Gordon Ramsay’s Street Pizza opened its first U.S. location in Penn Quarter in June 2024, just a block from the Capital One Arena. Street Pizza gives a nod to that approachable, street-food energy – bold toppings, no fuss, and a lively, high-energy atmosphere with graffiti-style art, an open kitchen, and plenty of TVs.

Sitting in the bar area is a nice option for Saturday/Sunday games so you can watch all of the NCAA/NFL action (or your preferred sport of choice) while dining. Downstairs there’s arcade games and a pool table (as well as the Street Burger side of the restaurant), so the whole place feels like a sports-bar playground that just happens to serve really good pizza. We plan to explore Street Burger at a future date.

We started with the Mumbo wings. They arrived nice and crispy and generously dressed in the sauce, which was flavorful in that classic sweet-tangy DC Mumbo way. The mix of drums and flats was ideal for us. They were served with a garnish of scallions and sesame seeds.  We had mixed feelings about the addition of the sesame seeds (thumbs up for added crunch but thumbs down for getting stuck in your teeth).  Additionally, the menu’s two-chili-pepper rating was misleading — we both agreed they weren’t spicy at all.  Still, they were tasty and a nice start to our meal.

Now onto the pizzas… We each ordered our own 12-inch pizzas. They are plentiful enough to share, but we rarely agree on toppings, so going solo was the better choice for us. We both agreed that the pizza crust had a very pleasant chewy texture and a nice char on the bottom.

I got the Corn & Chorizo pizza (sweet corn purée, spicy chorizo, roasted chicken, mozzarella, scallions, cilantro). I couldn’t resist trying this unusual combination.  The sweet corn purée, which replaced your typical tomato sauce, was nicely offset by the smoky chorizo. The chicken was somewhat bland and didn’t really add a lot flavor. In my opinion, the chicken wasn‘t really necessary.  I opted for no scallions or cilantro (you will recognize a “no cilantro” theme in a lot of these posts), but I do agree that an herb or greens would have balanced the pizza out nicely. It was my decision to omit these, so I won’t hold it against them.

The other pizza was a “Create Your Own” with cheese, chorizo, and sausage.  The fennel sausage brought a nice smoky flavor with a hint of licorice from the fennel. The chorizo gave the pie a little spice — a little more flavorful than plain pepperoni in my opinion.

Street Pizza is a fun spot with a good vibe and solid food. It’s a great option for a pre/post-game meal.