There’s a new restaurant that opened up near our house called BlowToad and despite being named after a fish that looks like a porcupine, they actually specialize in coal-fired pizza. After an impromptu trip to have a drink at BlowToad on Wednesday night, Isaac fell in love with the fact that they have 25 craft beers on tap. I really wanted to try their pizza so I decided it would be fun to get a group of friends together for a b-day dinner on Friday night. It was late notice so quite a few of our friends couldn’t make it but we had a good group of seven including a few ladies you might recognize from the blogsphere – Stephanie and Gabby.
It was awesome! The restaurant was packed, but the service was great – our server was super friendly and attentive and the food came out quickly after we ordered.
The menu has quite a few unique items including a tempura style blowtoad appetizer and bleu ball pizza (aka pizza with bull testicles). No one in our group was super adventurous this time around. We all stuck with things like salad, pizza, or roasted veggies – lame I know. 
I had a side salad with oil and vinegar to start. It was just a normal salad, but I liked the dressing.
For my entree I ordered pizza. The reasoning behind this choice was 1) I had been craving it and 2) it’s always a good idea to get whatever a restaurant specializes in.
They had a vegan pizza with diaya cheese and I almost got that but decided on the veggie pizza, which was fabulous. I loved that it had roasted broccoli, onions and cauliflower as well as goat cheese instead of the usual mozzarella. I also liked that the crust was relatively thin and perfectly crispy – just how I like my pizza.
Everyone definitely enjoyed their food, but let’s not forget the drinks. Isaac was going crazy because they had Dogfish Head Olde School on tap. Apparently it’s a barley wine that’s hard to find on tap around here. I’m not really a barley wine connoisseur, however my favorite drink of the night was this little gem…
The “We Got the Beets” cocktail with vodka, grand mariner, grapefruit and beet juice. I’m not a huge fan of sugary cocktails so this drink was perfect. It had a hint of sweetness, but was also light and refreshing like freshly juiced veggies. Gabby ordered one as well and she and I agreed that it tasted like something you would get at a spa. Love!
I can already tell that Isaac and I are going to be frequent vistors at this place. Not only is it walking distance from our house but the pizza and drink options were awesome. What’s not to like!
I’m off to northern Virginia to help a friend celebrate her b-day. Should be another fun night!
What are you up to this weekend?
Brittany Mullins, HHC
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the sound of that cocktail! So creative and refreshing.
That cocktail…that pizza…YUM. Looks like a fabulous way to celebrate, Britt! I love the name of the restaurant, too. This weekend I’m spending some quality time with the fam. Always a great thing!
Just enjoying the time and getting a few things in order…yesterday I got my taxes done..whew! Today, putting away laundry, cleaning desk, etc. with some fun like taking a walk, watching a movie, etc…Fun Fun Fun!
Thanks for this post. Your cocktail looked delicious and I’m interested in trying the blowtoad app as well as the coal-fired pizza.
In light of the “ballsgate” going on in the local twitterverse, etc., did your server explain what the bleu ball pizza was? Just curious.
Nope, our server didn’t mention it. I can see how it could be confusing because the only description on the menu says “swinging steak” – not really descriptive.
The food is good though!!
Yum! Everything looks so good! Now I’m craving pizza!
You can’t go wrong with pizza n’ beer
such a fun place to celebrate your bday, i already can’t wait to go back, really liked it!! next time i’m getting that cocktail for sure
have you ever thought of freelance work Brittany? you’d be really good at it!!!!!!!!
I’ve definitely thought about it Jasper! I actually work freelance for a pilates studio – doing their online marketing (fb, twitter and email campaigns). I’d love to do more freelance work though!
that’s awesome! social media is definitely the way to go in terms of staying on the edge these days…you’ll get more and more work..now’s the time to continue to build on the skills and creativity you ALREADY do have
…also, I am doing a couple’s shoot this week/next week so hopefully I will have some neat ideas/inspiration/convincing 
for ya! 
Just wanted to let you know we ran across your blog and it’s lovely. It’s entertaining and the visuals are great. We’ll be following you regularly.!
Penny and MaryAnn
I’m sad I couldn’t make it! (I had a previously planned girls night at the VMFA!) I’m so curious to try BlowToad, because everyone at work has been talking about it!