Jumbo Slice
Name: Pizza Mart, affentionately known to most as Jumbo Slice
Location: Adams Morgan
Meal: Slice of Pepporoni Pizza and a soda
Type: Italian
I had, for a few years, tried to hold to the belief that Washington,D.C. has no one single food. No cheese steak, no chowder, no beef on weck; no one food that was regionally beloved. That belief was first invalidated with my discovery of Ben’s Chili Bowl on U Street. Even before that, I had long heard of DC’s second food, Jumbo Slice, but had never had a chance to partake. The idea of a huge slice of pizza certainly peaked my interest but my I’m not much for nightlife so I never found myself in Adams Morgan until recently. Needless to say, I was excited to finally have a chance to experience the Jumbo Slice.
For the uninitiated, Jumbo Slice is a HUGE slice of a pizza. Catering to the late night crowd in Adams Morgan, Pizza Mart was the first restaurant to start offering these huge slices.When I say huge, I mean huge; the pizza it comes from is 30 inches across. A single slice of Jumbo Slice is over a foot across, and close to a foot and half long.
Very few people will admit to loving Jumbo Slice for the taste. Most will say they love Jumbo Slice for same reason they love late night Denny’s or Wendy’s. The slice is greasy, cheesy, warm, and delicious; in short, everything late night food should be. And let’s not forget the scene. One of the best things about Jumbo Slice is the people watching. There will be tears. There will be fights. There will be popped collars and there will be an overly affectionate couple. You need to experience it for yourself, you’ll be glad you did; as I’ve come to find out it is one of those definitive DC experiences (besides telling tourists to move to the right on an escalator).
Slice of Pep
Pizza Mart, aka Jumbo Slice
*The City Paper wrote a great article on Jumbo Slice in 2004.
