The Dons’ Wood-Fired Pizza

If I had to chose one pizza to eat for the rest of my life, it would be. The Dons.
I can’t get enough of their pizza especially because it’s thin-​crust which means I’ll actually eat the crust (I don’t care for crust, I know I’m weird). They bake their pizza in a brick oven which I think makes it that much better. I mostly order their Sicilian Hit which consists of tomato sauce, sausage, pepperoni, meatballs, ham, mozzarella, parmigiano, romano, fresh basil, and oregano. Not a fan of the meatballs so I ask them to replace it with more sausage… it’s honestly the best pizza I’ve ever had.
Their calzones are huge and are filled with yummy gooey goodness. Salads are a good portion and their dressings are very flavorful. They also serve it with some italian breadsticks. They also have a nice display of different cakes such as cheesecake, chocolate, and red velvet. Haven’t tried them yet but they’re big slices and look really good.
Really great food at affordable prices, must try!

We live within walking distance of the Don’s, so we dine in or (more often) get a pizza to go.
A pizza place lives and dies by the quality of the dough, and this is where The Don’s distinguishes itself from all the others in the area. It’s fresh, not overworked, and cooked perfectly every time. There’s often a little char-​bits on the bottom, as it is wood-​fired, and it gives the pizza a unique character.
The sauce is light, acidic and just right for my tastes, and the toppings are fresh. They load up the meat on the Sicilian Hit, though my wife and I are partial to the Neapolitan and the Original Offer.
This is fresh-​made, honest ingredient pizza folks… it’s going to be a little oily, especially if you get pepperonis. You’ll have to fold the big slices, and you’re going to mop sauce from your chin. If you use a fork & knife on this then you rightly deserve ridicule… it’s PIZZA!
My little nit-​picky complaint is that we ALWAYS ask for extra cheese, and end up with a couple more pieces of their fresh mozzarella. Come on guys, if someone asks for extra cheese… make it count. Otherwise we’ve tried just about everything on the menu, and always come away satisfied. Sometimes we just pick up a couple slices, but more often we end up getting the famiglia size and end up in a pizza-​induced food coma.
The place is plenty big enough to handle the crowds (except for the night the Redskins players show up for charity), and we enjoy sitting outside in fair weather. We’ve never waited long for a table, and the tables themselves are communal so it lends to good conversation with the neighboring folks.
The Don’s is the best pizza in Sterling, and makes the overpriced stuff down at Matchbox in One Loudoun look funny.

Excellent wood fired pizza.
Great thin crust with char in the bottom. Premium ingredients.
I think the pizza was a little under salted. When I added salt, tasted even better.
Excellent service

Love this place! Never disappoints, salads are amazing and they have a really good gluten free crust. My family has multiple food allergies and we’ve always been able to eat here. They do a good job making our meal «safe» for everyone.

I’ve been going to The Dons’ since it was just one tiny hole in the wall without any tables; just a family with a brick oven and big dreams. I keep going back because not only is the pizza fantastic, but the family that runs it just couldn’t be nicer. Whenever I used to go there on a date, the owner’s wife would keep casting me little sideways glances, smiles, and giving me a thumbs up. You just don’t find personal attention like that at your local Pizza Hut! In fact, I ended up having my first date with my husband at The Dons. Now we go back each and every November 1^st to celebrate the anniversary of that first date.
But beyond my assorted sentimental biz, seriously, their food is amazing. They make absolutely everything from scratch, which I sincerely appreciate. I have rather complex food allergies, so it’s reassuring that the chef knows every single ingredient that goes into their food. You can taste the freshness in the final product too. There’s nothing quite like a pizza sauce made from fresh tomatoes and seasoned to perfection. Top that with perfect buffalo mozzarella, fresh basil, and prosciutto, and you’ve got heaven in a pizza slice. Their pizza is like taking a trip back to the little town in Italy I used to live in for a while when I was a kid. It’s that good, that authentic, and that delicious.
As beautifully sublime as the food is, though, it makes it taste all the sweeter to know it’s made by a family that truly cares about their community and their impact on the world. If you pay attention to the news clippings and photos on the wall, you’ll notice that they spend a great deal of their time investing in the community, giving back in truly unique ways, and flying all over the world to teach people how to make a living selling pizza even in incredibly harsh conditions. It’s wonderful food made by even more wonderful people. You just can’t beat that.
Thanks for so many years of great pizza and great memories, Waleed & family!

Some of the reviews mentioned that the pizza is oily and our pepperoni pie was definitely greasy. That aspect of it doesn’t really bother me, don’t ask me why. First off, I love their dough. The crust tasted like a fresh baked baguette to me. It was crispy on the outside and very soft on the inside. The pizza sauce was light and a little bit on the sweeter side. The cheese was nice and gooey. I could have used more sauce and cheese. The pepperonis were small and large slices. I usually like my pepperonis on the crisp side, where the edges are on the verge of burning, some pieces were like that, but the rest were regularly cooked.
You can also buy pieces by the slice and they sell party size sub sandwiches. I noticed they have a pizza eating contest too, but I didn’t catch the specifics of what size pizza you have to eat in under an hour. If that’s something you’re into or is a challenge that you’d like to take, The Dons’ Wood Fired Pizza can help you out.
I would like to give The Dons’ one more try, see how their meat lovers taste.

I absolutely love their pizza… The dough is what makes a pizza and they nailed it. I can’t get enough of this pizza. Sandwiches are unique, just wish they had a better appetizer selection.

Not so much a review as a tip — for those who find the pizza to be overly-​greasy, ask them to hold the olive oil — they often add quite a lot, like «Exxon Valdez» a lot. When having pepperoni, in particular, as a topping, the olive oil add is too much.
Good crust, decent toppings, maybe a bit pricey, but better than any of the usual chain pizza places.

The pizza is excellent. I tried the chorizo topping with olives and roasted red peppers. Great flavor and perfect crust. I just wish they had beer because what goes great with pizza? Beer.

I ordered 3 large pizzas on Christmas Eve day: pepperoni, mushroom, and cheese. We did curbside pickup and had to wait for them to bring it out. The pizzas were cold and undercooked. They didn’t appear to have any cheese on them, including the cheese one. I spent a lot of money on these and we’d all have been happier with a chain pizza. We were very disappointed.

I LOVE Don’s thin crust pizza! I stop in here often for lunch and get their two slice + drink special for less than $ 8. Their pizza toppings are extensive and made with quality ingredients. The wait is never too long for a slice from a freshly made pie. For all my carnivores out there — their meat-​lovers is da bomb. Their cake fridge is also very dangerous to the waistline — I really enjoyed (sharing) a slice of their super-​rich half chocolate/​half cheesecake.
Not to mention, their staff is fantastic — always rushing to provide drink refills and checking in to make sure everything is OK.
Sidenote: the nearby Costco offers discounted gift certificates at nearly 40% off. If you make it to Don’s often, save a few bucks by going the gift card route.

Recommended by a colleague, I didn’t know if I’d be back, so I wanted to order more than just pizza. I ordered the fat tony and a slice of pepperoni pie. Knowing this was a lot of food, I planned on taking half the sandwich with me to go.
The pepperoni slice came out relatively quickly and didn’t disappoint… I really liked the dough. My fat tony took longer and as soon as it arrived I got excited. Dang, this thing was good! I tried to stop at the first half and ended up scarfing down the entire thing. I should go back for another! Oh, and maybe next time I’ll succeed in taking a picture of it before I destroy it.
The only thing I didn’t like about this place was the bathroom situation, one bathroom shared with everyone in the place.

Very tasty and fresh pizza served here! Staff is friendly and the prices were also very reasonable. We plan to return again soon.

Came for lunch with coworker and got one of the specials. One slice of pizza, a side Cesar salad and a drink for 6.58. Pretty good value. The pizza was premade so I wasn’t expecting it to be hot and gooey. I had the Tommy Gun. It was so so. The Cesar salad was terrible. The lettuce was really bitter and the dressing had a banana-​y flavor. Even the soda was a little flat. I would give it another try if my coworkers wanted to come back as it was a good value and every restaurant has off days.

This is hands down the best wood fired pizza I’ve ever had. The crust was crisp and flavorful. The pizza wasn’t greasy or oily. We ordered the 4 cheese pizza and the bruschetta. The ingredients on both were extremely fresh and delicious.
The staff were helpful and very friendly. They were patient with all of our questions and treated us very well.
The restaurant is small and cozy with multiple interesting pictures and articles to read on the walls.
We will definitely be going back every visit to Virginia.

Back to 5 stars. My phone convo with the owner was a bit of a turn off, but they still ended up sending the coupon because they didn’t make the pizza right. Sure enough it tasted really good, and I have since gotten yet another pizza from them with good results and they were willing to cut the mozarella in thick slices on the salad instead of diced, which I don’t like.
If I could say one person renewed my faith in the place it was Antonio. He’s the best. (and I told him so).

One word. GREASE.
So much grease rolling around on top, we didn’t even want to try it. After attempting to blot it all off, it was absolutely nothing special.

Are you a fan of thin crust pizza? The Don’s is the place to go in the Sterling area. Great thin crust, great salads too! Today they came to my office with their wood fire oven and made pizzas to order in our parking lot! Limited selection but hot and fresh and all under $ 10 for a nice size (6 slices) individual pizza!
Today I am having a white pizza and I added sausage. Delicious. Love the garlic and after cooking they added fresh basil on top! YUM!
Should I eat the whole thing no. Will I? Yes!
If you are in the Sterling area — stop by. Consider them for catering too! The wood fire trailer and fresh made pizza is awesome at an event or at work!

Great pizza, great atmosphere, loved the havaian pizza, I bought the pizza for my collegues who are working near by,
For sure I will bring my family over, nice place to soy outside and enjoy the city center
Will be back for sure
Thanks

My favorite is their Greek Escape salad and the Fat & Skinny pizza (although how can you choose?) Fresh, high quality ingredients. A note– this is wood fired pizza which means THIN crust! and that is not a bad thing. It’s delicious-​trust me.
Recommendations:
–Get a full pizza (you can get a smaller one if you’re not that hungry) but not a slice or two. You’ll be thankful later. The thin crust make it easier to eat more. :)
–Get creative and customize it the way you want.i.e. do half and half (I also love hawaiian pizza).
–I’m not a huge soda person, but try one of the Sprecher gourmet sodas – like a root beer or cream soda with your pizza. It’s like having a pizza party like a kid again. FANTASTIC.
–Parking in the back– it has more room and you really don’t have to walk that much further.

Dont be fooled by cheap imitations… The Dons’ is worth the extra effort to get here! If i am within an hour drive while in the area on business, I WILL make it here for my fix!!!

This place is one of my favorite places!!! Excellent pizza and large variety of sandwiches!!! Always a great experience when dining here!

Well we had just flown back in from Aruba and were completely exhausted! My husband and I were craving good pizza and I contacted a girlfriend that lives in the area for a good recommendation and she said without hesitation Don’s! Now my husband loves his pepperoni and we ordered the The Fat&Skinny on pepperoni which is supposed to be «large and small fresh sliced pepperoni» add olives and mushrooms and I had «Tommy Guns, Tomato&Mozz» well we got home and low and behold NO pepperoni at ALL! It’s supposed to be all over the pizza– NONE! My pizza was supposed to have basil and no basil!!! Pretty bland…
Very disappointed!