Apna Pizza — Restaurant in Maryland

Great pizza, great people. Go here! Not exactly how I planned on spending my Diwali, but after dropping my teen off to trick or treat in a nearby neighborhood, I needed a place to lurk and wait, sure that the group would tire of trick or treating before I could get home and have my celebratory Diwali dinner. So I googled. And up popped Apna Pizza just minutes from my trick or treaters….. So I dashed over and perused the extensive mouth watering menu, consisting of standard faves as well as pizzas with a desi twist. I noticed several people waiting for their pizzas, none of them desi, so figured this place has broad appeal. I decided on the paneer tikka (for vegetarians, there is also a shahi paneer desi style, as well as standard vegetarian options). The incredibly kind and pleasant gentleman at the counter gave me a “Diwali discount” and offered to make the pizza “apna style” with some extra desi elements. As I waited in my car, the nice gentleman ran out with a steaming hot, fresh paneer tikka pizza, extra napkins, packets of red pepper flakes, and a cup of extra sauce. Talk about service! I asked if I could buy a bottle of water and he volunteered to bring me a bottle for free…… and I saw him handling out free bottles to a group of teen trick or treaters hanging out outside…. Could these folks be any nicer?! But now the real test: I bit into the flaky crust, perfectly baked. I immediately noticed how the green peppers, tomato, and onions were cooked just right - still juicy yet crisp - complementing the incredibly flavorful paneer tikka cubes perfectly. This flavor profile was familiar yet novel, and incredibly addictive….. I planned on saving some for the trick or treaters I was carting around, but welp, it was just too good. And the size/portions? Way more generous than expected - my small was not small! It could have easily fed 3…. maybe even 4. While the storefront is cozy, it is as cute as can be - an old Royal Enfield bike doubling as a drinks cooler! How creative! Thanks for inspiring me and my belly, Apna Pizza! You are awesome and...

It pains me to give this review, but I hope the owners can take this in stride.

Food: We ordered two X-Large Pizzas, one with Chicken Tikka and one with Lamb. We also ordered Masala Fries as well. The pizzas weren't very impressive. First thing we noticed is when we got home, the temperature was quite low for something that should have been baked fresh. So we were unsure if the pizzas were sitting out for too long.

The Chicken Tikka Pizza was okay. But to be honest, nothing stood out about it. There was a mixture of toppings put on the pizza, but the crust was unimpressive, the sauce not memorable, and the toppings too "diced" to TASTE the topping. I think because there is so much chopped on the pizza, every bite contained dried out ingredients, leaving out the moisture to bring it all together.

Same applied to the lamb pizza.

The fries were also kind of meh. The Masala seasoning was a little inconsistent: some fries with less seasoning, some with WAY too much. The seasoning had about 30% too much salt, so you definitely need water nearby because you will be drinking a beverage for a while afterward. The fries were also warm as though they were sitting out for too long, not hot out of the fryer. And this was the temperature of the within one minute of our order, not when we got home and they were much colder...

Service: was great! The front management was super friendly to us, let us do a custom order to split the pizzas with onion/no onion. Friendly gentleman.

Atmosphere: I liked it a lot. There isn't any indoor seating, which makes it even more important that the pizzas come out hot.

Overall, I don't think I will be returning. That is, unless something drastically changes. I would suggest the owners try out Pizza Rosa in Gaithersburg to sort of see what I was describing. The crust is full of flavor, toppings fresh, never stale, and the pizza has flavor.

I hope the business can see success in the future and I wish the...

BLUF: Good quality, very tasty, and will be back!

It's rare that I write a review immediately, but Apna has earned 5-starts with their Indian pizza offerings. We ordered the Butter Chicken and Lamb Pizzas - both were fantastic.

Pizza: Right amount of toppings - I know this may be subjective, but I think this place hit it perfectly. Good crust, good bite, and all around quality pizzas. Not too "saucy" which I like, but enough so that you know you are eating "butter chicken" or "lamb" pizzas.

Customer Service: Friendly and attentive. Being a newer restaurant, I'm sure they are focusing on getting new customers as well as retaining the ones that are trying them for the first time, but kudos to the person working the front as well as the back of house who came out to offer garlic sauce and hot peppers. Little things you did like greeting, smiling, (aka no cost but huge experience booster) make for a memorable experience, even a carry-out pizza place. Again, nice job!

Atmosphere: As this is a carry-out, one may expect lower standards, but I must say that the designer did a great job. Very clean, up to date, and doesn't give off the gaudy "trying too hard" feel. Totally different than the industrial/minimalist feel of the national chains.

Recommendations: As this was my first experience, I cannot say anything about consistency, but please maintain whatever it is you're doing. Same with the ingredients - understanding food costs are rising, don't sacrifice quality for price, people will pay a little additional for a good product. Lastly, keep evolving - adding new Indian flavors/toppings will ensure customers keep coming back to try...