It’s unnecessary to mess with plutonium, a flux capacitor, and a Delorean1 to travel back to the 70s. Simply visit the circa 1973 Stained Glass Pub2 (SGP), and avoid disrupting the space-time continuum. In a nod to the 21st century, the SGP has flat screen TVs in place of the old boxy ones. Otherwise, the joint feels like the neighbor’s rumpus room, where everyone gathered to watch daredevil motorcyclist, Evel Knievel, jump across the Snake River Canyon in 1974.
70s cheesiness aside, the SGP is as unpretentious and real as it gets. When DishingPizza visited the Glenmont store on a Tuesday evening during a half-price pizza night, the joint was hopping. Friendly waiters scurried around delivering pizza and beer, and the bar was full, with neighborhood locals drinking and watching sports on the many flat screens lining the room. It’s a vibe at the SGP.
The SGP slings the same “Maryland-style” pan-baked pizza introduced by Ledo Pizza in 1955. Only the SGP does it better than Ledo. The SGP crust is marvelous – biscuity, pastry-like, and delicate. Unlike Ledo’s oily crust, SGP’s is dry. The bare crust would pair well with strawberry jam.
The SGP tomato sauce lacks Ledo’s cloying sweetness — another win for SGP. However, SGP’s tomato sauce is far from good, with a vague metallic taste as if it’s ladled from a 48-ounce restaurant-sized can. Cheese-wise, SGP’s mozzarella, while not stellar, is a cut above Ledo’s smoked Provolone.
Finally, and importantly, SGP pizza reheats well, retaining the delicacy of the crust with no sogginess – which is more than can be said for most of the DMV’s fancy schmancy wood-fired pizzas. For what it is, SGP makes a solid, unpretentious pizza that dovetails perfectly with the restaurant’s atmosphere. While DishingPizza‘s heart belongs to New York-style pizza, Stained Glass Pub pizza is a perfect everyday kind of pie for Maryland-style aficionados.
1 Anyone who doesn’t understand this Back to the Future reference may also need an explanation of pizza.
2 The Glenmont, MD SGP opened in 1973, and the Elkridge, MD SGP opened in 2008.
Stained Glass Pub
12510 Layhill Road, Silver Spring, MD 20906
6751 Dorsey Road, Elkridge, MD 21075
Style: Maryland
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐
Pie (18″ rectangular): $22.78
Pie price per square inch: $0.09