WASHINGTON — If you're heading to Adams Morgan and plan on ending the night with a famous Adams Morgan jumbo slice, there's a newly implemented policy that just went into effect; no more slices sold in boxes after 10 p.m.
An Adams Morgan Business Improvement District (BID) member said Saturday morning, the first day after this was enforced, the streets of Adams Morgan were cleaner following pizza companies on 18th Street implementing the rule.
Pizza companies give customers who plan on eating their pizza at the time their jumbo slice on a paper plate, rather than a carry-out box.
This rule used to be a thing in years past, but now that more people are going out again the issue of trash cans overflowing with pizza boxes that don’t fit inside of them, or next day trash, had become a familiar site for morning cleaning crews, the Adams Morgan BID member said.
The member said the community organization started reaching out to pizza businesses a few weeks back. This week BID members gave them signs to hang in stores to make it clear to customers what is and isn’t allowed.
Zain Ali, a manager at Pizza Boli’s, said the new signs helped back staff up when customers challenged the policy. He said the newly implemented rule has been met with some criticism.
“Some customers are not happy,” Ali said. “Some of them they’re not happy but most of them they understand and they’re happy.”
The Pizza Boli’s manager said frustrated customers opting to leave over not getting a box could affect sales, but said he believes the paper plate rule is the best thing for businesses and the community. Not just for the sake of trash, but also to prevent more rodents from being attracted to the area.
“Of course, if you’re going to have a lot of piles of trash with leftover food in there all these rats and insects they all come in,” Ali said.
The 10 p.m. pizza box rule only applies to the pizza shops along 18th Street.
While Ali said some people are not in favor of the policy, others said nothing will stop them from getting their late-night pizza fix.
“It’s not a big deal,” Sade Sydney, a fan of jumbo slice pizza said. “If trash is all over the floor it’s nothing. Ain't going to stop me from getting no pizza, not at all.”