I just got back from dinner at one of my favorite pizza places in DC — the Pizzeria Paradiso on M St in Georgetown.   The 8-inch margherita with pepperoni and sausage.   So money.  Perfection.

So, I didn’t eat a lot of pizza as a kid since I grew up in Japan.    We spent 13 of my first 16 years in Tokyo – where there aren’t a lot of pizzeria joints.   In fact, the only I remember as a kid in Tokyo was Shakey’s, which is a far cry from the legit places (although the bowling alley at Camp Zama had good pizza’s)!

My first real pizzeria I visited was my freshman year in college when I went to visit one of my closest friends, Kevin Guthrie, at Princeton.   I had my first pizza by the slice at a real authentic joint at Victor’s Pizza on Nassau St.   Such great memories of the pizza and stromboli at Vic’s.

Then, my next big pizza experience came when I worked out of our AOL office in New York 1 – 2 days a week for 3+ plus years.    In between my client visits to the offices at the NFL, NBA, MLB, Sports Illustrated, etc, I’d always try to get at least 1 – 2 slices for lunch — normally at Ray’s or Famiglia (and, of course, John’s Pizza).   Can’t go wrong at those places.

Some complain there’s not good pizza in DC, but I beg to differ.   I love the pizza at Paradiso, Match Box, Faccia Luna and the Italian Store.   Ciao.