This is a restaurant review, it is the author’s opinion based on their experience at a given date and time. Readers should know that their experience may vary. I was not compensated by anyone for writing this review.
After spending a rainy morning checking out the White House, checking out the Lincoln Memorial, and getting a private helicopter flyby from my brother-in-law, we ended up at &pizza located at the Hotel Hive for a warm, dry, lunch. Interesting fact, the Subway you might see on Google Maps nearby is actually in the Department of State building and is not open to the general public.
From the outside, it may be easy to miss the entrance for &pizza. There is an “In” and an “Out” door on either side of a porch area with tables.
When you enter &pizza, you order on one end of the counter and they make the pizza on an individual tray in front of you. As you work your way around the counter, your pizza is baked, sliced, and boxed. On the far side you can add some final toppings as you pay and pick up your pizza.
Our group ended up ordering three different pizzas, White, Maverick, and a Craft Your Own with just pepperoni; and an order of garlic knots. The three adults in our group enjoyed each of the pizzas and garlic knots, and the two kids in our group (age 5 and 7) enjoyed the pepperoni pizza and garlic knots.
Personally, I thought the White pizza had the best flavor profile; however, the pesto sauce spread on the top of the baked pizza was a little overpowering to the rest of the flavors. The garlic knots were airy and had a light garlic flavor. They were a hit with the kids, so I only ended up with one.
The beverage selection was “unique” for our palates. I enjoyed the Mango Passion Fruit; however, the Ginger Berry Lemonade was a bit much. They did not have “traditional” soft drinks.
There was no indoor seating; however, there was a partially covered heated patio area that was comfortable on the rainy cold day that we visited. In addition, there is a porch in front of the building with tables. This particular location is located near George Washington University and had a steady stream of college kids coming through while we were there.
If we lived in Washington D.C., I would add &pizza to our list of regular spots.
I’m on the road for my day job, and to be honest, was not really interested in leaving my hotel room to go grab dinner. This is a little odd for me because I enjoy the different dining options that Wisconsin Dells has to offer; however, sometimes I just need to take it easy. With two young kids at home, its rare that I get quiet time to myself.
I placed my order on a week night, right in the middle of the traditional dinner time (6pm). The system stated my order would take approximately 40 minutes. This estimate was pretty close, as I believe the food showed up around 35 minutes after it was ordered.
The meatball sub was served with french fries and a pickle. Unfortunately, the first bite, a handful of french fries, left a lot to be desired. The fries were a little warmer than room temperature, were chewy and were under salted. At first I wasn’t sure if there was any salt on them; however, I did find a couple of granules of salt. I did receive a small bag that had salt, pepper, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, and two napkins. While I was able to add salt to my desired taste, most people expect french fries to have a base seasoning of at least a little salt.
The second container was the order of Chicken Wings. According to the menu, the Chicken Wings were desicribed as “10 Traditional or 12 oz. Boneless (Hot, BBQ, Sweet Chili, Teriyaki or Plain) Served with Celery Sticks & Choice of Dressing”. As stated above, I went with Boneless BBQ Wings with a side of ranch.
Today we made the annual pilgrimage up to Sister Bay, Wisconsin to Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant and Butik. I was excited for this visit because in June they opened up the Stabbur Beer Garden at Al Johnson’s. This is an outdoor beer garden next to Al Johnson’s restaurant. If you’ve ever been to Al Johnson’s you know that there is usually a wait to get your table. In the past we used to walk over to the beach; however, this year we headed over to the Stabbur Beer Garden!
The Stabbur Beer Garden is an entirely outdoor space with plenty of shade. The bar seats approximately 30 people and there were additional tables throughout the space. It was great to see a variety of outdoor games to include: oversized Jenga, goat ring toss, dice, and Ladder Ball.
