Old Dominion Pizza Brings Grandma-Style Pies, Hot Honey To Fairfax

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Old Dominion Pizza is opening Monday in Old Town Fairfax and owner John Rodas has just the pizza for you to try.

Named in honor of George Mason University, "The Patriot" is the most popular signature pie sold at the original Old Dominion location in Arlington.

"It's a pepperoni pizza with Ezzo pepperoni," he said. "It's a cup and char, which kind of curls up. It's a really small pepperoni. We put fresh oregano on it and chili-infused, hot honey. It's out of Richmond — AR's Hot Honey. It's really good."

Rodas suspects that Fairfax City pizza lovers will like The Patriot as well, which is one of the reasons he decided to open a second restaurant at 3950 University Drive #102 in Fairfax City.

"I had a bunch of friends here in the neighborhood that really wanted me to be here," he said, on Wednesday. "It's a good opportunity. I don't think there's a lot of pizza in the area, and the economic development team is very welcoming here."

Old Dominion specializes in making grandma-style pizzas, which are cooked in one-inch high pans.

"It's not dense, like a Sicilian," Rodas said. "It's a little bit thicker, but with a more hardy sauce on it and crunchy Parmesan corners."

Not only will customers be able to purchase whole pies when Old Dominion opens on Monday, they'll be able to buy pizza by the slice for dine-in or carryout.

Rodas has already hired about 10 employees for the Fairfax store, but he still has more hiring to do. About 30 people work at the Arlington location and he's hoping that the new restaurant will be just as busy if not more so.

"We use our own drivers," he said. " We don't use a third party like Uber Eats or anything like that."

Starting out, the delivery area will be limited, but Rodas expects the area to expand as he hires more drivers. Additional information about job opportunities is available on the Old Dominion website.

The hours of operation for the Fairfax City location are still being ironed out, according to Rodas. During the week, the restaurant will open at either 10:30 a.m. or 11 a.m. and close at 10 p.m. every night.

When asked what differentiates Old Dominion from other pizza restaurants in the area, Rodas answered local ownership and the quality of the ingredients that they use.

"Like our pepperoni and sausage, which we get out of Columbus, Ohio from a company called the Ezzo Sausage Company," he said. "They've been in business for over 100 years. But it's just good pizza. You have to try it out and make that decision yourself."