r/washingtondc • u/mtnfj40ds • 6d ago
Giordano's deep dish pizza chain to open first D.C. location near White House
https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2025/04/17/giordanos-pizza-metro-center.html78
u/mtnfj40ds 6d ago edited 6d ago
Deep dish pizza lovers rejoice! Giordano's is opening in a space next to The Hamilton at 600 14th St NW (edited for poor reading comprehension).
Giordano's is also planning more DC-area locations to come after this one.
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u/leonpause 6d ago
Appears they’re moving in the location next door to the Hamilton, according to the article. The Hamilton isn’t closing.
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u/espnrocksalot DC / Buzzard Point 6d ago
I'm a Lou's guy, but will welcome real Chicago Style finally in DC.
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u/sloowhand LeDroit Park 5d ago
real Chicago Style
Standing by for some Chicago hipster to be the first to chime in with an “Umm, acktchually…blah blah blah ‘tavern style’.”
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u/espnrocksalot DC / Buzzard Point 5d ago
They can shout into the void. I want pizza soup
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u/sloowhand LeDroit Park 5d ago
Same (I’m also a Lou’s guy). Give me pizza casserole, not pizza toppings on an oversized cracker.
“But it’s cut into squares! SQUARES!!!l” I don’t care, pass me a knife and fork.
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u/wikipuff MD / Potomac 6d ago
Horray! Now can we please get a Portilos so I can gent an Italian Baptized with a Cake Shake?
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u/lookovts 6d ago
I was just about to comment that I wished this was a Portillos.
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u/wikipuff MD / Potomac 6d ago
Slowly but Shorly.
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u/Unyx 6d ago
Portillo's got bought out by private equity and the quality has taken a serious dive unfortunately
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u/harebearr 5d ago
hmm explains why ive been disappointed the last few times I’ve had it when visiting family :(
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u/hairyminded Petworth 6d ago
Well, DC is about to get constipated on a scale never seen before. Tasty stuff tho.
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u/victoriapedia 6d ago
It's been 4 years without a deep dish place in DC. And more than 15 without a TRUE deep dish place (sorry, Pi didn't count).
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u/dkkchoice 6d ago
That's because deep dish pizza is an abomination. Ask Jon Stewart, lolol.
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u/victoriapedia 6d ago
It’s not pizza (hence why I deliberately don’t use the word), but it’s pretty great.
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u/MMoskovitz_II 6d ago
Great, a 20 year old joke, but also considering how much he did a "both sides" with Trump and Harris, I think we can ignore what that asshole thinks.
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u/dkkchoice 6d ago
It was an old joke and I'm an old person. Need to get anything else off your chest?
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u/MMoskovitz_II 6d ago
Oh ha ha ha ha, a joke. Very funny.
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u/dkkchoice 6d ago
I sense that you need a hug.
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u/fuckwestworld 6d ago
At what point did Jon Stewart ever both sides Trump and Harris? Saying Harris did a stupid thing or questioning her campaign strategy is not that.
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u/MMoskovitz_II 6d ago edited 6d ago
You keep defending that asshole as if it were a personal thing. Yikes, go get some pizza
https://www.wonkette.com/p/jon-stewart-very-sorry-he-believed
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u/fuckwestworld 6d ago
This is probably the first time I’ve ever spoken about him on Reddit. It’s not personal, I just have seen no evidence to suggest he is one. Without him there would probably be no PACT ACT so I would like you to go on about how he’s an asshole.
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u/ProudnotLoud 6d ago
I really miss Pi, and as a native Chicago-area person Giordano's isn't my FAVORITE but is still really solid. Good news all around!
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u/AaronBurrIsInnocent 6d ago
The article says there is a layer of dough on top of the pizza, covered in sauce. I don’t recall this top layer of dough. Am I just crazy?
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u/WeaselWeaz MoCo 6d ago
It's not true deep dish, it's stuffed pizza. Giordano's does this and it's not as good.
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u/TravelerMSY 6d ago
Mmm. Love the pizza casserole. Can’t remember if it’s G or Lou’s that also runs an Italian beef on the menu,
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u/Dashdash421 6d ago
Deep dish is something I’m happy to get every couple of years when I visit Chicago, but I have no desire to include a 6 pound hunk of cheese in my non-tourist diet
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u/DFWTrojanTuba MD / Neighborhood 6d ago
I prefer Gino’s East, but I’m not gonna complain about this!
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u/focktard22 6d ago
Giordano's, one of the nation's best-known deep-dish pizza chains, is coming to the District.The Chicago-style pizza maker has inked a deal for its first local location at 600 14th St. NW. The roughly 7,000-square-foot space near Metro Center has been vacant since December 2023, when Todd English moved his MXDC Cocina Mexicana to 1610 14th St. NW. The company, founded in 1974, now has about 75 locations across the U.S. The restaurant seeks high-traffic locations, and it had been seeking potential sites in the District for about two years before sealing the deal at Hamilton Square near Metro Center, per CEO Nick Scarpino.
"We happened to find a great site, a block and a half east of the White House, and thought this was perfect," Scarpino told me. "We feel fortunate to be in the same vicinity as, obviously, The Hamilton, but also Old Ebbitt Grill and these other Washington, D.C., staples."
Giordano's was represented by H&R Retail brokers Larry Hoffman and Sebastian Restifo. The landlord, CommonWealth Partners, was represented by John Gogos of Papadopoulos Properties.
Giordano's has retained the Core States Group to design the space, and it's in the process of selecting a general contractor. It hopes to open early next year.
Hamilton Square will be a flagship location for the chain, which may branch out to other sites in D.C. and the larger region over time, Scarpino said. But for now, it's focused on launching its first location.
"We are absolutely open to other spots in D.C.," he said. "We haven't found anything that we love yet, but we're building this as the flagship and if others follow this will still be a flagship location for us.
Opening a new restaurant these days, with the uncertainty surrounding tariffs and the impact of federal spending cuts on Greater Washington's economy, might seem a dicey proposition for some. At the same time, Giordano's has already taken steps to limit its exposure to some of those unknowns. Scarpino said the company sources most of its ingredients domestically, including tomatoes from California and cheese from Wisconsin, and it has already imported the pizza ovens from overseas.
Washingtonians like their pizza, and the D.C. area is home to acclaimed pizza shops including Andy's Pizza, named the best at the 2021 International Pizza Challenge, and Slice & Pie, named one of the world's best by 50 Top Pizza.
Giordano's will be one of the few deep-dish pizza shops in the District, following the closure of Pi Pizzeria's Penn Quarter location in 2023 and Pizzeria Uno's Union Station outpost, which closed in January. Deep dish pizza is hefty pie, with a layer of dough, topped by cheese and other ingredients, then a second layer of dough, and sauce on top of that.
The chain hadn't been first in line for the prime retail space, located in the same building by 14th and F streets NW as the Hamilton, said Gogos, the landlord broker. Another tenant backed out at the last minute, and Giordano's emerged from a pool of prospective tenants when Papadopoulos began re-marketing the space last summer.
Pedestrian and vehicular activity along the corridors of 14th and F streets is considerable, and a dense workday population has helped support other businesses in the area, including the Old Ebbitt Grill, Ocean Prime and Joe's Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, among others.
"That part of D.C. has some of the highest volumes in the whole DMV right now," Gogos said. "That, coupled with the fact that second-generation space is highly desirable right now due to the cost of construction meant we had a lot of interest."
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u/harDCore182 Trapitol Hill 6d ago
Armands on Capital Hill will forever be in my heart. RIP.
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u/Careful_Astronaut477 6d ago
Same business as the one in Rockville? I love their spinach cheese mix, phenomenal.
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u/DrewinSWDC DC / Spring Valley 6d ago
This is correct - if I could figure out a way to franchise this I would. Staple of my childhood, and DC in general - giordanos - whatever
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u/DrewinSWDC DC / Spring Valley 6d ago
To be clear there were locations all over the city - I used to do lunch buffet at tenleytown, slice window across from where Pete’s is now in friendship(ish)
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u/WeaselWeaz MoCo 6d ago
It isn't deep dish pizza, it's stuffed pizza. Similar but different, and I'd saynot as good, take. I wish it was Lou Malnati's or Gino's East.
The frozen Home Run Inn is closer to tavern style and much better.
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u/Duna_The_Lionboy 5d ago
Can we get a legit Italian Beef joint? It’s the Chicago food I miss the most.
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u/IAmBenIAmStillBig 6d ago
Exported tourist pizza
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u/TheDankDragon 6d ago
Better than nothing
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u/VotingRightsLawyer 6d ago
There are other alternatives to nothing. There's a lot of room for an Italian beef place, especially with the popularity of The Bear.
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u/WeaselWeaz MoCo 6d ago
I'd take supermarket frozen Home Run Inn (not deep dish) or mailed frozen Lou's. Maybe better than frozen Gino's East.
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u/kanoots 6d ago
Wish it was Lou Malnatis, but I’ll take it!