Restaurant Review: Matchbox Wood-Fired Oven Pizzas, DC

Just blocks from the Verizon Center and Gallery Place in Washington DC is the restaurant Matchbox, a “vintage pizza bistro” that specializes in hand tossed pizzas baked in an 800+ degree brick wood-fired oven.

A recent lunch at Matchbox allowed me to sample several of their pizzas.  The 3-story building, a former Chinese grocery store,  is just 15 feet wide, but fun and funky, incorporating lots of fabricated metal stairs and railings and exposed air conditioning vents.  It’s got a high-tech, yet comfortable feeling.

A glass roofs now cover the main floor patio, which was added on this past year over what was once an alley, and the 3rd floor dining area.  Booths, tables and tall tables with bar stools leaves the restaurant with an open and airy feel.  The kitchen is also open so you can watch the pizzas slide in and out of the brick oven.  Opened in 2004, it was named one of Washington DC’s “Best New Restaurants” due to it’s wonderful pizzas.

Matchbox pizzas, priced from $12.00- $15.00 for a small, and $$18.00- $21.00 for a large, are baked at over 800 degrees to achieve their crispy bottom crust, from dough made daily on the premise.  I sampled 4 of their 16 different pizzas on the menu, including the Matchbox Meat, topped with pepperoni, spicy sausage, and bacon, which is delicious.  The crust is tender and chewy, in a slightly thicker New York-style.  The toppings are ample and of high quality.   The next I tried was the Q Special, loaded with marinated chicken, roasted red peppers and portabella mushrooms – also delicious.

The Italian ham and arugula pizza was an interesting change, using pesto and a rich blend of mozzarella and ricotta cheeses.  The last pizza I sampled was the vegetarian, topped with crimini mushrooms, roasted poblano peppers, garlic, onions,  and fingerling potato chips.  The addition of the freshly fried chips were a bit different, but some in the party seemed to love them as an addition.

Matchbox’s menu also includes several sandwiches and burgers ($12.00 – $14.00) and 8 entrees, including grilled mahi-mahi with cous-cous ($22.00) and braised short ribs with mashed potatoes and bacon-gorgonzola brussel sprouts ($24.00.)

To start your meal, try the mini angus burgers, (3 for $8.00 – 9 for $18.00) with crunchy sweet onion straws and pickles (which tasted like sweet Asian pickled cucumbers.)   Or try one of their 8 salads, including beets, grapefruit, apple/pear or a nice house salad with a tangy vinaigrette.

My next trip back to Matchbox will include a Fire & Smoke pizza, made with their spicy chipotle pepper tomato  sauce, red peppers, onions and smoked gouda.  But then, I may bring a group of friends so we can sample even more of the delicious pizzas from the brick oven.

The bistro also has a full bar, and offers 15 beers ($5.00 – $8.00), and a full wine list with 25 wines by the glass ($7.00 – $12.00.)

For a great pizza made in a wood burning brick oven in the Chinatown area, or before or after a game at the Verizon center, try Matchbox.

Matchbox — 713 H Street, NW, Washington DC (map) and also on Capitol Hill at 521 8th Street, SE, Washington DC. (map)

Dates and Hours – Monday – Thursday – 11:00 – 10:30, until 11:30 on Fridays, Saturdays 10:00 – 11:30, Sundays 10:00 – 10:30.

Nearest Metro Subway Station – Gallery Place/Chinatown – Red line, then a 2–block walk or use the DC Circulator bus.

Parking – Limited metered street parking or area paid garage parking is available.

Images – ©2010 – Jon Rochetti