It’s been some time since DishingPizza last visited the original Timber Pizza in Petworth, DC, and much has happened in the interim.
The founders of Timber Pizza began with a food truck. In 2016, they cobbled together the cash to open their first brick-and-mortar store in Petworth, which became a critical and popular success.1 In 2022, someone with an MBA purchased a majority stake in order to franchise the business. To preserve the brand, the original founders retained ownership and now serve as consultants, ensuring consistency in the menu and branding. Timber Pizza currently has two mobile trucks, nine physical locations across five States, and more on the way.
Phew. That’s a lot of growth in a short time. With a pathological aversion to franchises, DishingPizza approached its return to Timber Pizza with suspicions, concerns, and these questions:
- Will the pizza at an MBA-led pizzeria taste like greed?2
- If the pizza quality remains high, does it matter that Timber Pizza is franchised?
- Can a restaurant become a corporation and retain its authenticity?
- If the franchise locations source the same ingredients, use the same recipes, and cook the same way, does it matter who flings the dough in the air?
- Are the denizens of Raleigh, NC or Charleston, SC better served by quirky homegrown pizzerias or prepackaged-hipster Timber Pizza franchises?
Walking into the Petworth store was like entering a time capsule. The rustic-modern, Edison-bulbed, reclaimed wood interior hadn’t changed.3 Neither had the pizza-themed wallpaper in the bathroom. The servers, though different from the last time, were similarly friendly and cool. But, as DishingPizza readers well understand, the proof is in the pizza.
One thing about Timber Pizza is that they’re quick. Diners who order one of the excellent salads will receive it about five seconds before the pizza arrives — a conundrum for DishingPizza, which cannot focus on anything else when pizza is present.
The Petworth location has long, communal tables which, in this hip, diverse, urban hood, will almost certainly lead to rubbing shoulders with interesting people. The common ground for everyone in this wood-fired temple is a shared love for pizza.
In a word, the pizza is sublime. In a town lousy with wood-fired pizza, Timber Pizza is among the best, if not the best. The crust is magical – more delicate and perfectly charred than many bready wood-fired pizzas, yet surprisingly substantial. The Timber Pizza crust is as dry as the McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica4, avoiding the common issue of sogginess in the middle found in many lesser wood-fired pizzas. The crust easily supports high-quality cheese and fresh, simple tomato sauce.
The surprising revelation for DishingPizza was its forgotten appreciation for Timber Pizza’s excellence, which left it unprepared to be so impressed, especially amidst concerns about franchises. While DishingPizza remains anti-franchise, it begrudgingly admits that if any pizza is worth copying and spreading to far-flung locations, it’s Timber Pizza.
1 Oh, and the same founders also started the wildly successful Call Your Mother bagels. This proves that dough-heads and entrepreneurs are not mutually exclusive.
2 Astute readers may question what greed tastes like. It’s a flavor that is never satisfied, always craving something more. Greed leaves a bitter aftertaste of anger, hostility, and depression.
3 The snarky among us might say that the name Timber refers to the old-growth forests chopped down to create the reclaimed wood vibe in the Timber restaurant. The Timber Pizza folks would likely say it’s related to their early wood-fired pizza concept.
4 The McMurdo Dry Valleys in Antarctica are generally considered the driest place on Earth, with some areas having experienced no rainfall for nearly two million years.
Timber Pizza
809 Upshur Street NW, Washington, DC 20011
8100 Old Dominion Dr, Suite D, McLean, VA 22102
4238 Wilson Blvd, Suite 135, Arlington, VA 22203
Reagan National Airport, Terminal E, Arlington, Virginia 22202
Other Maryland locations outside the DMV and locations in other States
Type: Wood-fired
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pie (12″): $14.50
Pie price per square inch: $0.13