively hot review. Word on the street is service is not good here. According to what someone wrote on Tom Sietsema’s 11.15.06 chat: six pieces of lettuce for six bucks in a salad. After jokingly mentioning it, the salad was whisked away by the OWNER without comment, apology or replacement. Like I said before, I have no interest in paying that much money to be treated poorly. I would comment that the general attitude from the ownership is crummy.
1. There was the whole DC Foodies Buck’s Fishing and Camping photo posting debacle. In short, DC Foodies posted pictures of the food and was threatened with a lawsuit. Blah blah blah – intellectual property.
2. They don’t list the ludicrous prices on their menu, of which only one is posted above the cook’s area.
This place seems to treat customers like they don’t need them. Did someone say Soup Nazi? The price nor the food is good enough to get treated like that. Until things change I would refer folks to Angelico’s on Wisconsin Ave. near the Tenleytown Whole Foods. They have a good veggie pizza. It’s a better deal, and they will treat you a lot more nicely.
Update 11/30/06: There’s been a lot of discussion today on Don Rockwell about Comet’s service, prices, etc. It’s been an interesting and hot topic. Some say that mistakes are handled politely though quirkly. Others have commented that there is an air of “take it or leave it” to a number of local concept restaurants – good or bad, who’s to say? Anyway, you can check out that thread. I’ve pointed it to the start of that discussion.
12/9/06: Sounds like they have menus with prices now. That’s an improvement. Perhaps it’s time to go back and see if things have improved service-wise.
Update 6/30/07: I stopped and got take out pizza from Comet. I’d kept meaning to get around to doing so for the soft shell crab pizza. I didn’t experience much service except for the bartender who I placed the order with. He was quite cordial as was the hostess. Things are picking up quite nicely here it seems. And $17 for a soft shell crab pizza was well worth it, given the soft shell crab at New Heights is $15.
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Ok, ok, lety’s all agree that some chef’s and owners have their moments, where they, much like all the rest of us, don’t exactly behave in the most thoughtful of manners. But let me ask you a question? At your day job, are you constantly bombarded by people making ridiculous requests that just because, god for bid you want to actually make a profit, you have to appease? Do you want A la minute wood-fire pizza’s, or the rest of that generic crap (exceptions being Two Amy’s and Mia’s) that we have in DC? And there’s ping pong for christs sake, this concept is great!
Bottom line, Comet is more than just Pizza, it’s a neighborhood hang out for everyone from families (in the early evening), to hipster twenty somethings looking for Ping Pong or a Good DJ later on. If the cost of having this wonderful space is a $6 salad, than get a taste for some greens people, because we need this place. And no, for the record, I do not work at Comet, but I do work in the industry and don’t think many of you bloggers don’t get what we all go through on a daily bsisi keeping you happy.
Is it ok to be rude to guests…absolutely not. But yeah know, sometimes even the most innocent of jokes at the wrong time can send you over the edge. And unless Sietsema’s chatter has mastered food cost numbers, or structured a P&L (profit and loss statement) for a new restaurant before, I think he should keep his comments to himself! Or at least be gracious enough to pull the Manager aside to note his disastisfaction, not make cracks about the salad within earshot of other diners. Trust me, a polite conversation goes a long way in most restauarants!!!!
Comet is here to stay, I’m quite sure, and rest assured many of us (the type who don’t care what the salad costs if the pizza is right) will be back. If the cheap, unhappy people choose to stay home, more room for me and the many others behnid me who will follow.
I agree with most of your points. Everyone has a bad day, but from a few things I’ve read, it’s somewhat common at Comet. My personal experience I attributed to being opening week, but discussions suggest that it is a trend. I am pointing out a trend. Perhaps the restaurant is still settling in, so perhaps a Sietsema review can shed some light on some changes. Since I know that he does go a few times and gives restaurants more time before commenting.
My discussion of the restaurant is for those people who maybe don’t have the money to throw around and want a more positive service experience. There are other fine pizza restaurants that you mentioned, such as 2 Amys, that will provide both fine food and a good experience. I would like to point out something I did not mention in the post so that people can be aware. A personal size, no-topping pizza costs $9. Ingredients are organic.
As for bloggers, I think I try to be fair and take into consideration the various factors that affect service and food quality, and will mention it in the post, as I did here.
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