Another Pizza Option on the Way for City Diners

By STEPHEN SIEGEL
Falls Church Times Staff

January 22, 2011

The pizza wars already are well underway, but another entrant would like to join the fray.

Paisano’s, a Fairfax-based chain that also serves sandwiches, salads, and a variety of other choices, has signed a lease to move into the former K.H. Art & Framing shop at 244 W. Broad Street, said Phil Young of The Winfield Group.

The store will join Domino’s, Papa John’s, Z Pizza, Flippin’ Pizza, Pie-Tanza, and Anthony’s, all on Broad Street, and Pizzeria Orso on Maple as restaurants offering a heavy pizza focus from within the City limits. A taste test between all of those restaurants was the subject of a Falls Church Times story last year.

That glut led the owner of the 244 West Broad space to discourage any sort of pizza place from expressing interest in the site a few years ago, Mr. Young said, but he added that they view Paisano’s as a little bit different than the others.

“The thing I like about this particular one is that they offered more than just pizza,” he said, citing pasta, chicken wings, and beer, among other items.

Additionally, the company, whose first location opened in Fairfax’s Fair Lakes area in 1997, describes itself as a “gourmet” pizza store that uses “the finest, most expensive ingredients available,” which could help differentiate it as well if consumers agree.

Paisano’s currently has six locations, all in western Fairfax County. Four more locations, including a Tysons Corner site, are planned, in addition to the Broad Street store.

It will be a while before the City store opens. Plans are being drawn up now, with an expected opening sometime around mid-year, Mr. Young said.

Even though the lease is signed, Mr. Young remains cautious about the plans coming to fruition.

“We have a signed lease, but I’m really superstitious,” he said. “I don’t talk about anything until my check clears.”