Ella's

What: Ella's
Where: 610 9th St NW, Washington, DC 20004
When: July 21, 2014




For our July pizza club we went to Ella's in Chinatown.  Ella's is a short walk from the metro (Gallery Place/Chinatown) and was easy bike ride for Becky and I.
We started off with a fried mozzarella cheese wedge appetizer.  Jenn recommended it and who says no to fried cheese.   

Courtney: "We got a fried cheese appetizer, it tasted and looked like it arrived at the restaurant frozen."
Jenn: "I usually really love their fried ricotta/mozzarella appetizer, but this time it came out slightly cold. So, obviously, not fresh, that's disappointing."
Catherine: "It was cold and I did not even go back for a second helping.  The sauce had a green pepper flavor to it and made me worried for the sauce that was going to be on the pizza."

No one was fighting over who got the last fried mozzarella.  Not a good start but we were hopeful that the pizzas would taste better. 

Becky came after the appetizer and now our pizza club was complete. The atmosphere of Ella's is fine. I think using the word "fine" sums it up. Fine meaning, "it's a cute place overall, but it seemed a little cheesy to me. Also, lots of tourists, so it's kind of lame." or  "Feels a little like a mall food court or old Pizza Hut." or "Nothing special to note." 

We decided to order our standard Margherita Pizza, Pepperoni Pizza and The Bosco.  Three pizzas were enough for four people.  Our Specialty Pizza was The Bosco (wild mushrooms, smoked mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, red onions & thyme) 

I did not eat the Pepperoni Pizza because I do not like pepperoni. Our pizza club is a democracy and a good rule to follow is to not be selfish when it comes to ordering pizza.  

Courtney commented that "the pepperoni was delicious, but pepperoni is really hard to get wrong."  
  

Pizza 1: Margherita Pizza
Catherine- one slice  "eh. I could take it or leave it. If it is sitting there I will eat it because I never turn down pizza however, if I never eat it again I would be okay." 
Jenn- Half pie: "good, but not amazing"
Courtney- "Flavorless." one slice
 
2: Specialty-The Bosco
Catherine- one slice "The bosco was okay. I felt like the description on the menu had so much potential and then when I tasted it it fell flat. The thyme was hard to detect. I found that the smokiness of the mozzarella was dull. It was flavorless all around."
Jenn- quarter pie: i'd want something more exciting next time.
Courtney- "Surprise, surprise we ordered another mushroom pizza. This was my favorite, just because it had a more diverse flavor palate." one slice

On Ella's website they state: 

""Ella's features traditional, Neapolitan-style, thin crust pizza baked in a blistering hot, wood-fired oven"

Hmmm....From the picture above you can see that they do look like a traditional, Neapolitan-style pizza however, that is where it ends (well, I am sure that they didn't lie and it was cooked in a blistering hot, wood-fired oven as well.)

What we thought:  

Jenn: "The sauce is good, but not memorable. The crust here is so-so, it's a good texture, but a little flavorless. The margherita was good, but I wish it had more basil. The bosco was pretty delicious, but i expected it to be more flavorful with the addition of the roasted red peppers."

Courtney: "The crust was not very flavorful, but good sturdiness.  The sauce was tomatoey with nothing special. Smooth sauce, I appreciate something that came more recently from tomatoes. The pepperoni was delicious, but pepperoni is really hard to get wrong. The cheese was just there, fine texture, but little flavor."
 

Catherine: "not my favorite. The crust was fine. not offensive but not noteworthy. Edible. I loved the sauce. With that being said I love a sauce that has no chunks in it. I enjoy the smoothness of it and the fact that I didnt have to spend time picking out tomato chunks. forgettable. I honestly cant even remember the pizza because none of the flavors wowed me."

As you can see we were underwhelmed by Ella's overall.  Courtney stated, "I've never been a fan of this place and they didn't win me over this time either. They have a brick oven which creates good flavor but they need to spend more money on quality ingredients and recipes."  All of us agreed.  If you are hungry and in the area (the IT factor for Ella's is its location) I would highly recommend skipping Ella's and walk down the street to Shake Shack (burgers), they will not disappoint!

**side note: you may be wondering what happened to June Pizza Club. Our schedules were really busy in June.  We found a day that we all could hang out for a bit and decided to buy frozen pizzas at different grocery stores.  Do you guys have a favorite frozen pizza?  They have  definitely come a far way from Ellio's frozen pizza, that is for sure! Since we were all busy we didn't make comments or take pictures.  We just enjoyed catching up and all agreed that nothing beats a fresh pizza!