Del Ray Pizzeria Hosting Super Bowl Wing Eating Contest

How many "XXX" chicken wings can you can eat in 5 minutes?

Del Ray Pizzeria on Mount Vernon Avenue is hosting a chicken wing eating contest on Sunday during halftime of Super Bowl XLVII. “We were thinking we weren’t too excited about either of the teams, so we thought a wing eating contest might be a way to have some more fun,” DRP Chef Eric Reid said. The winner of the contest will be determined by who can eat the most “XXX” wings—the restaurant’s hottest variety—in 5 minutes. Those interested in competing can register for the contest at the DRP bar. There is a $15 registration fee. The winner will take home a $50 Del Ray Pizzeria gift card, a six-pack of Bell’s Hopslam Ale and a T-shirt. Along with the wing contest, Del Ray Pizzeria’s draft list on Super Bowl Sunday will exclusively feature …

•  3 Comments
• Photos (1)

Drew Hansen

1:56 pm on Thursday, January 31, 2013

Thanks for the info, Erik!   more ›

New Recipe at Del Ray Pizzeria

Chef Eric Reid tinkers with sauce and lands more space to let dough age.

If you’ve been to Del Ray Pizzeria in the last few weeks, you might have noticed the pizza tastes a bit different. Chef Eric Reid recently tinkered with the sauce recipe and a new walk-in freezer upstairs at the restaurant has allowed him to age the dough for tastier results. The aging lets the dough rise slowly and the flavors develop, allowing more of a crispy, golden-brown crust. With the sauce, Reid said he had been playing with the recipe for a while. He sought feedback from friends and customers, not even telling them he made subtle changes and then poking them for answers.    “I still don’t know anything about pizza,” Reid joked. He came to DRP just a few weeks after it opened to help overhaul operations despite pizza having never …

•  5 Comments
• Photos (1)

Del Ray Pizzeria Receives Permit to Increase Seating

Restaurant was put on form of probation for two months to prove it could come into compliance with its existing permit.

More than two months after the Alexandria Planning Commission put Del Ray Pizzeria on a form of probation for a series of permit violations, City Council approved an increase in seating at the restaurant on Saturday. The pizzeria is now permitted for 72 indoor seats, 20 outdoor seats and an upstairs special event room with 30 seats that will be available on weekends on a reservation basis. An annual review of the restaurant in December revealed that it was operating with more than twice the amount of seating allowed in its permit and other violations, including some involving trash and deliveries. The seating violation was the result of some miscommunication that occurred when a partial ownership change happened shortly after the pizzeria …

•  21 Comments
• Photos (1)

Taste of Del Ray Brings Out the Masses

Del Ray Pizzeria and Evening Star Cafe take top awards at 2012 Taste of Del Ray.

Residents of the Del Ray community and beyond came out with a hunger like no other Sunday for the fourth annual Taste of Del Ray. “Tickets for entrance to the Taste of Del Ray went extremely fast today,” said Gayle Reuter, a board member with Del Ray Business Association. With ideal weather conditions, the number of attendees exceeded the 1,000 mark with ease, Reuter said. She estimated that this year’s turnout in the parking lot behind the Virginia Commerce Bank surpassed previous totals, noting that the DRBA had to stop selling tickets in order to ensure that paid entrants would get their money's (and tummy's) worth. With celebrity judge Rock Harper on hand, a dozen local eateries went toe-to-toe vying for top positions in two categories…

•  11 Comments
• Photos (9)

Del Ray Pizzeria Reviewed in Washington Post

Reviewer praises chef Eric Reid's Southern dishes and American comfort food.

Del Ray Pizzeria Must Reduce Seating For Two Months

Alexandria Planning Commission defers recommendation on restaurant's permit request saying restaurant must come into compliance with regulations.

Del Ray Pizzeria will have to reduce its seating for two months to prove it can come into compliance with its permit before the Alexandria Planning Commission will rule on the restaurant’s request for additional seating. On Tuesday night at City Hall, the commissioners voted to defer their decision on the permit for two months because the restaurant repeatedly failed to come into compliance with its existing special use permit. “This is a business people want, but there has to be compliance,” Commissioner J. Lawrence Robinson said. “I think we should defer until we see compliance on what that is already granted.” The commissioners voted to cut back the total number of seats—both indoor and outdoor—to 56, with some discretion from city …

•  41 Comments
• Photos (1)

Patch Readers' Choice

Update: Del Ray Pizzeria Wins 'Best Sports Bar'

Rustico and Pork Barrel BBQ came in second and third place, respectively.

Update: Congratulations to Del Ray Pizzeria for winning the Patch Readers' Choice poll this week! Voting by Patch readers began on Monday and Del Ray Pizzeria saw 51 votes by the time the poll closed Friday at 9 a.m. The winner will get a framed "Readers' Choice" certificate from Patch, plus bragging rights. Stay tuned for our next poll coming up Monday—"Best Hair Salon." Voting will begin at 5 a.m. — — — — We like to watch our sports in Alexandria. We like our watering holes, too. What’s the best place in Old Town and Del Ray to cheer with a beer? Share your favorite Alexandria sports bar with other Patch readers. If you think we’ve missed one, add it in the comments and we'll count your suggestion as a vote. Don't forget to vote in the …

•  6 Comments
• Photos (2)
• Documents (1)

Updated: Del Ray Pizzeria Permit Violations Carry Questions of Enforcement

City staff is allowing Del Ray restaurant to operate with twice as many seats as allowed while it applies for a revised permit.

6:40 p.m. update — Erik Dorn, one of the owners of Del Ray Pizzeria, emailed Patch the following statement: "There is no question that the owners of Del Ray Pizzeria should have been more vigilant in assuring that their restaurant operated in accordance with all of the Special Use Permit conditions imposed by the City of Alexandria as part of the administrative approval allowing DRP to open its doors in October 2010. There are no excuses. I apologize to the community and the city.   "In January 2010, DRP received a Special Use Permit to open a neighborhood restaurant with 32 seats inside and 12 outdoors seats. The number of seats approved were the maximum number of seats that could we could have been approved given the number of parking …

•  37 Comments
• Photos (1)

Del Ray Pizzeria Looking to Expand

Restaurant owners seek parking reduction to build rooftop patio.

Del Ray Pizzeria is looking to expand—and in a big way. The folks behind the restaurant, which received a big endorsement from President Obama in December, have submitted plans to the city to expand the restaurant by 133 seats, including 40 seats on a seasonal outdoor patio to be constructed off the building’s roof. The restaurant is applying for a parking reduction of 32 spaces. The application is scheduled to go before Alexandria’s Planning Commission on March 8. If approved, the expanded restaurant will have a total of 125 indoors seats over two floors and 52 outdoor seats. It currently has just 44 seats. In the application, the restaurant is referred as “the choice of President Obama for pizza.” The restaurant was closed Tuesday for …

•  13 Comments
• Photos (2)

Del Ray Pizzeria Thanks Obama

Restaurant staff installs new sign on exterior wall.

The folks at Del Ray Pizzeria are thanking President Obama for his surprise carryout order. Del Ray Patch reader Kent Lassman sent in these photos Friday evening of pizzeria staff installing a new sign that reads, “Thank you, Mr. President!” The sign is on the exterior wall of the pizzeria on the corner of Mt. Vernon and E. Del Ray avenues. After some last-minute holiday shopping at Potomac Yard on Wednesday afternoon, Obama’s motorcade moved into Del Ray where the president personally picked up three pizzas—a sausage and pepperoni, a supreme, and a green pepper and onion—from the restaurant. The president also took time to meet with members of a crowd that quickly assembled along Mt. Vernon Avenue behind caution tape set up by the Secret …

• Photos (2)