The UMD chapter of Spoon recently gave the newest pizza staple in College Park, &pizza, a try during a Friday night out.
Dining In
For our first time, we chose to dine in. Typical to similar restaurants, the restaurant has a Chipotle-style method of ordering. The first step is choosing your crust (normal or cauliflower), then your sauce (traditional, spicy, pesto, or parm-romano). From there, all toppings that will go into the oven are put on the pizza. The meat options are varied, and so is the cheese—they even have a vegan cheese option. The pizza oven is in the middle of the line, on a conveyor belt. Once it pops out, finishes are added, such as grated parmesan and pesto. They also have extras like garlic knots.
Our thoughts
As we all got our pizza, we took a seat. &pizza is unique in that their pizza is long and skinny, split into eight pieces. We each got a different sauce, getting a diverse look at their options. The consensus: the pizza was well worth it, but in the future, takeout is the way to go. While there was enough seating, it wasn’t exactly comfortable, and the music was entirely too loud to have any conversations. Most people had the right idea, coming in to order and then leaving.
Even though we decided not to come in person again, we did agree that the pizza was delicious, they had a wide selection of toppings, and it was quick and easy to order.
Takeout
Not long after our first trip, I decided to grab takeout from them. This time, I even threw in their “mozz knots.” I ordered on their website while I had my laptop out, and I think I’ll definitely look for an app in the future because I couldn’t call it user-friendly. When I went to pick it up, I noticed they have a convenient window so that I didn’t even have to go inside. However, once I got the pizza, I noticed that it was missing several of the toppings I ordered. So, if you choose to get takeout, double-check it before you leave. The mozz knots were delicious, but not a necessity. Despite its missing toppings, I still enjoyed the pizza and would go again.
All in all, &pizza is a great option for UMD students who want takeout pizza with more options than usual. Spoon will definitely be back!
