Veloce

DELICIOUS, i walked by this restaurant every day as they built it every day while on my way to an internship i had in D.C. and the wait was 100% worth it. they day it opened i got an open great from the restaurant owner a chef known for her Pizzeria Paradiso! Quit frankly this spot is worth every penny you spend. Delicious selection of cheese and high quality toppings. i could not recommend it more…
a few weeks after it opened i left for Europe in a 3 month long trip a europe during which i had the joy of traveling many european countries including italy… i can say after tasting true delicious Italian pizza. Veloce hits the spot after coming back and missing Italian pizza.

This review is solely for the breakfast calzone. At $ 5, it’s a steal. Scrambled eggs, potatoes, choice of breakfast sausage (beef, lamb, chicken), Italian cheese, cherry tomatoes and herbs.
I think their lunch can be overpriced, but this breakfast deal is reason enough to swing by. They serve until 10:30 on weekdays.

I ordered veloce through caviar delivery service and was pleasantly surprised. I got the butcher (pepperoni, pork sausage, red peppers and red onions) and cheesemonger (with added spinach and cherry tomatoes). The crust of both pizzas was delicious and melt-​in-​mouth. I have had pizza studio and &pizza and I would say I like veloce’s crust the best. The butcher was pretty good although not a standout. The cheesemonger with spinach and cherry tomatoes, on the other hand, was definitely one of the better tasting pizzas I’ve had in DC. I would highly recommend this flavor combination to anyone.
The extra toppings cost $ 1 each flat rate which is a little much but particularly worth it for the cheesemonger. I haven’t tried pizza paradiso so I am not sure how this pizza compares but this experience will prompt me to make a visit to the actual restaurant. Size-​wise the pizza leaves a bit to be desired– I am glad I ordered 2 instead of 1. But for how good the cheesemonger was, it was still worth it. I also love me some breakfast pizza, so I will have to come back just to try that option.

There are a lot of these fast casual pizzas right now, but this one did not stack up against the competition. To start, an 8″ pizza is really not very big, and they’re rather miserly with toppings, charging a dollar extra past the first four (cheese counts as one). Not a winning value proposition, given that their price is not low. Their topping selection is decent (vegan cheese and gluten free crust included among the options) but not special, and the pizza I ended up with was no better than average taste-​wise. The potatoes, for example, were pretty fantastic, but only once I took them off of the pizza. Potatoes on pizza just does not work, no matter how many people keep trying to make it happen.
They don’t do an assembly line; you pick all your toppings and order them at once, and they make it for you. This is kind of disappointing; the assembly line process and that little bit of human interaction and actually watching your pizza made is part of the attraction. They do some daily specials that I didn’t take advantage of.
To me, it feels like a cash-​in move, like Pizzeria Paradiso (the parent company) is trying to latch on to this fast casual fad. But honestly, I don’t even like coming downtown and I know two better places to get a fast casual pizza just within walking distance of here, not only one of DC’s ubiquitous standard-​bearing &pizza outlets, but the delicious Black Iron. Never mind all the non-​pizza fast casual places, or the non-​fast pizza places. There are so many ways I could get a more filling and better meal for the money. Nope, this place didn’t cut it for me.

Came here earlier in the week for lunch with some coworkers. I ordered a make your own pizza with regular crust, basil pesto, Italian cheese blend, prosciutto, mushrooms and arugula. It is smaller than what you get at DC Pizza or &Pizza which are within a couple blocks of Veloce, but I found it to be satisfyingly filling. I think the ingredients are a better quality and I really liked their crust. Also, major thumbs up for using an actual brick oven as opposed to the conveyor ovens found at other fast casual pizza joints. At $ 9 and some change, Veloce is extremely reasonable and offers essentially the same personal pizza and ingredients that their (more expensive) sister restaurant, Pizzeria Paradiso, offers.

It is my goal to try every fast casual quick toast pizzas in DC, and Veloce made it to the top of one food blog’s list. I was excited to try it, as I liked Pizza Paradiso’s pizza. The food blog also made it sound really good, saying it had a good char and beat out all the other fast casual pizzerias that’s all the rage these days. Unfortunately, Veloce wasn’t that great. It was good, and pretty good quality, but still subpar to &pizza IMO. First off, the dough and crust is good, but it’s not charred and crispy enough to me. The sauce and ingredients are pretty high quality, they use fresh mozzarella, meats are good quality, but the only problem is they don’t give much of it. It’s personal thin crust style, but it’s pretty small, and even worst, a huge part of the pizza is just crust, I feel like it’s a good 1.5−2 inches of just crust, so the sauce+cheese doesn’t cover the wide circumference of the pizza. The crust is also really thin. I’m not a voracious, unlimited appetite buffet clearing eater, but this didn’t really leave me that full. I would call this portion a snack size, and for $ 9 on a fast casual pizza concept, I feel like you should get more. &pizza’s are much more substantial to me, since you can get unlimited toppings and finishes, whereas Veloce you can just get 4, and the pizzas are smaller. I can’t even finish an &pizza, I usually take some home or give 3 slices to someone else. So it was pretty good tasting, but not good value, I feel there are better fast casuals or by the slice pizzas elsewhere.

Came here for lunch. I’m a fan! Great pizza and cool sodas too. They offer Puck’s sodas, which were super tasty. I had the Vanilla Cream and the Diet Black Cherry. The pizza was small, individual sized, custom made, and ready in about five minutes. Solid addition to the Farragut West lunch scene.

I ordered the forest pizza (organic tomato sauce, spinach, roasted mushrooms,
mozzarella, red onions). There was hardly any sauce on the pizza at all, which made it taste a little dry.
The staff were very friendly and courteous.

Apparently fast, casual pizza is the new thing and there are lots popping up near my work in Farragut. I don’t usually eat pizza for lunch, but now that it’s getting cooler I find myself wanting something warm so decided to try Veloce. I got the Farmer Pizza which was a veggie option and I really enjoyed it. I agree with others that the menu selection isn’t huge, but you can always build your own pizza which is nice. There was no line when I went in and it was a fairly fast process. I agree with others that the portion isn’t huge though it was plenty of food for me. In sum this is a good lunch option.

Veloce has some of the best pizza I’ve ever eaten. The crust was perfectly done and flavorful, I loved the ability to choose one of their pizzas or make your own. It would have been nice to choose more toppings than just four, but that’s only because of all the toppings offered. After finishing the 8″ personal pizza, I wanted another one (and easily could’ve gotten one for the reasonable price of $ 9.00 each).
The atmosphere was nice and welcoming and the pizza came out quickly too. Overall it was a great experience and I can’t wait to go back!

Quick yet delicious! Menu isn’t very extensive but there’s room for substitution and addition! Who doesn’t like that?
Love that it’s made fresh right in front of you.
Staff are very courteous.
Very casual setting providing indoor and outdoor seating.

–service–
I was greeted and given time to work through the menu, which isn’t too overwhelming but definitely takes a little bit to work through. Pizza took about 10 min (off peak, at 2pm) or slightly less.
–pizza/​menu–
There are 4 set meat pizzas on the menu, and many more 6 – 8 veggie options. You can also build your own. I went with The Farmer pizza (pesto &veggie), seed and grain crust, and added chicken sausage. It was delicious. The crust is nicely browned and crispy without being baked to a crisp. Toppings are very flavorful.
–verdict–
Nice lunch option at $ 10/​9″ pizza. Nice décor and space for a lunch meet up, will definitely head back to sample more of the menu.

I love Pizzeria Paradisio and was super excited to see Veloce open up right by my work!
This is basically an individual pizza the same size as the smallest Paradiso pizza (maybe a little smaller?) for $ 10. You can build your own or go with one of their suggestions. You order at the counter and then kind of get to watch your pizza get made behind a glass window. The line moved pretty quickly and it took around 15 from ordering to receiving my pizza during lunch on a Thursday.
I had The Butcher, which is «organic tomato sauce, mozzarella, pepperoni,
housemade pork sausage, red onion, sweet red peppers», it was really great and definitely in the exact same style as Paradiso. The only downsides were I felt like the toppings were a bit on the sparse side and my pizza was slightly underdone, the crust definitely could have been a little crispier. The size of the pizza is also on the smaller side. I ate the entire thing and felt like I could have had a little more… but maybe that’s just me being greedy!
Overall, I’m kind of sad to say I’m not sure if I would come again. I love Paradiso, but I think part of their charm is the sit-​down experience and their amazing beer selection, without that Veloce is a delicious, solid option, but I don’t think it can hold a candle to &pizza and DC pizza as a quick, cheap lunch pizza.

My first visit and pleasantly surprised.
The store is bright and open; you watch your pizza preparation. I was in a rush so I ordered the first thing on the menu. I was merely hoping for something to quickly satisfy my late lunch needs however I now have a new spot for lunch. Toppings were fresh and light and yummy. I couldn’t finish my 8″ but my officemate gladly volunteered to take care of my leftovers after salivating over my aromatic feast. I can’t wait to try their breakfast pizzas, such a wonderful new option! Very happy to also find new offerings from Carla Hall for dessert on the go.

I was excited at the prospect of a new pizza place in the work neighborhood. Sure, I loved DC Pizza, but I have room for more than one pizza joint in my heart.
I finally got to try Veloce today and, well, it was no competition for DC Pizza.
I liked the fact that there were different crust options (I chose whole wheat). I liked the selection of toppings, although you get less for your money than at DC Pizza. I ordered my pizza — whole wheat, Italian cheeses, tomato sauce, onions, chicken sausage, sundried tomatoes — and waited in the back.
As I watched them put pizzas in and take them out of the oven, I noticed there was one they seemed concerned about. Pizza-​cooking guy took it out, touched it with his bare fingers, put it back in for a few minutes more. When they called all the order numbers and skipped mine, I knew my pizza was the problem child.
They took my pizza out of the oven. He called over the guy boxing up the pizzas to look at something. They put it in a box. Took it out again. put it on a metal tray and back in the oven it went. At least two different people touched my pizza, with their bare hands. Finally, they took it out and boxed it up.
I asked the woman who handed my pizza to me what the issue was. She said that the sausage wasn’t cooked the first time, so they had to put it back in. Okay, fair enough, although I wondered why they didn’t pre-​cook their meats because 2 – 3 minutes in a pizza oven does not seem like enough time to adequately cook meat to a safe temp. But what do I know?
I was starving, so I didn’t complain. I just wanted to eat and I knew I would never come back again.
I opened my pizza and was greeted by a pool of oil on top of it. I dabbed it off with some napkins (no big deal — real cheese does that). I also noticed that a quarter of the crust was pretty much burned to a crisp. Whatever.
I took out a slice and it was floppy and folded back on itself, sending hot pizza juice down my wrist. Ugh. I took a bit. I was underwhelmed. The sauce was completely flavorless and runny. The dough was soggy. The sausage was still pink in places. I pulled the sausage off and ate the rest. Oh well, live and learn.
That’s what I get for cheating on DC Pizza.

When I first moved to DC, I had nothing but complaints about the quality of the pizza. Then I finally discovered Pizzeria Paradiso and 2 Amys, and I thought «well at least there’s good sit-​down pizza but nothing quick and easy.» Then &pizza opened and I thought «cool, here’s my go-​to for quick and tasty pizza.» Now Veloce has given me yet another awesome option as Pizzeria Paradiso expands into the takeout/​lunch/​fast casual game.
The menu has preset options or you can make your own custom pie from a list of ingredients as good as the original Paradiso. Ordering and pickup were fast, although I was there around 1:30pm so well past the lunch rush. My pizza was every bit as fresh and delicious as I expected. The price was a little higher than I’d have thought, $ 12 for a pizza and a soda, but I guess that’s par for the course when eating lunch downtown, and it’s certainly better than some chain restaurant sandwich.
Veloce ups the ante on DC’s ever-​improving pizza scene. Here’s hoping they open several more locations!

Restaurants in DC are getting more innovative day by day and Veloce lives up to that reputation. You have the power to customize your pizza and the choices of crusts, cheese, sauces, and toppings is pretty good. Their grains & seeds crust is excellent. The 4 toppings that I chose were roasted fingerling potatoes, sundried tomatoes, olives, and pine nuts (I didn’t choose any cheese). Will try other toppings such as artichokes, capers, etc the next time.
It was fairly crowded around lunch time and they must have forgotten to make my order. To compensate, not only did they then make my order but also gave me a free coupon for the next time I visit. Hats off to the staff for top-​notch customer service despite a large crowd.
The pizza itself was delicious, and well worth the price. If you are in the mood for pizza, I would definitely recommend this place.

The competition for fast-​casual pizza in this area is quite fierce, with &pizza, DC Pizza, and Pizza Studio all nearby. In my quest to try all of them out, I came to Veloce on their opening day for lunch.
The establishment itself is pretty bright and cheerful, with yellow and white being their main interior colors. Once you walk inside, you can see their custom Neapolitan-​style gas brick oven which fits up to 25 pizzas at a time. In terms of space it is a bit «intimate» as there is not much seating inside, and during the lunch hour rush, it can get pretty crowded. There is outdoor seating available, but unless you arrive early, your best bet is to get your pizza to-​go.
The menu includes 9 «curated» pizzas, along with monthly specials which are posted above the cash registers. Alternatively, you can create your own 8 inch pizza by choosing your base (crust + sauce) and toppings (up to 4). Either option starts at $ 9. Unfortunately, cheese counts as one of the 4 toppings — bummer! I chose the grains & seeds crust, spicy garlic pesto sauce, and the following toppings: buffalo mozzarella, housemade chicken sausage, applewood smoked bacon, and roasted mushrooms.
After a short wait, my pizza was ready and I dug right in. The wait was worth it. My pizza was delicious! It was exactly like a pizza that you would get at Pizzeria Paradiso, only that it is personal sized. It is also more «rustic» with a thicker crust. You can definitely tell that they use fresh, high quality ingredients. Also worth mentioning is that Veloce serves 5 inch breakfast pizzas and calzones (all $ 5) from 7:00 — 10:30 AM, so you can have pizza for every meal of your day.
In terms of taste, Veloce ranks pretty high in comparison to the competition. However, portions are a bit small, and I was still hungry after finishing my pizza. Also, customer service at Veloce is a bit lacking. Pizza Studio still has the best bargain ($ 7.99 for an 11 inch pizza with unlimited toppings), and the pizza at &pizza is not that bad either. So, it’s a tough call. But if you are looking for high quality pizza for a quick lunch, then Veloce is the boss!

The Rooster is delicious! And the grape fountain soda is a bonus. Going back tomorrow!

About the closest you’ll get to Pizzeria Paradiso here is the name on the front window. Otherwise this new fast pizza joint bears little resemblance to one of the oldest and best pizzerias in DC. I tried the wall special — grain and seeds crust, asparagus, tomato, red onion and lemon zest. Yum, right? What came out was literally a $ 9 cracker — dry, stiff and lacking in flavor. And way small. Still hungry I went in search of a second lunch. Elsewhere. Maybe the less adventurous pizzas here are better, who knows? But for now I think I’ll stick with the mother ship.