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“Who doesn’t like pizza?” might not be a business plan, but it’s pretty close.
That’s at least what Ed McIntosh says of Pendleton Carryout Co., which opened late last week. He’s betting that a farm-to-table counter operation selling Roman-style pizza will work in Alexandria. I was there on Friday night, it’s first full day of business, and anecdotally, the tiny, wallpapered space was slammed.
Just a few blocks from King Street in Old Town, the shop sells a variety of squared-off styles: cheese, pepperoni, veggie, chorizo, burrata with chimichurri and home style, a thick, egg-based dough with a crispier crust. But that’s just the start. (The creamy burrata with a kicky green-garlic sauce is an early winner.)
McIntosh is the chef of Sliced (the pizza brand) and one of the owners of PCOC, a budding business incubator. McIntosh, formerly of the local pizza chain Matchbox, is also the product of the incubator model (Tortilladora, a delivery taco service, out of Union Kitchen in D.C.) and hopes to launch more food entrepreneurs.
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Pizza, sold by the ounce (slices, $3-$5 and pies $10-$15), and dumplings, Patrick Coyne’s Laoban Dumplings, will serve as staples as the team welcomes rotating concepts. Currently open for lunch and dinner—there’s a ledge for stand-up eating, but no seating—the next expansion, maybe by next month, is for a new vendor to bring in breakfast.
The joint venture already has roots in the restaurant industry. It’s connected to the Madison Collective, which will open Chop Shop Taco later this year (a few blocks from PCOC) and The People’s Drug, a craft cocktail and sandwich bar on King Street that opened in May.
“The whole goal,” says McIntosh, “is we are looking for concepts to get in here, and they can grow with us.” // Pendleton Carryout Co.: 807 Pendleton St., Alexandria
