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Smiling kitchen worker in a gray shirt behind an enormous cheese pizza on a stainless prep table in a commercial kitchen.
In Italian restaurants

New pizzeria with jumbo slice and Italian food opens in Cherrydale

Smiling kitchen worker in a gray shirt behind an enormous cheese pizza on a stainless prep table in a commercial kitchen.

Tatiana Pizza owner Abu Ali pulls a jumbo slice pizza out of the oven at 3610 Langston Blvd (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Brick storefront of Tatiana Pizza with large red NY Style sign and a circular Ultra 32 pizza sign beside the door.

Tatiana Pizza at 3610 Langston Blvd in Cherrydale (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Pizza shop counter with tall stacks of white pizza boxes along the wall and staff behind the counter.

Tatiana Pizza at 3610 Langston Blvd in Cherrydale (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Interior of a small cafe counter with red metal stools and a white high table by a large window showing a street outside.

Tatiana Pizza at 3610 Langston Blvd in Cherrydale (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Large round pizza dough on a prep table with a red tomato sauce spread in a spiral pattern, a chef ladling sauce onto it in a professional kitchen.

Tatiana Pizza owner Abu Ali makes a pizza (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Smiling man wearing a gray t-shirt and black gloves holds a giant cheese pizza in a kitchen.

Tatiana Pizza owner Abu Ali makes a pizza (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Smiling staff member in glasses and gloves presents a cheese pizza in a commercial kitchen, holding an open pizza box.

Tatiana Pizza owner Abu Ali serves a slice of pizza (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

Large cheese pizza slices in an open pizza box placed on a concrete surface beside a street, with a yellow can in the background.

Pizza and a drink from Tatiana Pizza (staff photo by Dan Egitto)

A pizzeria with eye-popping portions and a wide menu of pasta and subs has opened along Langston Blvd.

Tatiana Pizza is in the process of soft opening at 3610 Langston Blvd, serving up steaming slabs of its signature 32-inch pies alongside dishes like chicken alfredo, eggplant parmesan and Italian cold cut subs.

It’s Tatiana Pizza’s second location and its first outside of D.C., building on the success of a Dupont Circle spot that emphasizes customer service and quality ingredients, founder Abu Ali told ARLnow.

“We use good quality for everything,” Ali said.

The new pizza spot is located inside a small retail bay previously home to Yummy Thai restaurant, near Safeway. Its menu consists of a smorgasbord of Italian-American delights, including calzones, salads and “overstuffed” subs in varieties like meatball parmesan, Philly cheese steak and mushroom Swiss steak.

The star of the show is the pizza menu, with options like chicken alfredo, Hawaiian, barbecue chicken and “vegillicious.” Ali said customers have been surprised by the size of his jumbo slice, which he bakes using a “special sauce” and a variety of mozzarella that can withstand the 550-degree heat that he uses to bake his mondo pies.

“If you put … normal cheese, it’s going to become black and tough,” Ali said. “It has to be a special kind.”

Ali immigrated to the United States from Sudan, where he said he was used to pizzas that were about 10 inches in diameter.

“When I had the jumbo [slice], I said, ‘What’s going on, guys?’” Ali said.

The Tatiana Pizza in D.C. has been open for about four years. Both locations are all-halal and offer catering and delivery options.

“Each pizza is crafted with care, from rich sauces to fresh toppings,” the restaurant’s website says. “Whether you’re ordering vegetarian or classic, you’ll always get bold, authentic Italian flavor made the right way.”

Tatiana Pizza describes itself as “New York” style, although jumbo slices have a long history in D.C., particularly in the Adams Morgan neighborhood. Pizza Mart, a business on a stretch of 18th Street NW known for its nightlife, has claimed credit for bringing the dish to the District in 1999.

The pizza style is less common in Arlington. At one point, Goody’s Clarendon billed itself as “home of Arlington’s jumbo slice pizza,” but it closed in 2018.

Besides Tatiana, other pizza options in the Cherrydale area include a Pizza Hut at 3311 Langston Blvd and Pines of Florence at 2109 N. Pollard Street.

Nearby in the neighborhood, on the 3800 block of Langston Blvd, a Rita’s Italian Ice and a coffee shop called Good Trouble Roasters are expected to open soon.

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