I kind of resent comments about how affluent, white, etc., upper NW is. I have been a resident of AU park since 1952, and Glover Park before that. My neighborhood was full of retired government workers, school teachers and tradesmen. I played with the milkman’s (anybody know what that is?) kids. Across the street lived an electrician. My father was a carpenter and my mother a waitress. Real upper class, right? Guess what, Tenleytown/AU Park is NOT Spring Valley. It was middle class then. It’s middle class now.

As it applies to Armand’s, Armand’s was started at a time when upper NW was pretty much the only middle class place left in DC. The rest of the city was impoverished mostly. Armand’s is middle class pizza. While I like the pizza, all the (more affluent) newcomers I know that I’ve taken to Armand’s think it’s mediocre (middle class) pizza. Which, admitedly, it is. I still like it though because I generally like unpretentious food. So as upper NW has become more affluent, it makes sense that old standbys like Armand’s are getting priced out of the neighborhood.