Eat the Best Neapolitan Pizza in Northern Virginia at Pupatella

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Pupatella started as a food truck and grew into one of the most acclaimed pizza restaurants in the DC area, with its Margherita DOC named one of the ten best pizzas in Washington by the Washington Post — cooked in a wood-fired oven built from bricks sourced from Mount Vesuvius at temperatures exceeding 900 degrees. The result is the platonic ideal of Neapolitan pizza: a blistered, airy, slightly charred crust with a tender interior, barely-cooked fresh tomato, and pools of melted fior di latte that come together in the few minutes it takes to travel from oven to table. The Margherita DOC — made with San Marzano tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and extra virgin olive oil — is the essential starting point, though the white pies, seasonal specials, and rotating combinations are equally worth exploring.

Before the pizza arrives, order from the Friggitoria — the fried foods of Naples — with arancini and fried fresh mozzarella balls being the recommended openers  . Both Arlington locations are well worth knowing: the original North Arlington location at 5104 Wilson Boulevard in the Bluemont neighborhood, and the South Arlington location at 1621 S. Walter Reed Drive near Columbia Pike. The North Arlington location is closed Mondays; the South Arlington location operates seven days a week. The menu also includes gelato for dessert, closing the Italian meal loop in the most satisfying way possible. Online ordering and locations at pupatella.com.