Moroni & Brothers Pizza Restaurant

Stopped by the other day at around 6 pm and the place was closed! I had checked the website before visiting, but there was no indication it wouldn’t be open. Drove by today around lunchtime and place was dark, so I suggest calling before counting on their pizza!

Really awesome brick-​oven pizza. The service was great for a neighborhood spot, but I think they’re closed now. 4*

After returning from Italy, this is the closest to the real thing that I’ve found in the city. It’s delicious — a little pricey — but worth it. Favorites are the caprichosa, diavola, and the pollo.
I can’t really weigh in on the Salvadorean food. What I’ve had has been fine, but I’m not a connoisseur.
The drawbacks are with service: delivery, hours, and ability to hear on the phone.
I will say that their hours and delivery schedule has been sporadic as they work through growing pains. Sometimes they’ll have delivery, sometimes not. Sometimes they’ll be open on Sundays, sometimes not. Sometimes they have my number programmed in the system, sometimes not. Finally, they have had trouble hearing on the phone and try to blame my connection, but it’s usually because the music is too loud.

I live in Petworth and it’s so nice to have another spot to go to to get great food with a relaxed atmosphere so close to home. The Pizza was great and the enchiladas were good too. I really liked the spinach salad that came with the rice and beans on the enchiladas plate. Great variety and friendly service. Our server just told us that they’ll be updating their menu next week and he let us take a look.…even more variety and the prices are great too. We’re looking forward to coming back.

We called on a Friday night and asked for delivery. «Sorry we aren’t delivering tonight,» we were told. Odd for a pizza place but okay, we said we would give it another shot later.
This week we called for delivery and were told they couldn’t accept credit card payments and didn’t know our address-​which is 5 blocks away from the restaurant.
When I asked to cancel our order I was treated rudely and eventually was hung up on.
I wish I could comment on the pizza. The terrible customer service meant I wasn’t going to order tonight and will never order in the future.
A shame, I was looking forward to trying based on the recommendations below.

Moroni earns five stars from me simply because their pizza is AMAZING. My regular order is the La Capra pizza, which has tomato sauce, spinach, onions, roasted garlic, and goat cheese. It’s divine. I find myself craving it quite literally every other day – to such a degree that I sometimes wonder whether they sprinkle some sort of addicting powder on it. SO GOOD! I hope this place stays open forever so it can continue to feed my pizza addiction. (Note: they also have a brick oven, so the curst turns out perfectly baked!) Staff is super friendly. I adore you Moroni & Bros.

First time eating here, although I have passed by it many times. Nice bar and décor (a tad dark inside). Service was slow, but very polite. I ordered a basic pizza and some chicken taquitos. I agree with most of the folks here: the pizza was yummy, with a light but crispy crunch and nice, fresh ingredients… even a soy cheese option for those so inclined (hear that Ledo’s?). The taquitos, on the other hand, were an utter atrocity – overcooked and remarkably flavorless. The accompanying simple salad was more delicious. I will try some other non-​pizza dishes before writing those items completely off. But you can’t go wrong with the pizza.

I despaired of ever finding exception pizza in the DC area after Pizzaria Paradiso’s quality inexplicably went waaay downhill. Then in the past couple of years, not one, but two great discoveries. Best by a nose is Pupatella — truly scrumptious and truly authentic Neapolitan pizza — best I’ve had since I lived in Milan.
But Moroni’s comes in at a VERY close second. This is EXACTLY the pizza you used to get at the old Paradiso, surprise, surprise, you can find it in Petworth. Go to Marino’s — it’s worth it. The chefs… A Salvadoran couple who learned their trade at the original Paradiso in Dupont. And great papusas too. Go figure… Pizza and Papusa at the same place

I have heard a lot of good things about Moroni’s and finally had a chance to go eat there. It was late on a weeknight (they are open late every night).
I liked the Marinara pizza very much — simple, with garlic and oregano, red sauce and cheese, but a nice pleasing taste, fresh oregano adds a nice green brightness. I liked the crust quite a bit. Yes, it is reminiscent of Pizza Paradiso, but that’s a good thing all around. I would like to go back and try more pizzas, and bigger sizes.
Pork and cheese pupusas were quite good as well. The curtido — cole slaw like accompaniment that goes on top — was excellent. It was broadly cut and nice vinegar taste. We ordered platanos fritos (maduros) and those were excellent — sweet, crunchy on the outside, and served with Salvadoran crema and creamy black bean spread in a ramekin. I would think you could make a meal of pupusas, platanos and some beans and rice, that would do you just fine.
Now the not so good things. We were there about 11pm. The neighborhood at that time of night on a Monday is pretty laid back but does not inspire confidence of happiness, let’s just say that. The lights were very low, nightclub/​bar low, not restaurant low. There were three people at the bar who were talking loudly in a distracting way, nobody else besides us in the place. The music was at first a second rate techno that was so repetitive that I wanted to rip my veins out of my arms and make a stringed instrument out of them just so I could make some regular music of my own. This was followed by vulgar, profane laced rap, which in my opinion, because of the coarseness of the lyrics, is a deal breaker music wise. No excuse for playing this in a place that I am eating a very nice pizza with fresh oregano and garlic, and paying real money to do it.
The service was OK, not horrible, not great, but since there were so few people there it should have been better (no drink refills was the main problem — leaving thirsty from a restaurant is a real bummer).
My advice: pizza is worth going for, as well as pupusas (I always loved that word, it has a feint naughtiness to it, though I don’t know why…), but don’t go late at night after the dinner crowd is over because it becomes a rather unpleasant bar scenario and the neighborhood has a dicey vibe to it.

Moroni has modified its management and is making many changes. And so an updated review is needed.
The Petworth neighborhood is changing dramatically. Young professionals are migrating north and the older, established families are moving to the burbs. Moroni’s has always been a simple neighborhood place, but has struggled to adapt to the changing community and attract new customers, despite serving remarkable pizza.
A youth movement is now afoot. Changes to some menu items, music, and service. All in an effort to attract more young professionals while maintaining the regulars. Simple additions, like place mats, are welcome. I’ve tried the Salvadoran fare before, but the only thing that really impressed were the pupusas. Everything else seemed trite in comparison to the pizza, so why bother? Perhaps the new menu options will make the rest of the menu more accessible and consistent. Prices have pushed north, but still a fair deal in DC. The chicken burrito I had was huge and quite tasty. They used their pizza crust instead of a tortilla (photo). That’s innovative. Anyway, if some time has transpired since your last visit to Moroni’s, might want to give it another go.

One rare 5 star for me! Delicious pizza– the crust is what makes it sing. Sparse sauce, chunky tomato, fresh, fresh ingredients– you can taste the quality here. It’s just that sometimes (not always), the toppings are, well, sparse.
Previously, we were fans of Pizzeria Paradisio near DuPont Circle; and we still are… But this is as good, with similar fare (pizza wise– not sure about the sandwiches), with a few latino dishes on the other side of the menu.
It’s easy to park here, and isn’t too crowded. Truly a jewel in the Petworth neighborhood’s crown!!!
Trust me when I say we’ll be back. A lot.

I LOVE Moroni & Bros pizza! Definitely equal to Paradiso pizza but without the wait and the annoying crowds. The décor is very dive like, but I don’t care because I love their pizza, and the brothers/​family who operate this place are so nice. I wish could eat here every day. The pupusas (cheese and pork) were great too.
I could say more to make y’all fill up the place, but I like having easy parking and no crowds staring me down as I stuff my pie hole with their awesome pizza. Here’s to not seeing you there!!!

Went here after a party and had high expectations given the praise in the Post and the Pizzeria Paradiso pedigree of the owners. In the end, the pizza wasn’t bad, but it was nothing to write home about. This is average pizza at slightly above average pricing. I don’t plan on returning.

First time visit. Lunch. 2ish. Ordered the Margarita Pizza – 8inches. Side note: no longer considering Man vs Food Show Host replacement Gig. So 8 inch pizza good for 1 dude, or two very little dudes.
Back to review. Pizza – very good. Could have been great. Crust: excellent. Thin, crispy edged, slight tasty char on bottom. Cheese: fresh, gooey, and good milky taste. Tomatoes: sparse. Good taste but too few. Basil: Fresh but (what’s a good word for way less than sparse-​insert here). Why the good review? Pizza still tasted pretty darn good despite its poor construction. I shall return.

Italian style pizza and El Salvadorean food? This never works.
The pizza was okay, but the el salvadorean food was nasty.
While we were waiting for our food, the waitress asked if everything was OK. :smh:

vegan pupusa with soy cheese and beans was good. i don’t really enjoy faux cheese or meat, so the soy cheese for me was okay but if you are type of person that enjoys it then you would also enjoy the pupusa. For a price of 2.25 and getting one pupusa– that is pricey! The pupusa had little of the lettuce and tomato thing that usually comes in bag. instead it was under the pupusa and the amount was really small.
pizza– crust wasn’t so good. i liked that the pizza was thin crust. lacked tomato sauce– it had really few sauce. it did have a lot of spinach, which is good so overall my experience was okay.

I first went here in 2008 and was blown away that I could get a vegan pupusa. Many places pre-​make them so I don’t have many options, or they make it vegan, it will just only have beans and zucchini, which isn’t terribly interesting. I stopped in again this weekend and was again impressed. My favorite pupusa was the soy cheese and spinach but the bean pupusa was also good.
My friend and I also got a pizza with soy cheese, red onions, tomatoes, and pine nuts. It was one of the menu options but I don’t recall the name. The menu listed it as having parsley, so we thought it would be fresh like fresh basil is often a featured ingredient. However, our pizza only had dried parsley on, which was a little disappointing.
The first time I was here, I remember the staff being super friendly and accommodating to about 25 of us that just walked in and took over the restaurant. This most recent time, the staff was reasonably friendly but not very attentive. The server goofed up my order, probably because she didn’t write it down (she came back twice to confirm my order, so I am not surprised she goofed it up). It was pretty annoying and she didn’t seem to care about the mistake, but she then brought me the two pupusas I originally ordered at no charge, which was very nice.

BEWARE THE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE!!! This is the 3^rd time that they ruined my order. The 1^st time, I spoke with the Manager and they redelivered the correct food no worries. I would also like to add that I’m a constant customer that orders at least 2x a month sometimes more. They often make mistakes on the order sometimes its not big time sometimes I’ll eat around it. The food is not as great as when they first started but I still order because its close by plus it feels good to support a small business.
However, I’m done making accommodations for this type of service. This time I ordered 2 Shrimp quesadilla no guacamole, 2 Steak Dinners and Primavera pizza for my family.
I received a Chicken Enchiladas, Shrimp Enchilada, 2 Steak Dinners and Primavera. So when I called, I told them that the order was incorrect and asked for the manager. Instead, the women was extremely rude and started yelling as she put someone on the phone (which was clearly not the manager) and then got back on the phone to continue to yell at me telling me that I was wrong and then hung up the phone. WOW, is that how you treat your customers. I WOULD NEVER RETURN TO YOUR ESTABLISHMENT. So fellow Unilocalers order at your own risk, if you want to receive a mystery meal or a surprise, Moroni Brothers would guarantee that.

The food is unexpectedly pretty great. The brick-​oven pizzas have a delicious crust. There are many topping options so you can go back and not feel bored. The Diavolo has a nice kick.
The Mexican dishes I’ve tasted also do not disappoint. I think the spinach quesadilla is my fave, but I enjoy the veggie fajitas, too. The ambience leaves something to be desired and it is a little bit dark, but in the lunch option wasteland of Petworth I’ll take it!

This place appeared promising from existing reviews. Many places to eat around this area are fairly poor. You can lump this in to the «fairly poor» category.
Once I got inside, I was surprised by the lack of lighting. I did not like the mood at all. I would have modest lighting hanging from the ceiling so that patrons could read their menus.
I ordered a Diavolo pizza (8″ and I ate the whole thing!), I tried one of their appetizers (bean and sour cream in a tortilla), and a glass of lemonade. I’ve listed these in order of decreasing quality. Let’s work our way backward. The lemonade was like drinking syrup. I took a sip and added water to the lemonade after every drink to dilute the heavily concentrated liquid. It was not tolerable and I did not finish my glass. The bean and sour cream tortilla offered nothing but temporary occupancy of my stomach. It was messy and was not worth the purchase.
I was looking for music, but the pizza was a dull hum. The toppings were flavorful but not enough to overcome the lame cheese and crust beneath. I was disappointed.
It’s not a 1 star because service was okay, things were clean enough, and they presented themselves in a decent environment. But I won’t go again.

Moroni Brothers is not my favorite pizza in DC, and it is not even my second-​favorite. But it is my favorite pizza cooked in a wood-​burning oven that delivers to my house.
We are just at the edge of their delivery zone, so it is always a little wait for them to confirm that they’re willing to drive us our pizzas, and it is expensive for pizza delivery (two 8″ pizzas tends to run $ 23 – 25 plus tip). But the crust is cooked in a real oven, toppings are genuine, and it comes to your door.

One thing I like about MB is that I can get both pizza and salvadorian food. I sometimes crave for both and it’s not easy to find a place serving this odd combination.
Pizza was good. Right balance among sauce, cheese and toppings. Moderna must be good for breakfast since it has all essential breakfast items, egg, potato, tomato, cheese and bread. I wished that yolk didn’t get cooked all the way though. Crust was soft-​chewy and crispy. It was about 10 inch and for the size and location, I thought it was pretty expensive. Especially, the restaurant feels like hole-​in-​the-​wall dive…
I tried one snack, bean/​cream filled in tortilla. Not bad but nothing special either.
I might go back there again if I crave both pizza and salvadorian. but till then, I go for pizza with less-​price tag:)