They say that you should never judge a book by its cover, but D.C. Jumbo Style pizza lives up to its name. One slice of this humongous pie is enough to feed two people, though lovers of this supersized pizza tend to eat one all by themselves.
Like New York pizza, but bigger!
In terms of its ingredients and construction, the D.C. Jumbo Style pizza has much in common with the standard New York slice. The crust is relatively thin, the cheese blend tends to be mozzarella-dominant, and it possesses the trademark New York flop. Each slice, thankfully, is also foldable, which makes the physics of eating it a whole lot easier.
Who invented the D.C. Jumbo Style pizza?
You may be surprised to learn that the D.C. Jumbo slice was not invented by a mad scientist with some kind of reverse Rick Moranis machine. You may also be surprised to know that it might not be a D.C. invention at all.
Since 1981, Koronet Pizza in New York’s Morningside Heights neighborhood has been slinging slices from a 16-inch pie. But, years later, the D.C. scene took things to a whole ‘nother level. In 1999, Pizza Mart owner Munir “Mike” Chisti upped the ante through what Bob Ross would call a happy accident.
One night, an overwhelmed Pizza Mart employee left a giant ball of dough behind on the counter. Not wanting to waste a perfectly good boulder of water and flour, Chisti decided to get weird.
“Instead of wasting it, we combined it with a fresh dough ball and made a huge pizza just for an experiment,” Chisti told PMQ. “We cut it into slices, and when people saw the slice, they could not believe their eyes. And we said, hey, that’s not a bad idea. So we tried it again, and it kept expanding. Now we have to use a custom-made screen for a 34” pizza.”
So, wait, how big is a D.C. Jumbo Style pizza slice?
Yes, you read that correctly – a D.C. Jumbo pie hovers around 34 inches in diameter. Typically, a small/personal size pie is around 8-10 inches, a medium is 12, a large is 14, and a New York-style pizza is roughly 16-18 inches across.
Using a different kind of pizza math, that brings a D.C. Jumbo slice to more than 15 inches in height.
The ultimate nightcap.
Late night partiers in the nation’s capital tend to gravitate towards D.C. Jumbo Style pizza after a night of libations, as evidenced by the lengthy lines these parlors draw after dark. But, as far as we’re concerned, pizza is a great choice for any meal, and the same applies to this supersized slice.
If you want to enjoy a jumbo pie without waiting in line, your best bet is to order one for pickup or delivery from Slice. One pie could probably feed the Redskins’ defensive line, but there’s no judgement here if you want to try and tackle the whole thing as a smaller contingent.
— Zach Links is an L.A.-based sports journalist who is equally concerned with the outcome of the game and what he’ll be eating at halftime. In addition to serving as a staff writer for The Sauce, he’s also the lead writer and editor of ProFootballRumors.com. You can follow him on Twitter @ZachLinks and on Instagram @FatZachLinks.
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