Pupatella — Restaurant in Leesburg

We were nearly the only customers in at the time, shortly after 6pm when most restaurants in this area are packed.

We were seated by the hostess and began looking over the 1 page (Double Sided) menu. Our waiter was rather indifferent, lacking enthousiasm, and was surprised when we started asking about the menu, explaining it was our 1st time in.

We ordered appetizers and non-alcoholic drinks and said we still needed more time to look over the menu (he seemed perplexed by this). The Meatballs appetizer on garlic bread was delivered by another staff member who seemed to be bothered that she had to do work.

The freshly squeezed lemonade was refreshing. The Baby Arugula, Proschuito, and Parmesean salad was a generous portion and the Zuchini Fries were very fresh, a perfect combo of crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. The salad dressing could have used a bit more acid (lemon or similar) to offset the meat and cheese and a bit more of it (salad was a bit dry).

We ordered (2) 11" personal pizzas. (1) White Sauce with Proschuito, Brie and Basil and (1) Pepperoni, Ham and Cheese pizza. The Pepperoni pizza was overly greasy (a pool of oil was present in the middle of the pan).

The staff that brought our food did not clear our dirty dishes from the previous course... I also had to flag down the waiter to get drink refills as he disappeared for more than 15 min. The 3 waitstaff that we saw the entire 2 hours we were there mostly huddled and chatted amongst themselves at the bar, while their total of 3 occupied tables of customers needed refills or tables to be cleared. The two chefs seemed to keep themselves busy prepping, cooking, baking, and cleaning from behind the large glass wall. They smiled more than the waitstaff.

We asked for boxes for what was left of our meal and also ordered desserts to go, which seemed to surprise our waiter once again.

The meal was average and decent qty., the service was below average, and the price was high, nearly $100 for 2 people, considering all the above.

At this point, I would rather go elsewhere for pizza or Italian food, where I can get a good meal and service for a reasonable price instead of trying this place again.

P.S. There were no lights in the parking lot, so it was pitch black walking out to...

This location is always excellent.

Started with the Frittura sampler. One sausage arancino, one eggplant arancino, one panzarotto and two fried mozzarella balls with marinara (only one in photo because my hungry toddler has the fastest hands in the East). Peak aroncini. The method is flawless. Other than changing the flavors of the ingredients to suit personal tastes, you couldn't get better. The marinara is a little oversweet for my tastes, but it's great for what it is.

The Diavola was our red sauce choice. Spicy salami, fresh mozzarella, basil. The edges of the salami were delightfully crisped and the flavor was great. Really good quality ingredients.

White Sauce: We got an Onion Tart the first time we came here and I crave it all the time. Still phenomenal. Italian cream sauce, caramelized onions, nutmeg, Gruyère, bacon. No one is doing caramelized onions this well locally below $50/head dishes. I'm an onion obsessive and I'm tellin' ya folks, they're doing it right. This is my #1 on the whole menu.

Nothing soupy about either pizza. We got a delicate crust kissed with fire. White sauce was better than red sauce, but both are batting 90th percentile for NoVa pizza joints easily.

I saw some hype about the paninos so I grabbed the meatball to try. I try to always grab one experimental dish when I'm out just to see if there's any new favorites to be had. Honestly, this wasn't my new favorite. The bread was great and had a very satisfying outer crust. It was a very simple construction, but that let the ingredients come through. I think I prefer a meatball with more spice. Mozzarella quality was great and it couldn't have been better prepared overall. If you're someone who prefers variations on a more "plain" flavor profile, I think you're going to love this. Not for me, but I'd heartily recommend it to the right person.

How much is two pizzas, a full sized meatball panino, and the most expensive Appetizer on the menu? $64.34. That's it. If people have lost track, large pizzas at most fast food pizza places are pushing $20. This is beyond fair for the price.

And let me throw in a shout-out for the consistently good service, also. They're always so kind to us when we have our...

Leesburg location experience: The Appetizer is on point ‘Burrata and Prosciutto’. Pizza arrived at table with burnt crust & the entire underneath (let me rephrase) “charred with the most horrendous odor”. Texture of pizza was gummy and undercooked. My family has been in the Italian restaurant business for years and my background was strongly pizza making. I watched them make other customers pizza, it was the mixture between the oven being too hot, pizza dough being too thick in the middle, and not turning pies while cooking. Resulting in the pizza being burnt, gummy, and undercooked. Informed the waitress and told her “this was the worst pizza I’ve had in my life” she smiled and disregarded my comment. Almost as if it was a normal occurrence. Didn’t seem to want to remedy the problem. Then dropped the bill on the table after we asked for it. 15 minutes go by and all of the waitstaff are congregated around the bar area, not paying attention to the dining room. A different waiter takes our check to run our card, he told us “your waitress couldn’t finish the transaction because she was using the restroom. My wife said “excuse me she’s been sitting at your group of waitstaff around the bar for the last 15 minutes with her back to us after she dropped off the check, and then she decided to use the restroom”. The waiter disregarded the comment and seemed to not care that my wife even existed. Any normal person would have never left at tip. I’ve been in the business for many years and I know it’s hard work but I also know the captain steers the ship and obviously there’s no leadership in this place because not once did a manager touch the table, golden rule in the restaurant business. Explains why it was empty, there was only 2 more tables that walked in at dinner time. From my experience this place will be lucky to remain open in another years time. Unless the captain steers the boat, 100% guaranteed. 1st time visiting and last, worst $100 spent on a date night...