Pizzeria Paradiso - Georgetown

SShelly

California

4.45/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 5 | $$

The fam and I were trying to go to brickskeller but they were closed so we took a walk down the street and ended up here, very glad we did. A moderate but quality draft selection with a local alt on cask the beer was a good sideline to the highlight that was the pizza. Tasty high quality toppings and cheese with well done crust he pizza kicked ass. Will definetly come back if i find myself wandering around duping circle in need of some zza. Oh the pizza my step Dad got had the best pepperoni I've ever had in my life, simply well done.

08-31-2010 20:54:05 | More by SShelly

pythonmets

West Virginia

4.45/5  rDev +1.8%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$$

So glad we found this place. While we don't get to DC all that often, my wife and I make it a point to stop by here every time. While it's a bit pricey, it pretty average for the area, and worth it for the experience. First off, their pizza is phenomenal. Always fresh ingredients and very interesting spins on the classic dough sauce and cheese formula. But what really sets them apart of course is the beer, and luckily they have a staff that is knowledgable about what they serve. Our servers are always ready with a recommendation based on what you are going to eat, and the bartenders are never condescending. As long as they keep it going like this we will always be returning! As an aside, last time we dined there, a stretch Hummer pulled over on M Street right outside the window we were sitting at, and out steps the Governator and his family! OK, not really THAT cool, but it was cool to see how short Ah-nold is in real life!!

08-02-2010 02:15:45 | More by pythonmets

TMoney2591

Illinois

4.44/5  rDev +1.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$

Stopped in here before class midday on a Wednesday; got a seat at the bar just inside the front door. It all seemed to fancy to me, what witht eh granite/marble bar and what I can only call traditional Italian pizzeria fare, but somehow I did not feel out of place in jeans. It was quiet enough for the lunch-ish hour. The bartender/server was a bit sparse with her appearances, but when she was around she was knowledgable and helpful. The draught list is not all that long, but it is pretty top-notch regardless. They also have at least one beer on cask, which is becoming a welcome sight in this area. The bottle list is pretty massive, and they seemed to actually have most of what was listed (though a couple big 'uns were unfortunately absent...). The beers were served in the proper glassware and were all very tasty (who can argue with KBS on-tap??). I didn't try the food (new things frighten me...), but it looked pretty tasty when I peeked at the tables. For the District, the prices are fair, though some of the bottles' push it a bit. Overall, this place is fantastic, and I can't wait for my next visit.

06-06-2010 22:10:44 | More by TMoney2591

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.43/5  rDev +1.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5 | $$$

A cozy bar in Georgetown, located downstairs in Pizzeria Paradiso. Try to get there before the throng and get the comfortable seats near the fireplace. There is pretty limited seating capacity and it can fill up pretty quickly. The quality of service fluctuates, but mostly it has been very good. Birreria Paradiso often acquires some rare and incredible beers on tap. Their drafts have a high turnover rate, making it optimal for repeat visits. Happy hour is Tuesday and Wednesday from 5-7, where drafts are half price. They offer beer flights of 3 or 4 beers from the draft menu, enabling an appreciator to taste the gamut of what's on tap, should he/she so desire. The food is decent, but not awesome. This place is about beer. I highly recommend it. It's easily one of the best beer establishments in the greater D.C. area.

04-25-2010 04:40:23 | More by Huhzubendah

alysmith4

District of Columbia

3.58/5  rDev -18.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4 | service: 2 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

This place is pretty great, although the ambiance leaves a lot to be desired. I like the beers they have, there are quite a few on tap and there is a wide variety of domestic and import. They seem to be big on Belgians. I seem to remember one or two cask beers, and I tried at least one of them. It wasn't my favorite, as it was some sort of barleywine.

The food here is great! Excellent pizzas. Very fresh and authentic. I'm not a huge fan of eggs, but one of the more interesting pizzas has a few cracked sunnyside-up eggs on it. The service is just okay. Nothing special. A good place to go for beer and a bite, without many frills.

03-25-2010 17:23:06 | More by alysmith4

flannelman808

California

4.35/5  rDev -0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

Wow wow wow I love this place.... The pizza is unbelievable napolian style and extreemly fresh. Top notch ingreediants and wood fired oven equals an amazing dining experiance! They have something like 22 beers on draft which are always rotating. There are definitely some hard to find selections to be made. The list of about 300 bottles is even better. They have my favorite uber rare beer of all time the de dolle oerbier special reserve 2008. Need I say more? Pleanty of great beer both rare and not...something for everyone. Amazing place I can't rave enough! Get there if your in dc!

12-26-2009 02:31:05 | More by flannelman808

eljefe21

Virginia

4.33/5  rDev -0.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Finally got to try this place with my wife after having wanted to go for quite some time to try a cask ale. Located in the heart of Georgetown, which I generally try to avoid, this place makes it worth the inconvenience of getting down there.

Ended up there on a Friday night, so the restaurant was packed as I expected. We were told it would be half hour for a table and pointed to the downstairs bar, which is really what I really wanted to check out, and would not have been able to locate had I not been pointed there.

After weaving our way to the back of the restaurant and down some stairs, we found ourselves in a toasty, quaint bar, which other than being jammed packed would have been a great place to hang out. The fire was a bonus, and even without the crowd, the space was so small it would have been cozy.

Onto the beer. The bar was lined with tap handles, and a chalk board at the end of the bar spelled out the offerings. They ranged from the lighter side, like Jever Pils, to in your face hops, like Stoudts DIPA, to Belgians, like St. Feuillien Saison and St. Bernardus Abt 12, to bad-ass stouts, like Great Divide Oak Aged Yeti and Troegs Javahead Stout. There was enough on tap that I never really looked into what bottles they had.

Since I was looking to try a cask ale, my wife and I both got that first, which ended up being a scotch ale, 80 Schilling from Williams Brothersa. Oh so good. I could have drank that one all night if it weren't for dinner and the rest of the beers I wanted to try. Next up for me was Bashah, a collaboration from BrewDog and Stone, which I hadn't heard of until then, and my wife had an Entire Butt English Porter from Salopian Brewing, which I also hadn't heard of.

Before we could try anything else, our buzzer went off and we moved upstairs for dinner. The restaurant is nice, but very wide open which made it extremely loud with the huge crowd. Having eaten at the other Pizzeria Paradiso I knew the pizza was very good and once again it was.

As far as beer with dinner, I tried to get a Rogue Chatoe First Growth Wet Hop to cut into the spices in the Atomica pizza I ordered, but because of the noise, and probably my tendency to mumble, I believe I ended up with an Allagash White. I could have sent it back, but when even a mistake ends up being a tasty beer, why bother.

I'd definitely recommend this place to anyone. I don't know of too many places in the DC area serving cask ales, so that alone makes this a special place, and when you add their impressive selection of beers on tap, you're looking at one of the best beer bars in DC. If you don't like crowds and noise, I'd recommend coming at an off-peak hour, but other than that, and well, the Georgetown location, I can't think of anything to complain of.

11-26-2009 15:38:12 | More by eljefe21

Daniellobo

District of Columbia

3.75/5  rDev -14.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4 | $$

A reference stop for craft brews and pizza in DC. While typically rather reliable and recommendable, on this visit it was rather unorganized and a bit disappointing around some of the beer offerings.

We had an informal stop where we had a rather tasty pizza. Nice draft menu that is full of seasonal brews and rotates often, but on this occasion listed a couple of offerings that were no longer available, including running out of the cask beer. After a couple of taste samples I settled to try Bear Republic´s Black Mamba, which was pleasing.

Hoping to try a barley wine I did not know, and picking up from a small but interesting section on the bottled menu, it took them quite a long while to come back and confess with some embarrassment that it seemed that either they could not find my request or were out of it. The second request took even longer to receive a negative answer. And by the time they came back to apologize profusely for not having it we were almost out of time, the food has been long gone, and we needed to move out.

While staff was attentive, and seemed to try their best, the wait to receive news of the unavailable beers was rather uncomfortable, and the excuses a bit pathetic, including:
- I thought we had it on stock
- The beer manager is out right now
- You know we reopened the P street location so the coordination between the two places is a bit complicated these days...

The place remains a personal favorite, but this was probably the most dysfunctional of all the visits I´ve made in the years since it opened. I sure hope they can pick up their act and this does not become their new routine.

10-12-2009 05:32:41 | More by Daniellobo

Liverpool08

Massachusetts

4.3/5  rDev -1.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$

What a great find in the middle of Georgetown. First it has great pizza. All fresh ingrediants, great crust, a delicious pie, try the Atomica, yummy! But even better is the beer selection. Over 160 beers, 16 on tap, plus a huge bottled selection. Outstanding Belgian selections, but also a very good American craft variety. For example I was able to try the Sierra Nevada Belgian Tripel on tap. The staff was great. Sat at the bar and the bartender was very knowledgeable and attentive. Was eager to let me try any beer before I purchased a pint. Prices were reasonable given the location. I will make this place a must visit each time I come to DC in the future!

10-12-2009 00:50:41 | More by Liverpool08

skberke

Illinois

4.7/5  rDev +7.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | food: 5 | $$

We've been going to Birreria Paradiso for nearly 2 years now, but we have a whole new appreciation for it after our recent trip to Belgium. We were surprised to discover that Birreria Paradiso could hold its own against any of the beer bars we visited in Belgium. It has more beers on tap than you typically see in Belgium, and its bottle list is every bit as impressive. We have always known that it's a great little bar, but now we realize that it's truly a world-class bar. We are happy to know that we can have a little taste of Belgium without having to go overseas.

Birreria also has an impressive commitment to American Craft Brewing. For example, they frequently carry Three Floyds Beer. Three Floyds is not widely distributed outside the Great Lakes Region, which iis a shame, because they're really great. The Birreria Paradiso beer manager periodically goes to Three Floyds, rents a U-Haul, and brings back cases of it for the bar. That is insanely cool.

10-11-2009 21:26:08 | More by skberke