Aden Pizzeria & Mediterranean occupies a small storefront along a busy stretch of Old Georgetown Road in downtown Bethesda. Despite the garish LED lighting in the window, this small carryout spot is easy to miss when navigating traffic.
Aden Pizzeria opened in 2014 and shares some founder DNA with Levante’s, the beloved, deceased Turkish and Mediterranean restaurant that had Bethesda and Dupont Circle locations. Echoes of the Levante’s menu can be found in Aden’s Turkish offerings, including Pides,1 Lahmacun,2 and Doner3. Additionally, Aden Pizzeria and Mediterranean offers salads, sandwiches, subs, wraps, kebabs, and pastas.
Natch, DishingPizza opted for pizza since Aden bills itself as a pizzeria. In retrospect, DishingPizza made a tactical error, not ordering the Doner pizza or a pide, and going for the Margherita pizza instead4. DishingPizza isn’t a fan of meat on pizza — no, it’s not a kosher thing, just a dietary preference.
First, the good. Aden Pizzeria makes a light. flaky crust that’s rather delicious. DishingPizza opted for a 16″ pizza and reports that it reheats well even days later.
Now for the bad. Meteorologists coined the term snowcrete to describe the DMV’s icy snow that lasted for more than twenty days due to record cold. The thick, impenetrable cheese pavement on this Aden pizza could similarly be described as cheesecrete. Pizza is a balancing act where the ingredients should exist in harmony. In this case, the cheese overwhelms the excellent crust and good tomato sauce.
Furthermore, Aden Pizzeria bills its Margherita as having fresh mozzarella. DishingPizza disagrees. While technically, this mozzarella may never have been frozen, this cheese is a far cry from what most people consider fresh mozzarella5. Not only is DishingPizza miffed by the false advertising, but this pizza is needlessly unhealthy to boot.
DishingPizza dislikes the standard Aden pizza, but may revisit Aden Pizzeria for a Pide to give it a fairer shake. When eating at a restaurant known for a regional specialty, it’s best to take heed and do as the Romans do.
Aden Pizzeria & Mediterranean
7812 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda, MD 20814
Style: New York
Pizza Quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐
Pie (16″): $18.25
Price per square inch: $0.09
- Pides are canoe-shaped, pizza-like flatbreads. ↩︎
- Lahmacun is a thin-crust flatbread topped with a savory mixture of minced meat (lamb or beef), vegetables, herbs, and spices. Lahmacun is not canoe-shaped and is, therefore, not a type of pide. ↩︎
- Doner is a Turkish dish consisting of seasoned meat—commonly lamb, beef, or chicken—stacked in a cone shape and roasted on a vertical, rotating spit. ↩︎
- This has caused DishingPizza to make a new rule: Avoid standard pizza in restaurants with regional specialties. Seems like a no-brainer, but no one has ever accused DishingPizza of having brains. ↩︎
- Fresh mozzarella is a soft, moist cheese with a delicate, milky flavor. It is characterized by its high moisture content, white porcelain appearance, and soft texture, often sold in balls submerged in water to maintain freshness. ↩︎