Famous Luigi’s

The pizza at Luigi’s was great in the 80’s and 90’s. Some time after that they changed the sauce and it was never the same to me.
Having eaten numerous times at Luigi’s I will always hold a special place in memory of good times and good food.

Hello Unilocal and Luigi’s.
My grandparents first date 65 years ago was at Luigi’s. 6 months ago my grandfather’s health took a very quick turn for the worse until he finally passed last week, with Luigi’s closing in the time in between. It would mean so much to my grandmother, and me, if we could get some piece of memorabilia from the restaurant. A menu, some kind of sign or even one of the Chianti bottles used as a candle-​holders on every table. I’d be more than willing to pay for any item.
I meant to go down the restaurant right before it closed to try and buy whatever I could, but unfortunately we were all busy with my grandfather in the hospital.
I’m so sorry to see this fabulous restaurant go, and I’ll be especially sorry that I can’t take my future children to the place their Great-​Grandparents met. Please message me if you have any information on how to make this happen.

Pizza. Full of flavor, and the size to get you full. I stumbled on this place with several friends and since I heard some other people from my group saying that it was awesome, I saw a Unilocaling opportunity.
Going in, it felt homey. A place that seemed had a lot of recognition and both over-​hyped reviews and not so great reviews. It was mixed, which definitely made me wary about the situation of the restaurant, but I kept an open mind. THe service wasn’t bad, but I do have a lot of suggestions if you do decide to eat here.
Let’s get to the food first though.
I ordered the famous Luigi’s Pizza and shared it with someone so we split the price of the pizza. Surprisingly they had default sizes for how many people were going to partake in the pizza. The sizes ranged from for 1 to 4 people. We ordered for 2 and I think I could’ve honestly ate the whole pizza myself, but it was a decent size for 2 people without getting stuffed that would require a nap later on.
What did Luigi’s Pizza have on it?
Italian sausage, pepperoni, black olive, mushroom, onion, green pepper, mozzarella cheese. What did I like about it? It has everything I love on a pizza. I would’ve put some tomatoes on there though. That would’ve made it even better in my opinion.
What did I (sort of) dislike about it?
It was a little oily? But then again, would that be a big dislike? No. Because pizza is greasy and oily in the first place anyways. It’s for those epic nights where drinking is gone rampant.

I cry inside.
Famous Luigi’s has shut it’s doors forever. I wrote a four line review in 2010 that perfectly summed up my feelings for this place:
Luigi’s has red and white checkered tabled cloths, drippy red candles, moustached waiters with accents and some of the best pizza in the DC area. Need I say more?
Since then it has been the back drop of many other memorable events in my life. Rob and I made Luigi’s our favorite Valentine’s day spot, opting for a casual heart shaped pizza with a strolling violinist taking requests from around the room. We’ve celebrated promotions, sunny days, wintry days, and everything in between here. There is notthing fancy about Luigi’s it’s just a down home, old school restaurant serving up classic Italian-​American fare that as been around since the 1940’s.
With the invention of fast food deliveries, pizza has become a quick meal when I’m too lazy to cook. At Luigi’s their pizza is made with love and is meant to be saved for a special meal.
When searching for an affordable rehearsal dinner close to our church that would seat over 100 members of our family and friends, Luigi’s was able to step in and push the envelope in all levels. They kept the food and drink flowing and treated our family like family.
It’s not gourmet but Luigi’s is everything that Olive Garden wishes it could be.
RIP!

Today the finest and greatest Italian restaurant in Washington, DC closes after 70 years.
Famous Luigis is not just a cultural icon but represented the best of traditional Italian cuisine and the absolute BEST pizza in Washington, DC .
We are honored and privileged to be allowed to be part of Luigis swan song this evening the 21^st of December 2013.
What about the food: On my first visit 30 years ago I asked my server what was good? Her reply:
” It’s all good… It’s Luigis”

I’ve been coming here for years, and although I always order the same thing, I’m never disappointed.
This place has the cozy atmosphere of what you think of an italian restaurant. Sometimes simple is all you need. The calamari is pretty good… a lighter batter which I like. The agnolotti comes with a pink sauce which for some reason is hard to find in this area but I think it’s
Very tasty. If they have to improve on anything, I would say that they should have a better bread basket. The bread is a bit dry and kinda always burnt. But overall, I never leave here disappointed.

Maybe it was the half dozen mimosa’s I had before stumbling upon this place. Perhaps it was the fun convo I was having with my 5 friends. However, the pizza at Luigi’s is beyond delicious. I’m a huge pizza fan. If I could only eat one type of food for the rest of my life, it would most certainly be pizza. That being said, Luigi’s cheese and sauce was perfect. The wine was superb, and the bartendar was cordial.
I cannot wait to visit again.

Great pizza, the service can be a bit slow so if you go for lunch make sure you have some time to spare. The food though taste pretty good.

My bff held their wedding rehearsal dinner here, and the service was great especially since they had to watch over about 60 people! The red and white checkered tables give it a homey feel and the portions are HUGE. My favorite was the pizza and tiramisu. Those on a diet need not enter as almost everything is fried except for the salad… but who comes here for salad? This is Italian comfort food at its finest, so gather some friends and family and chow down!

Infamous Luigi’s would be a more fitting title.
A subpar dining experience, and by far the least satisfying dining experience I’ve had in Dupont since moving here six months ago.
Service was generally inattentive and slow. No one asked for our drink order.
It took 45 minutes for our main course to come out, after several inquiries to the staff. The waiters openly admitted they had «no idea» what was going on in their own kitchen! Saturday night is a busy night for most restaurants — kitchen staff should be prepared for this instead of making guests wait nearly an hour for pizza&pasta dishes.
The food did not seem to be made from fresh, home made ingredients, which is what distinguishes quality Italian dining from commercial, touristic eateries.
I ordered the minestrone (pleasant but kind of bland) and the Tilapia. The fish was overly drenched in tomato sauce — and was accompanied by small bowl of tomato sauce covered spaghetti — not a very thoughtful pairing in my opinion. The few vegetables that came on the side of the fish seemed the kind that I usually buy in frozen packages, and did not have any spices or flavoring on it…
The presentation was also dishearteningly sloppy… some restaurants treat their food like a painter’s palette, but artistry is not the focus at Luigis. Maybe a good place to take your kids (there were a number of rowdy ones in the lower dining hall), but otherwise, there are plenty of better options to explore in area.

Famous Luigi’s is a pretty decent Italian place in a see of other Italian and more exciting places to eat dinner. However, the thing I love about Luigi’s is its «Lady and the Tramp» feel with the red and white checkered tables to the décor around the restaurant. While I didn’t spot any puppies sharing spaghetti, their family style portions are always HUGE and their food is always DELICIOUS. Out of the couple of times I’ve been here the staff are generally on top of things — maybe not the fastest in the world — but certainly getting their job done. Their menu is your traditional Italian menu and its reasonably priced for dinner in DC.

I honestly did not want to like Famous Luigi’s at all — my boyfriend and I went to meet his friends from New York, who said this was their favorite restaurant in DC. Having never heard of Famous Luigi’s, we were a little nervous. When we walked in and saw the red and white checkered tablecloths, I wasn’t sure if it was legit or if it was a cheesy take on Italian food. Once we got our food… I had to admit that our out-​of-​town friends were right — the food was outstanding!
We ordered bruschetta to start, which was very very good — I loved that the bread soaked up the tomato juice and olive oil, so the whole piece of bruschetta had flavor. The bread that they brought to the table didn’t really impress me — our friends loved it, but I could have done without it. The pasta though… wow. I got the penne arrabiata, because I figured I could judge Famous Luigi’s by how well they did on one of my favorite dishes. They passed.
The penne arrabiata was just the right amount of spicy sauce and really tasty pasta. Even though I was full very early on, I kept eating just because it tasted so good. There was also a TON of pasta. I took home leftovers and couldn’t wait to eat them the next day. It was that good. My boyfriend had veal (one of the daily specials) and loved it just as much.
The prices were very reasonable, and the service was great. The waiter actually gave our table to someone that came in after we did, but after he realized it, he made sure to get us a table pretty quickly. He ended up serving us the whole meal, and he was incredibly friendly the whole meal. He joked around with us and treated us like old friends — I can definitely see how people become regulars. There’s a great family environment AND the food is great. Although I didn’t want to like it at first… I will definitely be back!

I work near this place, but had never darkened the door until today. The line at Greek Deli was the longest EVAH, so when I spied the menu board in front of Luigis offering $ 3 slices of NY style pizza, I decided to give them a look.
I went to the bar to place a to go order, and stood there for roughly 7 minutes before I was even acknowledged. The lady standing next to me was clearly waiting for her order… but was also a bit befuddled by the service. Someone had brought out her slice of pizza in a box, but failed to actually deliver it to the customer. So, when someone finally waited on us, first asking her «what do you want?» and then taking my order. By now, we’re at 15 minutes of waiting (I know, I should have left).
Oh, and in case it was lost in translation, we’re talking about SLICES of pizza. Not whole pizzas. Not a cup of minestrone. Not eggplant parm. A SLICE of pizza. Better yet, you have two choices: Cheese or Pepperoni.
The lady next to me restated that she had already put in an order for a slice of cheese pizza. The server – who was trying so desperately to help, but continued failing at every turn – came back 5 minutes later with… a slice of pepperoni. Which was cold. The lady next to me politely informed the server – once again – that she had ordered CHEESE. The server huffed, turned around, and then presented the lady a cold slice of cheese.
So… you can bet I was nervous when 5 additional minutes passed (we’re now at 25 minutes), and my wedge shaped boxes of pizza arrived. I didn’t think to actually check them, as surely, they must have exercized care in ensuring that I recieved my one slice of cheese and one slice of pepperoni, right?
Nope. Not even close. Two slices of the coldest, greasiest, gnarliest pizza I have ever encountered in my life, both adorned with pepperoni that looked as if it came out of a Chef Boyardee box. In fact, Chef Boyardee would have been better.
I will not be back, and that’s a shame, as I DO love Italian. I’d hate to think that a chain could beat a Mom and Pop Italian restaurant, but the Vapianos and Pizza Huts (yeah, I said it), have it all over this place. Especially in the service department.
Hint: If you’re going to put out a sign advertising slices of pizza, perhaps you should be ready when customers come a callin’. I’m just sayin’.

got introduced to this place last fall :) i have been missing out on the best pizza ever!
Cheese, mushrooms and extra garlic please. This place has a good date atmosphere. Service is mediocre… the outdoor glass seating is nice.
The pasta here is also really good. The last time i was here we had pizza, and we also had the pasta carbonara. It was really rich and creamy, and they didn’t skimp on the bacon.
Food is GREAT! Definitely my go to date night for pasta and pizza!

I’ve been stumbling across Luigi’s for almost a year now. I practically pass this place on the way to work everyday. So I finally decided to give their pizza a try.
I had the Luigi ($ 10.80 for the 1 person portion) — Italian Sausage, Pepperoni, Black Olive, Mushroom, Onion, Green Pepper, Mozzarella Cheese. The pizza itself is decently good, not too cheesy or greasy so you can actually taste the actual pizza. The portion’s really good, they definitely don’t skimp out on the meat. Even though this pizza’s supposed to be for 1 person, it can easily feed 2 people… Since it’s made fresh when you order, the wait can be anywhere from 15 – 20 minutes.

So I’m in DC and anticipating a delicious brunch when I get the text to go to Famous Luigis. «Famous Luigis? Is that an italian brunch place? Like, do they have breakfast calzones? This seems highly confusing.»
As it turns out though, they’d picked this spot because they simply walked by it. And you know, it was pretty darn good. I dont know if we met the famed Luigi but we had a couple of good pizzas and non breakfast calzones. The caprese salad looked good and they did a fine job on our small bloody marys.
The best part? There was literally no one else in the place. We sat in the sun porch area and took up the whole space and had a personal server and they didn’t mind that we were so hungover we could barely mumble out the word pepperoni.
If I lived in DC, would this be a regular stop? I don’t think so. But it did in a pinch and the food and the service were spot on.

This place is the real deal! We started with an appetizer of a pizza with garlic, tomato and fresh basil. It was magnificent. I ordered the veal romana. This was the most finely made dish I had in my 6 day stay in DC. I get this dish normally at Neil’s in San Pedro. It is amazingly cooked at Neils but Famous Luigi just blew Neil out of the water on that one. So soft, so tender, so much flavor. remarkable meal I would go back again and again for that one.
Everyone at the table had something different and they all loved the meal.
Desert came and I had to try the cannoli. this was THE BEST CANNOLI i have ever had. there is no comparison. I’ve had Mike’s in Boston and once again Luigi takes the bar up to a shoe new level. Their Tiramisu was nicely done, soft and flavorful. the standout perfection though was definitely the CANNOLI

I really like Luigi’s — it’s comfort food. I’ve never had the pizza, but, the pasta is good and reminds me of more «authetic» Italian restaurants (ala Little Italy, or what my mother makes). I’ve eaten once in the restaurant, however, when I was lucky enough to find out that they were now on Foodler for delivery, I was stoked!
I’ve had a few dishes, mainly pasta; when I’m too lazy (which is common in this bachelor’s house) to cook for myself. The food is decent, the delivery is speedy for what it is (I mean it’s «slow food» not fast food Chinese, c’mon people!) and it’s just simple stuff.
Nothing fancy like people in DC seem to demand out of their Italian. Just good, simple stuff.

Mario was MIA but I ate like a Princess and enjoyed mushroom stuffed pasta fit for Toad. The pasta was so filling that afterward, it was hard to re-​Koopa-​rate. Luckily, the mushroom ravioli was a lunch special, so it didn’t cost me too much coin.
I even scored a bonus points for ordering the caprese salad. Luigi’s was very generous with their portion on both selections.
If you’ve never been to Luigi’s before, you should expect a straight forward, Italian menu in a no frills, casual Italian restaurant that is still appropriate for a date night. Just make sure your date knows that the table clothes are checkered.
However the service is prompt and pleasant, the food tastes like everything is made from scratch and the portions are large.
It’s definitely a go if you’re in the neighborhood especially for lunch. They will make sure to get you in and our in no time.
However, I cannot guarantee afternoon productivity after a lunch here.

Luigi’s is a long-​time tradition in my family. And I mean LONG time. My parents used to actually come here back when they were in college and dating. And then each time we passed through DC growing up, we dined here. I’ve taken friends and dates here over the years. We celebrated my graduation here. We came here after my grandfather’s funeral. Luigi’s is just OUR place. And it has been such a thing in our family for a reason — it’s a great place.
Now don’t get me wrong, this isn’t necessarily the best pizza or pasta I’ve ever had. In fact, not even really close to it. But it is pretty great. I can remember being 5 years old and eating mushroom pizza here. And over the years, I ventured into trying their pasta dishes and have enjoyed them all (especially the seashell alla partenopea).
I LOVE the fact that this place doesn’t change. Sure, it has changed its appearance a bit over the years, but the menu is pretty much the same as it has always been. I’m a huge appreciator of the fact that I can come to have a favorite dish here (seashell alla partenopea) and still be able to get the same dish done the same way over 10 years after the first time I had it. There are very few places anywhere where such a thing can happen.
Portions are generous and the prices are right. And, personally, I have never had any issues with the service here. It can definitely get packed, so be prepared for a wait and to feel like you are just a little bit too close to the table next to you. But there’s just something about the ambiance here. It’s warm and familiar. It’s a bit like coming home after being away for awhile — all you want to do is relax and have a great home-​cooked meal of your favorite dishes. Well, that is exactly what I get here at Luigi’s.