Unbaked Pizza Is A Nice Fit

If the HomeMade Pizza Company was trying to appease the citizens of Del Ray worried about the emergence of a chain store on Mt. Vernon Avenue, well, they went about it the right way.

The new pizza market specializing in unbaked pies patrons cook at home made its first impression on the neighborhood on Tuesday by throwing a party and feeding the people of Del Ray.

The store handed out free unbaked pies to those willing to wait for more than an hour in a line that wrapped around East Uhler Avenue. Free cooked samples as well as salads and desserts were available without having to wait in line.

The same promotion will be held today from 4 to 7 p.m. The store, located at 2413 Mt. Vernon Avenue, officially opens for business on Thursday.

Early returns on the pizzas were positive, and many saw the place as a welcome addition to The Avenue.

"The pizza so far is good, and it's not a franchise-type situation," said Karen Garcia, who owns and operates neighboring pilates workshop, Studio Body Logic. "It started out in a basement like I started my studio. It's still small."

Garcia was also won over by the store's friendly staff that helped repair her studio's sign when it fell down last week.

The Chicago-based company has stores in Illinois, Minnesota and now the Washington, D.C. area. The Del Ray shop is just its sixth in the metro area. Each location remains owned by the company.

"Every store is run by a local manager," said Gordon Montgomery, chief marketing officer for HomeMade Pizza Company. "The staff is all hired from local people. Even in terms of where we source, in-season we get most of our produce locally."

Montgomery said the company chose Del Ray as the location for its newest store because of its high percentage of young, working families and the neighborhood's food-loving reputation.

He said the unbaked delivery of the pizzas—which needed to be explained to some on Tuesday—has two advantages: The pies always come hot out of the oven and they're a great convenience.

"Someone is always late from soccer practice, someone is late from work," Montgomery said. "Pick it up in the afternoon when you get a chance between errands and throw it in the oven… The convenience of doing it whenever you can is something people like."

Though the unbaked issue is new to Del Ray, citizens seemed to think it's a novel idea and something that could catch on.

"I think Del Ray is more about families and people who want to have an experience of participating in their dinner," said Del Ray resident Anastasia Devlin, who waited in line with her 1-year-old son Tadhg for a free unbaked pie. "It's not really a Domino's kind of place. I know this is a chain, but I just see it as being a little more involved in the community."