Pupatella Pizza Cart

Street vendors have started to become very popular in the DC area. I don't know if it's because restaurants here charge you an arm and a your first born child for an okay meal, maybe it's the convenience, or DC's attempt to be more like real cities, like Boston or NYC. Recently I've been grabbing lunch from the Pupatella pizza cart. It's near my office only on Thursdays and Fridays, so I tend to plan for those lunches in advance (Who am I kidding? I'm always planning in advance for my next meal). The red street cart always has a bunch of people in their business get-ups standing around, eagerly waiting for their pizza to be ready. While I'm not a fan of a 15 minute wait during the busy lunch hour (I'd go before noon if you are in a rush), I am a fan of what I'm waiting for.

The menu is short and sweet, only small offering of pizza and Italian sausages (for when the dough runs out). The trademark offering is their Neopolitan Pizza Margherita for $6. As you know from our last post about our homemade pizza, the basic ingredients are a thin crust, San Marzano tomatoes (they know whats up), fresh mozzerella, fresh basil, and olive oil. You can get any of their toppings, ranging from veggies to meats (I love the proscuitto) for an additional $1 per topping. The cart also serves up a Special Pizza of the week for $8. Today, I went for the special (shown below) - white pizza with spinach, roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and goat cheese. Considering this pizza typically feeds me for a lunch and a dinner (to be honest, today I was really hungry and only got one meal out of it), it's a pretty good deal. In fact, Washingtonian awarded it the "2009 Best Bargain Restaurant Award."  

If you aren't in the mood for pizza, the Pupatella grills up sausage, served with mozzerella and grilled onions on a toasted bun for $6. While I can't vouch for this menu choice, I have seen many people order it, so it must be good. Oh, you also might want to grab a drink before you head over to the cart, they don't seem to supply beverages.

Recently, I discovered where the Pupatella is covered up during after hours. It just so happens to be on my jogging route, which is rather distracting actually. I have yet to change my jogging route, I think it's comforting knowing that the Pupatella is safely stored, waiting to make pizzas the next day.

For a little Pupatella gossip, check out their blog. It looks like a new restaurant is in the works...