Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana — Restaurant in Maryland

Having gone to school in New Haven, I know and miss NH appiza and thought maybe, just maybe, the franchised Pepe's would be a reasonable facsimile. I couldn't have been further from the truth. Though served in the right pan, the pizza crust was far thicker than anyone in Wooster Square would ever serve, far chewier, and not nearly charred, though the large bubbles on the edge of the nearly circular pie were browner, in what must have been some tribute to Domino's or Papa John's. It lacked the flavor intensity of New Haven ingredients and could have been served at any mass-market pizza joint in middle America and no one have known the difference.

While that was disappointing at best, here's the kicker. I was seated at 4:15 in a dining room with two occupied tables that cycled through and were replaced by two more. My pizza arrived at 5:13, nearly an hour later. At some point during my wait, my server DJ--difficult to understand in the first place-- stopped by my table to explain that there was some mixup in the kitchen and that mine would be the next pizza in the oven. He offered me something on the house as an apology. A salad? But oh, they were out of Caesar salad, so no. And so an iced tea? No, it wasn't brewed; it was from a fountain. Diet Coke? Sure. But at least 30 minutes later, the pizza that must have required some major cooking, arrived at my table, unceremoniously dropped off by DJ without a "here you go" or "thanks for waiting" or "fresh, just for you." Nope. Nada. Not a word. Just went to the next table. A table, in fact, to which he explained something similar--as far as I could make out--about a kitchen mixup to explain a delay, a delay which was, in the end, far shorter than mine.

There was no visit from a manager. There was no message from the kitchen. There was no offer to discount the cost of the meal (nearly $50 with tax and tip for a three-topping pie). There was no apology and promise that this experience was anomalous. There was nothing, except a Diet Coke that never got refilled. In the nearly hour-wait, I considered getting up and leaving, but I wanted to give the new place a chance to redeem itself. In the end, it just sunk further and further.

While I waited, I watched the folks coming in for pickup orders called in, and the waits they experienced, some upwards of 30 minutes, were just confirmation that something is desperately wrong with a restaurant that can't get the service right, much less live up to its claim to be anything remotely associated with Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana.

In short, I won't be returning to this FP's and I certainly can't recommend it to anyone else. I had...

I haven't been to Pepe's in Bethesda yet, but am salivating at the opportunity.and hope to get there soon. I was a customer at the original New Haven location since I was about 1 year old. I remember the long-time waiter there named "Sal" and the crusty old ladies who were the servers. Always excellent service. In New Haven, sometimes we had to wait over an hour to get into the restaurant, which was particularly brutal in the winter. I was an undergraduate at Yale, and one summer I rented an apartment about a block away from Wooster Street. This enabled me to skip the long line and get pizza to go. I think I gained about 10 pounds that summer. There is absolutely no better pizza in the world!

So I just ate lunch there on May 21. I was able to get seated right away. I ordered my favorite: “mootz”, onion and sausage. At least at this location in Bethesda, unlike the original in New Haven, mozzarella is automatically included on your abizz pie. I ordered extra sausage because I remembered that they were skimpy on the toppings at the satellite location in Manchester, CT. However, that proved to be unnecessary in Bethesda. They are generous with the toppings. I ordered a medium pie with the aim of taking some home. It was enormous. I could barely fit the leftovers in a box. Overall, however, I found the quality of the pizza to be a bit inferior to the product at the original restaurant in New Haven. I can’t quite explain why, but one thing that I and my friend agreed on was that the crust was thinner near the center of the pie, which made it difficult to handle. I forgot to ask if the sausage was the same as they use in New Haven. It looked the same and tasted okay, but possibly less spicy than the Lintini’s or Lamborghini’s sausage that they use in New Haven. So I was a little disappointed with the pizza, but it still beats any other pizza I can get in Frederick , Maryland by far. They have only been open for about a month, so I hope they will soon be able to make a more accurate version of Frank Pepe’s...

Update 10 June: Went again with some friends during lunchtime. Pizza even better this time. They had ricotta and sausage I believe and it was very good and I’m not really a ricotta lover. Char on the pizza was perfect. Wife and I ordered a 12” this time for us two and size was optimal with no slices leftover. Friends ordered a medium for 2 and they had a couple slices left over after demolishing the rest. The 18” is massive, probably great for 3+. Definitely would come back again!

Original review: First time at Frank Pepe’s. I had read the reviews before going. Ordered a Caesar salad as a starter which was good. Pizza was great! Had pepperoni/mushroom and both toppings were delicious. Sauce just a tad bland but everything else made up for it included the crust which was lighter and flavorful. The amount of cheese was perfect. Ordered the large 18” pizza and it was much larger than expected which was a bonus. Crust had a nice but not overwhelming char. Waiter was great as well!

Probably some of the best pizza in the local area as far as I’m concerned!

Some of the reviews for this place are rather odd. Someone wrote about the place having a weird vibe. I felt we hit the place at a lull before dinner rush so there were lots of wait staff with not much going on and we sort of had to file in and ask the take out desk for a table, but who cares? The pizza is charcoal oven fired, and it is going to have char. Go look up the photos of pizza at the original restaurant, it all looks the same. You can ask them to minimize the char if you want; which the waiter...