Frankly, the 578 rave Yelp reviews averaging 4.3 stars and laudations from countless food critics have confounded Dishing Pizza for 14 years. Is Kensington, Maryland, such a pizza desert that people view Frankly…Pizza! as an oasis? To Dishing Pizza’s palate, it’s a mirage.
Frankly…Pizza! opened in 2011, long before DishingPizza joined the pizza cognoscenti. It wasn’t until this last visit, after many years of bewilderment, that DishingPizza pinpointed its problem with Frankly’s pizza.
According to the Frankly…Pizza! website, “We use the freshest ingredients possible, and the only ones that come from a can are the plum tomatoes, which we crush, then cook down to a deep herbaceous sauce which is a recipe that has been in the Linn family for over 80 years.”
DishingPizza dislikes the Linn family herbaceous sauce1. Even though it’s minimally applied, DishingPizza thinks the sauce is too sweet, overpowering the pizza and leaving an unpleasant aftertaste. In a margherita pizza like the one pictured, the sauce must share the stage with the other actors — fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and the crust. Sadly, the Linn family herbaceous sauce chews up the scenery, dominating the show, and diminishing the other very fine actors.
DishingPizza acknowledges its unpopular Frankly…Pizza! opinion. Cilantro tastes like soap to 10% of the population and delicious to everyone else. Perhaps Dishing Pizza has a similar taste bud anomaly with the Linn family herbaceous sauce.
Yes, DishingPizza could be perfectly happy avoiding Frankly’s red sauce and ordering white pizza. After all, the crust is baked perfectly — pillowy and chewy with a great char. The mozzarella is also superb. However, attempting to compare apples to apples, DishingPizza samples the red pies at each pizzeria. Civilians visiting Frankly…Pizza! may do as they choose.
This is a rare review where the Overall Experience rating tops the Pizza Quality rating. The lovely covered patio, equipped with fans for hot weather and heat lamps for cold weather, makes a perfect outdoor, all-weather dining spot. Attentive and friendly waitstaff further enhance the experience.
1 A DishingPizza Frankly…Pizza! limerick:
When DishingPizza, so voracious
Encounters the Linn sauce, too herbaceous
It writes a review that’s indiscreet
Because of sauce too goddamned sweet
Which 90% of diners will find mendacious.
Frankly…Pizza!
10417 Armory Ave., Kensington, MD 20895
Type: Wood-fired
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pie (12″): $13.50
Pie price per square inch: $0.12