If ever a restaurant were perfectly named, it’s The Little Grand. Tucked into an alley off the H St., N.E. corridor’s Atlas District, the diminutive joint seats fewer than 40 people inside and more on a small outdoor patio. For a pizzeria, it’s notably posh, with a copper-topped bar that perfectly captures the Little Grand’s mid-century modern intimacy. While technically The Little Grand is cozily situated in an alley, it’s an antiseptic one devoid of the detritus1 ordinarily encountered in DC alleys. If rats deigned to coexist in this alley, they’d don bowties.
DishingPizza visited on a Wednesday, the only day when The Little Grand slings their 12″ square sourdough pizzas, aka Squednesday. The kitchen produces 12″ round pizzas they classify as New York-ish every day except Tuesday when they’re closed. The Little Grand refers to its signature square-shaped pizza as Sicilian-ish, which is accurate for this thick-crust pizza baked in a high-sided pan. The crust’s edges are deliciously caramelized, consistent with both Sicilian and Detroit styles. However, Little Grand pizza isn’t as focaccia-like as Sicilian, nor is it as rough-and-tumble as Detroit-style. Good for The Little Grand – taking established pizza styles and riffing on them.
DishingPizza couldn’t resist adding some arugula (l), but snapped a pic of an unadorned slice (r)
Feeling frisky, DishingPizza ordered a mushroom and arugula square pizza. Getting a good look at the pizza required some excavation of the greenery. The pizza does, indeed, look Sicilian-ish. Similar to a Sicilian pie, the Little Grand pizza crust is crisp on the bottom and sides, but pillowy inside. Unlike Sicilian, the Little Grand crust’s sourdough tang and lightness belie any Southern Italian origins. This pizza is a delight – not only is the delicate but substantial crust delicious, it’s a perfect platform for its toppings. Robust, garlicky tomato sauce and a combination of whole milk mozzarella, fior di pizza, and grana padano give the pizza gravitas – a depth of flavor atop a plush crust. Another DishingPizza ‘best of’ pizza.
DishingPizza calculates pizza pricing by the square inch, not the cubic inch. Eating a filling Little Grand pizza makes DishingPizza wonder if it should add calipers to its toolkit and measure thickness. Many of the regulars at the bar finished a small portion of their once-a-week square pizzas and boxed the rest. One well-prepared customer wielded their own Tupperware. Even DishingPizza, a prodigious pizza glutton, boxed substantial leftovers and attests that it reheats perfectly.
With DC-standard $13-$16 cocktails and its sophisticated decor, The Little Grand has an upscale vibe. The restaurant sits in a high-end micro-location, alongside a luxury apartment building and around the corner from a Whole Foods. Pretensions aside, The Little Grand offers little besides pizza, rendering it a gussied-up pizza joint. Unsurprisingly, the crowd is young and upwardly mobile.
One aspect of The Little Grand is puzzling. For all the joy that pizza and cocktails bring, The Little Grand lacks playfulness and mirth. Even though customers were elbow-to-elbow at the small bar, there was little laughter or animated conversation. Instead, many were communing with their phones. The frontline staff was more cordial and efficient than friendly – not cold, but cool.
The pizza at The Little Grand is terrific – at least the square pies on Squednesdays – and well worth a visit. If you’re also seeking a raucous time, you may not be hip enough for The Little Grand.
The Little Grand
808 7th Street NE, Washington, DC 20002
Pizza type: Sicilian-ish and New York-ish
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐
Pie – 12″ square / 12″ round: $29 and $19
Pie price per square inch: $0.20 and $0.17
- No needles or used condoms to be found in this alley. ↩︎
It’s starting to sound as if DC has as many great pizza places as NJ.
Nice review.