Z Pizza-- Alexandria, VA

So we didn't get on Pizza Wars. Well, we did get on for a brief second (you could see me and my giant pregnant belly), but no interview...which was just as well, because they mostly interviewed drunk 20-somethings, and in my delicate condition it might have seemed sorta inappropriate to be on...but anyway...

Z Pizza is a national chain restaurant, which we typically don't review, although we've made exceptions over the years. Neither of us had ever tried Z Pizza, and I like their philosophy of using fresh and organic ingredients.

So, one Sunday evening Gary, Molly and I drove out to the Z Pizza on Richmond Highway in Alexandria to see what it was all about.

There was a small table area up front, so we found a spot and went to the counter to order. We quickly realized that this was mostly a take-out place. Plenty of people came to pick up pizzas while we were there, but we were the only people to dine in.

As usual, Gary and I split a salad and a pizza. As usual, Molly stuck to milk.

We got an arugula salad, which was okay except that it was drowning in dressing and carmelized onions. Once our breath was nice and smelly, we moved on to the pizza.

We did a "build your own" pie with more carmelized onions, mushrooms, and spinach.

The pizza was decent enough. The sauce and ingredients tasted fresh. The crust was pretty droopy and a bit undercooked, though.

It seems Z Pizza is trying to put the gourmet into takeout pizza. We applaud them for their effort, this is a good thing. But they shouldn't shortchange quality just because it's takeout.

Now, if we lived in the neighborhood, would we order Z Pizza for a quick dinner? Definitely. It's better than your average takeout pie. Would we drive across town again to get it? Probably not.

Liza and Gary's rating: 2.0 stars