New kid on the block RedRocks is the latest addition to Washington’s neighborhood pizzerias, earning one and a half stars (out of four) in Post critic Tom Sietsema’s Sunday review. Sietsema reports that RedRocks owner James O’Brien hired a consultant to fine-tune the restaurant's pizza recipes. (Sample rules: “only extra-fine milled flour from Italy,” and “the dough should be made in small batches several times a day and should never see the inside of a refrigerator.”)
Sietsema found the pizzas “marvelous: yeasty but not too, thin but not too” at their best and “better than Domino’s” at their worst. His critique is mostly aimed at some of the toppings and sauce, which he says could use more attention. Still, the “shells” pizza—topped with steamed clams, garlic, pancetta, and onions—and the sausage-and-peppers pizzas make the grade.Appetizers like bruschetta and roasted potatoes are too starchy to eat pre-pizza and the salads “aren’t very compelling,” Sietsema says, though the better choices—warm olives and creamy burrata cheese—are “hard to resist.” And though pizza is the focus at RedRocks, Sietsema says the “satisfying” fillet of branzini with garlic, olives, green beans, and baby carrots and the chicken panini served with onions and romesco sauce are worth considering.
RedRocks occupies a row house with an outdoor patio in a primarily residential area. The interior “sports a definite ‘new car’ sheen,” Sietsema writes, despite the old black-and-white photographs of the neighborhood that pepper the walls. Though the pacing of service is sometimes off and the dining room can be a bit loud, Sietsema says, “Good pizza and chipper servers make great distractions.”
Sietsema found the pizzas “marvelous: yeasty but not too, thin but not too” at their best and “better than Domino’s” at their worst. His critique is mostly aimed at some of the toppings and sauce, which he says could use more attention. Still, the “shells” pizza—topped with steamed clams, garlic, pancetta, and onions—and the sausage-and-peppers pizzas make the grade.Appetizers like bruschetta and roasted potatoes are too starchy to eat pre-pizza and the salads “aren’t very compelling,” Sietsema says, though the better choices—warm olives and creamy burrata cheese—are “hard to resist.” And though pizza is the focus at RedRocks, Sietsema says the “satisfying” fillet of branzini with garlic, olives, green beans, and baby carrots and the chicken panini served with onions and romesco sauce are worth considering.
RedRocks occupies a row house with an outdoor patio in a primarily residential area. The interior “sports a definite ‘new car’ sheen,” Sietsema writes, despite the old black-and-white photographs of the neighborhood that pepper the walls. Though the pacing of service is sometimes off and the dining room can be a bit loud, Sietsema says, “Good pizza and chipper servers make great distractions.”
