Comet Ping Pong

What: Comet Ping Pong

Where: 5037 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20008

When: 02/20/14

So I just spent 1.5 hours making this post great with pictures and hilarious (well, I thought so) commentary.  Somehow, it did not autosave or respond when I hit the save button and the completed post is gone.  As a result, this post might not be as good as the first one.  I apologize in advance but I am frustrated, the same frustrated feeling I had when it took me an hour to drive the 7 miles from Capitol Hill area to Comet Ping Pong.  

Comet Ping Pong was our first pizza place we went to that was not in the Dupont/Logan Circle area.  Becky had a living social deal there and we decided to give it a try.  I first heard of Comet Ping Pong from my dad.  He called me one day and said, "Do you know a place called Comet Ping Pong?  It was just on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives."  This conversation was in 2010, I guess it took me four years to finally get there.

http://dinersdrive-insanddives.blogspot.com/2010/06/farm-to-table-dv0909h.html

When Jenn and I got there Courtney and Becky were already seated.  The wooden benches help add to the laid back atmosphere.   After catching up, we all ordered a beer.  The beer selection was great and the waiter was helpful in navigating the menu. 

The highlight of Comet Ping Pong is....you guessed it... that they have ping pong tables that are first come first serve.  In the picture below you can see how the current ping pong table games are projected onto the wall.  This is great because you can see when a ping pong table opens up as you are enjoying pizza, instead of waiting in line. 

*I also like how three of the three people in the background of this photo are on their cell phone/blackberry.  Funny.*

Jenn said, "Chill, relaxed place, waiter was cool and knew his stuff when it came to the beers on tap and the pizzas."

Courtney said, "Tables were designed like ping pong tables and the entire restaurant has an industrial feel."

Becky stated, "Atmosphere was very chill. Not like some of these swanky dank places that have sprung up on 14th St. Think your local neighborhood pizza joint to meet up Suzie for a pie and a brew. There were ping pong tables way in the back of the restaurant. On the way there be sure to pick up your treasure map and compass in order to locate the restrooms. I dare you to find them on your first try."
 

Since the pizzas were small we ordered three. Jenn had done her homework and mentioned that previous customers loved The Smoky.  Done!  There was no margherita pizza on the menu so three of the four members suggested to go with the New Slam pizza. One of the members, me, suggested building our own margherita pizza.   I lost and majority won, we ordered the New Slam.  (*note-I think we may need to update our rules.) For our last pizza, we decided to do something different and get a pizza with an egg on it. 

1. The New Slam- tomato, mozzarella, arugula, La Quercia Prosciutto (Iowa).
2. The Smoky-smoky mushrooms, smoky mozzarella, smoky bacon, melted onions, garlic 

3. The Drive- broccoli rabe, melted onions, garlic, pecorino romano, egg! (exclamation point from the menu...I did not add it). 

  

On the crust: 

Jenn: "The crust might have been my fave part of their pizzas overall. Chewy, nicely baked, flavorful."

Courtney: "One of my favorites so far. It was thin and bubble. Sturdy yet light. And a little bit sweet."

Catherine: "The crust was excellent. I was pleasantly surprised by how good it was. It wasn't thin and wasn't too thick. "

Becky: "The crust was pretty good at this place. Often when most get to the top of the pizza you want to leave your crust on the plate but not this time. (though I rarely leave food on plate regardless of weather its good or not). It was soft and not too chewy."
 

On the sauce:

Jenn: "The sauce was good on all, the tomato sauce I liked especially (one of the pizzas was white)."

Courtney: "There wasn't much sauce on these pizzas. It was thin and unnoticeable as far as flavor goes. "

Catherine: "I thought the sauce was great. It was not that memorable but served its purpose."

Becky: "Sauce was good, as sauces go, but uneventful, leaving something to be desired."
 

On the toppings: 

Jenn: "The toppings were awesome on The Smoky - very flavorful. I liked the broccoli rabe and huge garlic cloves on the one with egg, but other than that, didn't care for it too much. The one with mozzarella and arugula should have had smaller chunks of prosciutto - it was a little hard to eat and I wish the prosciutto was crispy, not limp (if you know what i mean *wink*)."

Courtney: "The pizzas were a little small at this place so we ended up ordering three. They didn't have a margherita on the menu so we got the next closest thing, essentially a margherita with prosciutto and arugula. The prosciutto had nice flavor but came in large strips as did the arugula. Thus making the pizza hard to handle and hard to get the full flavor platte at once. Then we ordered one with egg and some terrible cheese. It was terrible. The third selection was the smokey. It was delicious. If I go back I'll just order this one. Each ingredient had a full smoked flavor that worked together much better than the toppings on the other pizzas."
 

Catherine: "On the New Slam I enjoyed the arugula but did not care for the prosciutto. On the Smokey I felt that it was a little too smoky for my taste. I think that they could do regular mozzarella and smokey bacon or vice versus. It was a little overpowering of a smoky flavor. On The Drive I felt that all the toppings were great separately. Somehow it did not all come together on the pizza for me. I really liked what they did with the pecorino on the pizza."

Becky: "The toppings were all very unique on the 3 pizzas we ordered. We typically try to order one or two special pizzas and a margherita pizza as a default however, Comet did not have a Margherita to offer, on the Favorites Menu that is. Three of us suggested we forgo the Margherita and order all selections off the 'Favorite Pizza Menu', much to Catherine's dismay. She was gung-ho about making our own pizza and based on how two of our selections turned out, we should have listened to her. The best pizza by a landslide was the Smokey and smokey it was. Smokey bacon, smokey mushrooms, smokey mozzarella. You name it, it was smoked. My next favorite, or I should say the one I liked 2nd to least, was the Drive which has an egg, Pecorino Romano and Broccoli Rabe, which I'm unfamiliar with. It was hard to share all of the ingredients b/c the egg was in the middle of the pie. Least of all was the New Slam (the one closest to the Margherita) and it had large chunks of arugula, making so when you took a bite the entire pizza came with it - never something you want."

Pizza 1: "Margherita" Pizza/New Slam

Catherine- Did not rate....We did not get a cheese pizza because they did not have a margherita on the menu. The rest of the team felt that the New Slam would act as our margherita. I did not agree with this choice but am a team player. When you took off the prosciutto and the arugula the cheese pizza that was left was really good. If I am scoring on that I would give it a half pie. If I am scoring based on the New Slam then I would give it a slice.
Jenn- Two Slices

Courtney- Half Pie
Becky-New Slam was our "acting" margherita pizza. Since I am scoring on the pizza as a whole, it gets one slice. If there's anything I hate when it comes to pizza, it's when you have to wrestle with your bites to keep the toppings on the pizza. Sorry Slam. 

Pizza 2: The Smokey

Catherine- Two Slices

Jenn- Half Pie

Courtney- Pizza pie oh my!
Becky-Half Pie

Pizza 3: The Drive
Catherine-One Slice
Jenn- Half Pie
Courtney-Half Pie
Becky- Two Slices

It appears that The Smokey was the clear winner of the night!  Thank you Jenn for doing the research!

Overall we decided that Comet Ping Pong was a laid pack pizza establishment with a great beer selection but not a place we would be racing back to especially being so far up on Connecticut Avenue.   At first, I was thinking that the next time my parents were in town I would take them there however, I think that I would take them to eat at Buck's Fishing and Camping (http://www.bucksfishingandcamping.com/) next door for dinner and then head over to Comet Ping Pong for a beer and a friendly game of pong.   

Jenn: "Comet Ping Pong is an easy going, no frills, decent food. Best part though: probably the beers. Not that you can't get yummy beers basically anywhere in DC, but I actually had a hard time deciding which one i wanted because there were so many I liked on the menu.  It is the best for chill times with friends, especially if you want to play games. If I had kids, I'd totally take them here. but I don't, soooo I guess I won't be back for a while.  Overall, I would eat it again, but as I've said before, and I'll say it again, not rushing to go back. Especially because it's in "no-man's-land" at the tippy top of CT ave. Such a barren place...."

Courtney: "It is a place that has fancy pizza flavors in a cool atmosphere without the hassles of waiting of downtown.  The waiters were all really nice and helpful. I was the first one to get there and they say me anyway. The back area has ping pong which would make it a fun date place. The bathrooms were ridiculous to find and we all got lost. (refer to Becky's earlier comment.)"

Catherine: "I enjoyed the atmosphere at Comet but the food was just okay. It was a LONG drive through the city during rush hour. I would not make the drive out there during a school night. If I was in the area I would go there....or maybe to Buck's next door?"

Becky: "Overall I enjoyed the scenery but more important I enjoyed the girl time. Comet provided a comfortable setting, with somewhat forgettable pizza and good beer, that was conducive to quality GT (gurl timez). Only problem was the location is way out in bumf*ck. Okay I'm being harsh but it felt like like a short journey to Narnia and back. The relaxed atmosphere, which is conducive to catching up with friends and possibly playing a game of ping pong to work off that pizza and beer you just consumed."

In summary, it seems like Comet Ping Pong is great for catching up with friends in a laid back atmosphere, drinking beer and playing a game of ping pong.  **Notice how pizza was not listed.  

We are very excited for our next pizza club meeting.  We will be going to U&pizza and then walking to the Black Cat to see Macaulay Culkin's band, Pizza Underground.  How fitting, right?   Stay tuned for the review of the pizza and the band!