Za

I thought I found my go-​to pizza until tonight. We picked up pizza and salad for take out and when we got it home the bottom of the pizza was completely burnt. How could they send out a product like that? Did they think we wouldn’t notice? It wasn’t even edible. Looks like I’m still on my quest to find good pizza in Arlington.

UNDERWHELMING PIZZA
A restaurant that calls itself Za, as in Piz-​Za, ought to offer the best in its namesake. If only that were true, even to a small degree. Unfortunately, Za’s pizza falls flat in several areas, as follows below:
A. PIZZA CRUST — 2.5 STARS
This crust is neither thin and crispy, not thick and doughy. It lies somewhere in the middle, and is reminiscent of the sub-​standard, butter-​laden, under-​whelming crust offered by Domino’s Pizza and similar inferior competitors that originate in places like the Midwest where no one knows good pizza from bad.
B. PIZZA TOMATO SAUCE — 2.5 STARS
It’s simply too sweet, and lacking any complexity whatsoever. Honestly, it’s more reminiscent of sauce from a can.
C. CARMELIZED ONION TOPPING #1 — 4 STARS
The onions are carmelized slowly and correctly, not sauteed too quickly and incorrectly like other inferior providers.
D. NIMAN RANCH SAUSAGE TOPPING #2 — 2 STARS
Although Niman Ranch has a good name, their sausage is greatly inferior to almost every other brand of sausage you can obtain easily in this area. Tasteless and somewhat unsavory, I would avoid this topping by all means.
E. QUALITY — 4 STARS
Za makes an effort to supply and use fresh ingredients.
F. PRICE — 2 STARS
Without tax or tip, I paid a whopping $ 12 for a very small, inferior 10″ pizza with 2 toppings. For $ 2 less (only $ 10), I can buy a terrific 14″ pizza with 2 toppings at many other locations.
G. VALUE — 2 STARS
When you do the Math, you’ll find that Za’s pizzas are 135% (Yikes, more than twice the price) more expensive than the $ 10 pizza in F above. Wow, what a bad deal.
H. SERVICE — 3.5 STARS
The waitress was attentive, but without much personality.
I. AMBIANCE — 3.5 STARS
The place is clean, but not much to look at inside or out.
J. LOCATION — 4 STARS
It’s easy to find FREE parking in this uncrowded part of Arlington.
K. FINAL ANALYSIS
Just about every other pizza shop in the area surpasses Za by a wide margin. You guessed it… I won’t be returning.

Excellent service always. Cool salads. They have interesting beers on draft. I just can not say that I am in love with their pizza. The crust has no leavening but isn’t crispy. It’s kind of like a soggy pie crust.
If you do go here, I’d recommend making your own pizza rather than getting one of the specials or signature pies. Their special pizzas tend to be adventurous, which might lead one to believe that they must be good. But sometimes they are just wierd.
My girlfriend really liked the sweet potato special.
I think the owner should look into changing the crust recipe. I think that would make everything better and might make some of the specials work.

Excellent pizza and salad dishes with local/​seasonal ingredients. I’ll definitely eat there again.

This was an interesting style of pizza. Pan pizza with interesting combinations of toppings for their specialties. I tried a meaty delight sausage peppers and onions, which did not disappoint. The dessert menu looked interesting but the pizza filled me up and I didn’t partake. The cooking style is a thin crust pan style. It was surprisingly unique and very enjoyable.
There is plenty of room for kiddos but an atmosphere that allows it to be a classier joint later in the evening.
The service was very friendly and attentive.

Love their tea and atmosphere. I usually sit next to a window cause I love watching people doing their daily activities or just walking by.

Their Mac and Cheese pizza is amazing. The cheese sauce is extremely tasty and the crust is good too. They have good drinks as well and an outdoor patio and the staff is very friendly.

Awesome, unique and well crafted pizza and salads. Wife and I have been going here for years and it never disappoints. Staff is always friendly and sometimes you do have to wait a little longer then you normally would for pizza but its definitely worth it!

I’m handing out five stars because the experience at Za was just that superlative. I used to live in Northern Italy and the dining experience here was equal to the best I had in Italy. Service was terrific, food could not have been better. I like the extensive use of local ingredients. The wine list is tiny but well curated. I only wish I could have tried the impressive dessert menu but I was too full.

Love the idea of this place with crazy pizza combos like strawberries with goat cheese and onions, but the execution leaves much to be desired. I don’t really understand all of the 4 star reviews as the pizza taste is rather average. Prices are a bit high and menu options are rather limited.
Nice variety of non-​traditional beers on tap.

The place for people who like to put fun or weird things on their pizza. Perfect for take-​out.
Recommend: Anything with potatoes, bacon, garlic, thyme…
Don’t recommend: Mac ‘n cheese za.

The specials offer innovative pizza topping combinations. The ingredients are fresh, local, and delicious. We often pick up from here when we have company and are not disappointed. This is a great pick when you’re in the mood for «fancy pizza».

We’re not coming back.
The menu and décor all screamed high-​end pizza restaurant. We were duped!
We ordered the grilled chicken specialty pizza and a custom pizza with three extra ingredients. We also ordered two beers, two sodas, and a glass of wine. The total for the bill, including tip was $ 63. Yes, $ 63.
The food is incredibly underwhelming if not mediocre at best. When our pizzas came out, they looked like frozen pizzas I might buy from grocery stores. Perfectly small, round, and it tasted like mediocre pizza. I still can’t believe we paid $ 63 for our meal and drinks. Ridiculous.
Even the service was mediocre. Even though we were there on a Tuesday night when the restaurant was fairly empty, our server checked in on us only a few times. We weren’t told of the special pizzas on the special board so that was annoying because there isn’t much to choose from the menu. I didn’t know this until after we ordered and then I looked up to see the special board. The board is hard to see from the distance.
Pretty disappointed overall.

We built our own pizza, but let me tell you: order anything here, and you can’t go wrong.
Pizza:
They make their own sausage and bread & butter jalapeños. Also, when they say roasted garlic? They mean ENTIRE CLOVES OF ROASTED GARLIC. Yum!!!
They have incredible toppings
and the crust is perfect.
We also ordered the Caesar salad, which is perfectly tossed and the salad-​to-​dressing ratio is just right.
For dessert, we ordered the Chocolate Goat Cheesecake. Lordy!!! There was a beautiful zing to the chocolate cheesecake (because of the goat cheese) and the whipped cream was hand whipped right there in the kitchen.
Everything here is from scratch and just… SO TASTY.
Service:
Incredible. Faviola was our waitress and she had the best attitude. Love her, and you will too.

Za definitely has some pros and cons.
Pros: awesome pizza. My go to is the Old School Potato pizza. It’s really rich and tastes amazing. I’ve also tried the seasonal pizzas as well, the one with apple butter as a base is pretty good.
Cons: Do not order the salad if you’re looking for a «real» salad! My mom ordered the sweet potato salad and it basically just sweet potatoes molded into the shape of a can. It was pretty bland and was not a salad whatsoever. Secondly, even when the restaurant isn’t crowded (I only go during off hours), the service is pretty slow and mediocre.
Overall, I would definitely recommend the pizza if you’re looking for some great flavors. But do not go during prime hours and do not expect to get a leafy green salad.

Lazy AND pretentious. I’ve been called both, so I should know. But NEVER in regards to pizza. Also, I lived nearby for a few years.
Audra, taking a historical perspective, has the salads pegged: molded and premade, dated in concept, and not-​so-​fresh in point of fact.
Jake, who is doing more of a class analysis, captures the essential nastiness of the pizza itself: gummy and gimmicky and chronically undercooked.
It looks cute from the sidewalk, and the open windows are nice. It’s certainly not the worst pizza in Arlington, but it may be the most expensive bad pizza I’ve ever had.

This place is terribly mediocre.
It manifests some of the worst aspects of 90’s food culture. It tastes as bad as Jennifer Anniston’s first season «Rachel» haircut on Friends.
Having lived down the block for almost 6 months I decided to check it out. After reviewing the menu online I was prepared to have this place be a new go-​to spot.
I ordered the beet salad. When it arrived I was shocked to find that it was a molded salad. That’s when I knew this place was based on an out dated 90’s concept that is as lame as it’s name.
The salad was definitely assembled ahead of time. I could tell because the beets stained all of the other ingredients. I suspect the beets used weren’t fresh because they were cloyingly sweet. Overall it was a bad look. I ate all of the beet salad because I was starving and I’m not in the habit of wasting food.
When the pizza arrived it was clear that the kitchen was in he habit of using pre-​prepared ingredients and not cooking from fresh. The chicken on my pizza looked and tasted like the ready-​made grilled chicken that can be picked up at the grocery store.
The ingredient ratio was all wrong and the topping to crust proportion was disastrously unstable.
I’m a military service member. I’ve deployed to Iraq. This is mentioned only to reveal my baseline. I’ve had more enjoyable meals while on deployment and while in the field.

Za makes it look so simple… they take fresh, local, and seasonal ingredients and offer a variety of rotating (and amazing) ‘zas and ‘lads. Easy, right? But don’t be fooled… easy doesn’t mean not tasty or not impressive.
My sweet potato pie was perfection on a thin crust, topped with banana peppers, basil, and a whole lot of deliciousness. Andrea B’s apple pie (ha ha ha) looked awesome, too. Don’t believe me? Check out the photos! They are worth a million words for sure… mostly ones like yum, mmm, and «can it be March again in Boston so these can be the seasonal specials on rotation?» (The only time I’ll ever actively want it to be March in Boston.)
We concluded our meal with the chocolate goat cheesecake, which wasn’t my cup of tea… but if you like goat cheese, you will LOVE this dessert! The taste of goat cheese is so strong I could only take a few bites, but like I said: if you like it, you’ll love it!
The service was friendly, the restaurant was clean (love the chalk blackboard with the specials written on it hanging along the length of the wall), and street parking is free. All in all, a very good place for a lunch or casual dinner date.

My fella just moved to Arlington and after a bike through his new neighborhood, we stopped at Za for a late dinner. I expected a place that was tremendously obnoxious and pretentious, which is what I equate to that list of never-​used two-​letter Scrabble words that only assholes know and use as if «of course, ‘Za’ is a common slang term for pizza». No it isn’t, folks. And if you knew someone who said «let’s order some za for dinner» you’d probably punch him right in his popped collar.
That being said Za is only a little bit pretentious. They have a tiny menu, but it’s packed with flavor. Confoundingly, their specials are more expensive than the normal menu. Aren’t specials the entrees they want to sell lots of because they have ingredients on hand that they need to use? Whatever. These specials are all locally sourced, farm raised, free range, etc, so they’re more expensive. Luckily, the regular menu has lots of delightful things to choose from.
We shared the beet salad (sans red onion) which was Gone in 60 Seconds starring Nic Cage. I Love Beets. I love everything about them. I even love The Beets, that band from Bluffington.
Our waiter suggested we each get a personal pizza because they’re small. They are certainly smaller than a regular pizza but one of Za’s pies would be fine to share with someone else when you’ve already scarfed down a plate of beets.
The grilled chicken «za» (Grilled Chicken, Broccoli, Caramelized Onion, Fresh Garlic, Diced Tomato, EVOO and Four Cheeses) was so great. It tasted really fresh, you could decipher all the ingredients in your mouth. It was really yummy and I loved it next day for lunch. On the other hand, the Mac n’ Cheese «za» (Elbow Macaroni, Caramelized Onion, Cream Sauce, Four Cheeses and Toasted Bread Crumbs) was very bland to me, though the fella liked it a lot. It lacked something to punch through all that cream and mellow cheese. Something like… BACON! Or I dunno, salt.
Pizzas range from $ 8-​$ 12.50, though when you start making your own combos it can get expensive fast ($ 1.50-$ 2 per topping). Our starter salad was $ 7.50 for a very healthy portion (def for two).
The décor is relaxed. Modern without feeling clinical. The waiter was nice without being pushy. And the bathroom was clean. All great points.
I will definitely return!

«I wanted to like this place…» = kinda clichéd. So, let’s go rogue on this bad boy.
I wanted to dislike this place.
The rotating menu of specialty pizzas includes a fig and goat cheese wonder that had Kara G panting to visit, only to have left the building well before we arrived. Same goes for all arugula, which made the Aruguloni pizza (mozzarella and pepperoni topped with and arugula salad dressed with citrus vinaigrette — straight from the chalkboard) little more than an acidic roni pie. So, inventory is an issue, even on a slow Sunday night.
For what’s left, nothing jumps out as overly creative or initially appealing.
Then you’ve gotta consider the base «sauce» for most pies: a potato and sweet onion purée in lieu of the usual margherita style slicker. As if this devil bulb-​infused lifeblood isn’t enough, there are no more than two pizzas on the entire menu that don’t include caramelized onions, raw red onions or oniony onions with a pinch of onion on top. Hate onions? Prepare a gritted smile.
But then you order the Old School Potato — a Gruyère, thyme, bacon and spud ‘za on a crisp and buttery crust, masterfully executed at a crazy reasonable $ 10 — and all preconceptions about a boring menu fly out the window. With the bold flavors, laid back environment and just-​as-​casual pricing, you can’t dislike Za; it’s culinarily impossible.
Beers and wines poured, your table neighbors will likely be older Arlington residents and you might catch a little Kenny G on their Pandora channel. The namesake dish, though, is worth the trek.