- Restaurant Name: Fire Works Pizza
- Cuisine: Pizza/Italian
- Cost: Our family of five had a large Caesar salad, two pizzas, soda and juice, and one dessert for approximately $50.
- Location: 201 Harrison St. SE. Leesburg, Va. 20175 (There’s another one in Arlington, Courthouse)
- Must haves: The pizza! And for dessert, the luscious chocolate-chip cookie sundae. We’re also big fans of the root beer.
Why We Love It: My family usually takes an annual trip out to the Leesburg Premium Outlet Mall, especially if it’s tax-free weekend, or if we have some big-ticket items to buy at stores like Restoration Hardware or Pottery Barn, because the savings are worth the hourlong drive from our home in Montgomery County. After the exhaustion that sets in from wrangling three kids under 9 and under at a huge shopping mall (which always includes the joy of having one of my kids yell “I have to go pee, Mama” while I’m waiting in a queue that’s at least a dozen-people long), all my husband and I want to do is sit down for a family friendly dinner where we can relax and actually enjoy each other’s company for a while. Fire Works Pizza is exactly that sort of place.
We lucked into finding Fire Works Pizza a few years ago. Yelp had recommended the pizza place’s more upscale sister restaurant Tuscarora Mill, but after a quick look at the well-heeled clientele out for date night, we nixed that plan and saw Fire Works, which is nestled down a set of stairs from “Tuskies.” As New Yorkers who are damn selective about our pizza, we couldn’t have been happier. The pizza is made to perfection on a wood-burning oven, and we always indulge by ordering a “plain” pie with pepperoni or a classic Margherita for our pickier eaters and a more adventurous one for us.
Our favorites are the Virginia Luau (country ham, wood-roasted pineapples, Vidalia onions, cheese and organic tomato sauce), the Quattro Carni (nitrate-free pepperoni, salami, Italian sausage, meatballs, cheese and organic tomato sauce) and the Fire Cracker (pepperoni, red onions, Kalamata olives, cheese and organic tomato sauce with crushed red pepper). The pizzas are amazing, with crispy thin crusts and fresh ingredients that leave you wanting for another slice even if you’re already full. Don’t forget to try the mouth-watering cookie sundae for dessert. Just make sure to have your spoon ready to dig in, or your kids will gobble it up before you even have a chance.
Bottom line: If you find yourself in Leesburg and want a fantastic pizza meal, you must check out Fire Works. (Or stay closer to the Beltway and eat at its Arlington location, but it’s not quite as family friendly.)
Sandie loves to eat out and is really picky about her pizza. When she’s not scouting out new places to eat, she’s busy writing movie reviews and entertainment articles or musing about motherhood and marriage on Urban Mama.
