Homemade Pizza Co.

What: Homemade Pizza Co.
Where: 1522 14th St NW, Washington, DC
When: April 30, 2014

For our April meeting of Pizza club we decided to pick up two pizzas from Homemade Pizza Co. and bake and eat them at my apartment a few blocks away. Jenn and Becky arrived early to gossip about pizza and drink wine. Catherine swooped in just in time for pizza.

I had two bottles of wine in house (ok apartment) and we decided they would do. I pulled out my wine opener, which is a tiny travel opener that has always worked in the past (even though I usually have to put the bottle of wine between my legs and pull with all my might). Well this time I just couldn't get the wine open. Becky always the strong one tried and also couldn't get the cork to budge. As this being a very important pizza club situation, Becky set off down the hall knocking on doors for someone with a more substantial opener. Luckily one of my neighbors opened their door and opened our wine.

Per usual we ordered a margherita pizza and their specialty pizza. Homemade Pizza Co. is like a Papa Murphy's and if you've never been to either... its like a take and bake. When you order they assemble your pizzas and you take them home to bake them. Jenn was nice enough to pick up the pizzas and we just slid them off the cardboard and on to my oven racks to bake.

The instructions were straight forward and the pizzas turned out great.

But this wouldn't be Pizza 'Pinions if our criticism ended there...

Our crust opinions ran the gamut, Jenn thought it was "pretty good actually, it cooks up nicely, still gives me a chewy factor in the middle". Catherine was more reserve saying it "was fine. It was average to me. i usually like to dip my crust in olive oil but this crust just didn't seem dip worthy." and I wasn't impressed, it was thin and crispy, but a little floppy.

Through this journey of pizzaploration I've learned that most places do not put enough into their sauce. Where sauce could be a place for flavor explosion many just taste like canned tomatoes. Thats what Catherine and I felt about Homemade Pizza's sauce. Jenn had a more positive spin, saying she liked it on the Margherita, but thought the specialty pie didn't have enough.

The Specialty pizza was a white cheesy pie, it was supposed to have some other toppings but they were very sparingly applied. Jenn summed the toppings up best- "The specialty pizza seriously lacked in toppings - if it's your specialty, make it special. C'mon guys. You're better than that. Plus, it was WAYYY to cheesy. I felt kinda ill after one slice and only wanted the Margherita after that."

Pizza 1: Margherita Pizza
Catherine- Two slices
Jenn- Half pie
Courtney- Two slices

Pizza 2: Specialty White Pizza
Catherine- One slice
Jenn- One slice
Courtney- One slice

We all loved the atmosphere of my apartment. Everyone saying it was fabulous, comfy and cozy (aww thanks guys!). Its best for movie night or when you are to tired to cook. Its a great substitute when you want something quick, but better than frozen pizza.

Post script: Almost exactly a month after we 'pinionated about Homemade Pizza Co. they closed all of their outlets. I discovered this while strolling by one evening and its been verified. So sadly even if you wanted to try the specialty pie... you can't.