In nouveau-foodie Takoma Park, Pizza Movers gets the respect of a red-headed stepchild from tie-dyed-in-the-wool Takoma Parkers, and that’s a shame. Established in 19851, poor Pizza Movers is among the oldest Mom & Pop businesses in Old Town Takoma Park, Maryland. To be fair, despite Pizza Mover’s recent storefront remodel, this carryout/delivery-only establishment is kinda customer-hostile.
Instead of developing bonhomie with their upper-middle-class, predominantly white customers, the husband-and-wife Pizza Movers team operates behind bulletproof glass. Customers who pick up in person are issued their pizzas through a slot in the glass just wide enough for an 18″ pie. With online ordering and the preponderance of in-person credit card payments, it’s unlikely Pizza Movers ever has enough cash on hand to be a robbery target.2 However, the separation from their customers likely enabled Pizza Movers to operate normally during the COVID-19 pandemic and will serve them well during the next pandemic.3
In Pizza Mover’s defense, it’s dirt cheap. Aligned with its chain pizzeria roots, Pizza Movers had a long history of issuing paper coupons. Now, Pizza Movers often sells their pizzas online at half price. Customers are trained that only suckers pay full price at Pizza Movers.
DishingPizza recently took advantage of a half-price offer and paid $10.86 for an 18″ cheese pizza, plus extra for mushrooms. At $0.04 per square inch, Pizza Movers is almost five times less expensive than neighboring Red Hound Pizza. If price were the only consideration, Pizza Movers would be a no-brainer. Furthermore, one might question how carryout spot Red Hound Pizza justifies its pricing.
Alas, Pizza Movers may be inexpensive, but it’s not world-class.4 Pizza Movers, however, makes a perfectly competent, surprisingly ungreasy pizza. The crust is well-formed and chewy, and the non-San Marzano tomato sauce is fine. The mozzarella is merely adequate — DishingPizza wishes Pizza Movers used better cheese.
For readers with a gaggle of ravenous gremlins at home, either the cute furry ones5 or the human kind who become monsters when up past their bedtimes, Pizza Movers will economically feed the entire brood and satisfy the adults with some pretty decent pizza.
1 This is the last Pizza Movers store standing. Pizza Movers, Inc. began in 1985 as a chain of stores. The Takoma Park location split off in 1987 and has remained a family-owned, independent business since then.
2 In January 1992, Pizza Movers was robbed at gunpoint three times in a row, so the bulletproof glass was certainly warranted at that time.
3 DishingPizza hates to be a Debbie Downer, but the decimation of agencies that protect public health, the defunding of vaccine research, and the disdain for science is a trifecta that renders the next pandemic more a question of “When will the next one occur?” instead of “Will another one ever occur?”.
4 This reminds DishingPizza of a high school coach who said, “You may be small, DishingPizza, but you’re slow.”
5 Be sure not to feed these gremlins after midnight.
Pizza Movers
6901 Laurel Ave, Takoma Park, MD 20912
Style: New York
Pizza Quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐
Pie (18″): $10.86
Price per square inch: $0.04
Even though this store is in walking distance, we are pizza snobs and always go to other places for our pizza. Thanks for the confirmation!