Moroni Who?

Stretch of Georgia Avenue between Decatur and Delafield looking north.
Note the yellow and red awning half way down the block.

Moroni and Brothers Pizza--
one of Georgia Avenue's newest business ventures!

Recently, the city government of D.C. announced $100 million in economic development for impoverished and blighted Georgia Avenue, which stretches from Florida Avenue in the south to Silver Spring, Maryland, in the north. This is a hard-scrabble stretch in the District, suffering urban decay for decades. But hope is on the horizon.

One of the newer businesses to open its doors on Georgia is an El Salvadoran pizza joint called Moroni and Brother's Pizza Restaurant. If you grew up Mormon or you have friends who are Mormons, the name should cause you to sit up and take notice. If it was just Moroni and Brother's without the trumpets, you might think "how quaint" but with the trumpets thrown in,* you have to wonder if the owners aren't connected to that American-born faith. (I'll leave it to my readers to visit the establishment and ask the proprietors themselves.) I will tell you, though, there is a Moroni; I've met him. He's the youngest son of the owners and he does have a brother--Alberto. And he looks nothing like the statue of the angel, Moroni, affixed to the top of the Mormon Temple off of Connecticut Avenue in Kensington, Maryland!

I had pizza from Moroni and Brother's Pizza the other night with friends and it's not bad. They bake it in a brick oven and it's thin crust, which is my favorite. The menu also includes Salvadoran fare and is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Moroni's is open six days a week and closed on Sundays. Here's to Moroni and Brother's and their contribution to the revitalization of Georgia Avenue!

Zip: 20011

* Click on the picture to see a larger version. Note in the corner of the awnings are trumpets. They're sort of hard to see but they're there.

Photo copyright: D.C. Confidential (Janet M Kincaid, 08/07)