First-Come, First-Serve

Dining Room Seating

In-Person Check-In Exclusively

Dining room capacity is 38 seats

 

Carry-Out Service

Orders are accepted over the phone starting each day at 4pm with scheduled pickups from 4:30pm to 5:15pm. Carry-Out Service is limited and not offered during dinner service. 




 
 
 
 
The #1 Margherita Pizza in the D.C. area
— Tim Carman, The Washington Post
#6 Restaurant in Washington DC
— Washingtonian, 100 Very Best Restaurants in Washington DC 2023
The crust’s ghosting nature is cruel, and yet you willingly accept its cruelty for those few seconds of sheer pleasure...one of the best pizzas anywhere. And I do mean anywhere.
— Tim Carman, The Washington Post, January 2020
...crusts, with their ragged, super-charred edges are glorious...
— Washingtonian Magazine, 100 Very Best Restaurants, February 2020
The last time I sank my teeth into his rounds it was like eating pizza for the first time. The flavor, chew and char on his crusts are unlike anything out there, at once complex and ephemeral.
— Tim Carman, BYT 2019 DC Food Writer Round Up, December 2019
Nothing beats Inferno to me....Tony’s pie is like listening to your favorite timeless song.
— Brent Kroll, F&W Sommelier of the Year 2018, Proprietor of Maxwell Wine Bar
There’s reason the locals love Conte’s pizza. He has developed a dough like no other.....The bread at the base of your pie is, by turns, airy, complex, ephemeral, perfect for any topping...
— Tim Carman, Washington Post, Casual Dining Guide, June 2019
Could it be that the best restaurant in Montgomery County is a pizzeria? The answer is yes to just about anyone who has been to chef and owner Tony Conte’s Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana...
— David Hagedorn, Bethesda Magazine, May/June 2019
...for folks who dream of puffy, wood-torched crusts, the trip to Tony Conte’s strip mall gem is undoubtedly worth the effort.
— Eater DC, The 38 Essential Restaurants in DC, Spring 2019
You might not typically stray beyond your own neighborhood for pizza. But Tony Conte’s pizza is destination pizza.
— Washingtonian Magazine, 100 Very Best Restaurants, February 2019
The best way to taste the brilliance of Tony Conte’s pies is through a simple Margherita.
— Washingtonian Magazine, The 26 Best Things to Eat..., December 2018
jamesbeard.jpg

James Beard Award, Best Chef Mid-Atlantic, Semifinalist 2018

The thin, light, crispy-bottomed pie is a true elevation of the pizza form.
— Corey McLaughlin, Baltimore Magazine, July 2018
This isn’t pizza—it’s a revelation...Conte traded decades in fine dining to pursue his passion, which shows: Airy, char-pocked crusts are the best in Washington, complemented with toppings such as fior di latte cheese with mushroom Bolognese.
— Washingtonian Magazine, 100 Very Best Restaurants, February 2018
The Washington Post, “Best Margherita Pizza in the D.C. Area”

Conte, a former fine-dining chef, produces a neo-Neapolitan margherita, informed by tradition, but not a slave to it. His pizza is bright. It’s bready. It’s brilliantly constructed.
— Tim Carman, The Washington Post, October 2017
Best of Bethesda - Editor’s Pick

Don’t let the suburban shopping strip fool you. Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, which opened in October 2015, has a decidedly downtown sensibility. Owner Tony Conte, former executive chef at the Oval Room in D.C., graces his thin, blistered Neapolitan pies with non pedestrian toppings such as garlic confit and n’duja.
— Carole Sugarman, Bethesda Magazine, January 2017
Chef Tony Conte is turning over the six-seat counter and eight-seat communal table at his Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana to a “Pop-In” Chef Tasting Series. The dinners will be reminiscent of the fine-dining fare Conte showcased at his former post at the Oval Room
— Becky Krystal, The Washington Post, May 2016
Inferno, it turns out, is heavenly.
— David Hagedorn, Bethesda Magazine, April 2016
Conte is doing pretty much what he’s always done: making intricate, layered food that pops on the plate and in your mouth.
— Todd Kliman, Washingtonian Magazine, January 2016
While the 40-seat space near Conte’s home will be far more casual than his previous posts—which include the prestigious Jean-Georges in New York—the chef’s serious approach hasn’t changed.
— Anna Speigel, Washingtonian Magazine, July 2015

Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana

Chef-owner Tony ContE

 

With the culinary pedigree of chef-owner Tony Conte – developed around his past as executive chef at Washington's accredited multi-starred Oval Room, and as executive sous chef at the acclaimed Jean Georges in New York – Inferno Pizzeria Napoletana, his unexpected and beloved pizza restaurant, remains very close to his artisanal approach. Conte, who lives nearby, brings his community its own source for authentic Naples pizza. 

Chef Conte's affinity for old-school cooking methods long pre-dates his rarified professional experience and his formal training: his father and grandparents had emigrated from a small town near Naples, and life at home revolved around Old World cooking traditions. Bringing fine-dining standards to his casual 44-seat pizzeria, Conte keeps the menu strictly seasonal and based on the local agriculture of Montgomery County and surrounds. A custom-tiled wood-burning oven, handcrafted pottery dishware, and interior surfaces of reclaimed oak and walnut carry Inferno's artisanal touch beyond the menu and into its comfortable home-town atmosphere.

The pies coming out of Chef Conte’s oven have evolved drastically since Inferno’s inception. Originally planning to abide by strict guidelines set forth by the ruling bodies of Neapolitan pizza in Italy, he’s strayed in an effort to make a more modern product. There is an updated style of pizza, called canotto, finding increasing favor from, amongst others, the younger generation of pizzaiolos in and around Naples. Canotto translates in Italian to ‘dinghy’ or ‘inflatable raft’ - alluding to the airy outer ring serving as crust. A higher water content allows this dough to puff up and in places, bubble and char, whereas a more traditional Neapolitan pizza produces a flatter, breadier, more evenly-colored crust.

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HOURS  

Wed - Sat:

5pm - until the dough runs out

CONTACT

(301) 963-0115
contact@inferno-pizzeria.com

LOCATION

12207 Darnestown Road
Darnestown, Maryland 20878

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