Every neighborhood deserves an unpretentious, affordable Italian red sauce joint. Vicino fits the bill and then some.
Owner John Eshun opened Vicino in 1989. Silver Spring, Maryland has been the beneficiary. The interior is dimly lit and appears to have never been remodeled. Dishing Pizza easily imagines Michael Corleone retrieving a handgun taped to the back of the men’s room toilet at Vicino and taking out Sollozzo and McCluskey while they’re enjoying carbonara. Just kidding — actually, dining at Vicino is a convivial experience.
John and his longstanding team greet diners with handshakes, often with sweaty palms from the heat of the kitchen. Pro tip: During flu season, consider washing your hands after this warm welcome. When diners order from among the myriad reasonably priced pasta dishes, the waitstaff usually serves a complimentary plate of white pizza as an appetizer. You’ll also receive some tartuffo for free after dinner.
Dishing Pizza would love to report that the sauce-on-top Vicino pizza is a hidden gem. Alas, ’tis not to be. Still, this is a pizza that scratches an itch. When ranking all-time favorites, Vicino pizza doesn’t make the list. However, that doesn’t stop Dishing Pizza from greeting it like a long-lost friend and devouring it whenever the opportunity arises.
Vicino pizza is messy. The substitution of aluminum foil between the pizza and the box is an implicit acknowledgement that grease-resistant paper alone is insufficient to contain this pie. The sauce is lightly seasoned, the mozzarella is slightly rubbery, salty, and greasy, and the crust is thin and firm. Altogether, it adds up to a solid pizza, albeit one that can feel like a guilty, slightly unhealthy pleasure.
Fun fact: One of Silver Spring’s best-kept secrets is the 55-seat underground (literally, it’s in the Vicino basement) jazz club that’s been going most Monday nights for twenty-two years.
Vicino’s Restaurante Italiano
959 Sligo Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20910
Type: New York tavern-style
Pizza quality: 🍕🍕
Overall experience: ⭐⭐
Pie price – 16″: $13
Pie price per square inch: $0.06