Pizzeria Paradiso

It looks strange: no lines trailing from the entrance of Pizzeria Paradiso? Yet that's the case at the Georgetown offshoot of the popular Dupont Circle eatery, thanks to double the number of seats in the recently opened pizzeria. As with the original Paradiso, there's a big oven painted with a sunburst, and the Neapolitan-style pies that share the same toppings and oak wood-perfumed crusts. "We're sticking with what we do well," explains managing partner Melissa Ballinger. Yet the Georgetown branch feels airier with its big front windows overlooking the street. And it's warm, too, with brick walls and beams overhead. Just inside the front door there's also a cozy bar; downstairs, a private party room, with its own fireplace. Eight-inch pizzas $7.95-$10.25.

-- Tom Sietsema