Pines of Florence — Restaurant in Washington

Visiting DC for two days and we were looking for a reasonably priced restaurant to get pizza for our teenage boys and pasta for the adults. We found Pines of Florence and let me tell you this place went beyond our expectations! We were greeted warmly by Zeke who sat us when we walked in the door. Zach, our server, took our drink order and brought us a basket of bread and butter. The bread was small pieces of toasted Italian bread that were piping hot and crunchy and delicious. I went traditional and ordered the homemade linguine and marinara. Having grown up in an Italian town, I'm more than a little particular about my sauce. Their marinara was rich and garlicky with chunks of tomatoes and so good! My sister ordered the lobster ravioli in pink sauce and loved every bite! The sauce was the perfect blend of Alfredo and marinara and the ravioli was well stuffed with lobster filling. My son's friend ordered a regular cheese pizza and said it made his number one pick of all time! My son (who won't eat red sauce) asked for a cheese pizza with Alfredo in place of red sauce. Our server said they'd never had anyone order it that way, but it wasn't a problem. That pizza was fantastic! Zeke asked my son for his name because he said he wanted to add it to their menu and name it after him! So if you see Sam's white pizza on the menu, you gotta try it! We can't really say enough good things about this place. From friendly and engaging service from both the owner and our server to phenomenal food and very reasonable prices. Pretty sure we're eating there...

These high ratings are very misleading. I cannot understand how anyone could have had a pleasant experience here since our experience (along with 3 other tables) were comically miserable. We had a reservation, tables were not even ready and when they did set the tables, all three were so wobbly the drinks were spilling. Speaking of drinks, we waited at least 15 minutes for water. When we ordered a bottle of wine (in the hopes of speeding up our drink consumption) the bottle served to use was already open. Our server, though very friendly, seemed to be doing everything while there was another employee who just stood behind the bar. The ambience makes me think what Gordan Ramsey would say if this restaurant was on "Kitchen Nightmares" - this could easily be a candidate restaurant. When the food arrived (keeping in mind this was 2.5 hours after sitting), it was mediocre. I did have the manicotti, which was tasty, but everyone else were less than impressed with their food. However, Grubhub and Door Dash customers must be happy because the drivers were lined up, in and out in seconds,...

Don't be fooled by the strip-mall looking storefront with the neon pine tree in the window. The service and food are phenomenal. We had the calamari which was perfectly cooked and came with the best marinara sauce I have ever tasted. The seafood lasagna and the fettuccine Alfredo were also amazing. My son had the canolli for dessert and devoured it. I had the tarufo and will now order it on any menu. My wife had the best tiramisu ever, non joke. The lady fingers were so saturated with espresso that they had to have been soaked overnight. Our waiter was the best we've had as visitors to another city. He was very kind and personable. After we arrived, a table of 8 and 3 2 tops were sat within 10 minutes. His attentiveness never wained even though the 8 top was very demanding to be in and out in 30 minutes. Overall excellent experience and I would recommend this restaurant to everyone looking for excellent tasting Italian food that is afforable and...