Colony Grill — Restaurant in Virginia

If I had the option, I'd give 3.5 stars because of limited service and menu items, but there is excellent value here and the space is comfortable and welcoming with convenient parking. So, we'll round up to a 4.

Full disclosure: I'm a huge fan of Neapolitan pizza, which I began to make with some seriousness in the early days of the pandemic and took a class in Tuscany to raise my "dough game". This is not a restaurant serving that kid of pizza and it shouldn't get any points off for that, unless that's what you are expecting. What this scrappy new restaurant and bar does well is focusing on very few things, with limited menu offers, at remarkably reasonable prices, especially being located in Potomac which is a wealthy suburb. Silverware wasn't on tables, but was available. There are no tablecloths and paper napkin dispensers are on the table. So it is a bit of a hybrid between quick service and full service. Tables are waited upon and take-out is available. (See reference to inside "window" below).

What they focus on is pizza and there's nothing else really to order other than drinks. On our first visit we were seated on the patio quite quickly. We were served somewhat slowly, but they were also busy on a weekend. The server explained the offerings very well, including the fact that the standard pizza comes with a peppery hot oil. My wife wisely stuck with her avoidance of spice and I went with my love of spice. I would say unless you really love spicy, avoid the hot oil which is applied to the dough before it goes into the oven.

My wife opted for no sauce, mushrooms and onions (white pizza) and I had standard with anchovies (and the hot oil). I didn't need to add red pepper flakes as I typically would.

The drinks, wine/beer/cocktails, are cheap for this part of the world. But in a strategic decision I asked the manager about, they don't post the prices for drinks. His rationale which I question is that people like to be pleasantly surprised. My take is that transparency in menus is important. The food came out quickly and the bar was not particularly busy as we left. The staff was friendly and welcoming. A manager came to the table, seeming to make the rounds, to ask if everything was OK, and I said we were pleased and asked him how it was going.

Now that we're in the dog days of summer here, I think business is a bit slow, but that's probably also allowing them to get up to speed. I thought it was smart for them to have a take-out window in the restaurant so that customers won't get in each other's way. We'll go back and probably will try a bar-only visit as well. The design of the place is cool, playing upon the notion of Irish pubs, but serving pizza. For those familiar about the area, this is located in the building in back of the Cabin John center, which used to house a liquor store...

Maybe you have to eat it in the bar after a few beers.

I heard about Colony Grill before but decided to get it delivered knowing the risks involved. Pizza came in a nice sealed box but was clearly ice cold. Regardless, I tried a cold slice and it was alright. I got the "hot oil" version and there was a very slight taste of the hot oil but it really wasn't spicy for my tastes at all. The crust tasted fresh but simple. The sauce and cheese were so lightly put on it was difficult to really taste much other than the crust. There was a hint of oregano on there but otherwise it was just alright.

Anyways, popped it in the toaster oven for a little re-heat, it reheated ok, flavors stuck out a bit more and the oil really started to show itself in the oven. Imo this clearly needs to be eaten piping hot out the oven with the oil still hot as that was the best bite I had.

Once it cooled down it just kind of got really chewy and the base was really all you could taste as the cheese and sauce were so light.

It was alright, kind of wish I went for more toppings than just cheese to make it a bit more interesting. It probably does taste better in the store but I can't be overly harsh knowing the risk involved in getting this sort of thing delivered.

But anyways, my favorite slice is easily a NY style upside down which is doughy and covered in sauce and this was the polar opposite so the odds weren't really stacked in it's favor. Probably a better place to go visit...

Update: management addressed the main portion of this review. I always enjoy eating at restaurants where the owners truly care about their product. Of course, I reserve 5-star reviews for restaurants that get it right ALWAYS, but we will certainly eat here again.

Original review: This may turn out to be an odd review and my only hope is that management reads this. The pizza was great. Our "primary" server (bearded guy) was also great. Our one complaint and the one that made this review one star? "Gary" the bar back.

He was the single-most annoying server I have ever encountered...and he's not even a SERVER!! We were in town to visit our daughter and our evening of spending time with her was interrupted every 30 seconds by him as he wanted to educate us on life from his VAST experiences. We did NOT invite him over nor did we encourage him. He was nice initially but then was BEYOND relentless. I stayed nice through it but when he followed us outside, I had enough. I asked bearded-server guy and was shocked that he does this irritating behavior ALL the time.

Hey MANAGERS?!?!? Reel this guy in already! He ruined our night and I am sure he as ruined...