Fourteen years after Jimmy Audia and Bill Hicks opened a wood-fired pizza oven on Branch Road SE, their Italian restaurant Pazzo Pomodoro picked up another Wine Spectator award in 2026, one of 52 Virginia restaurants recognized for their wine programs this year.

Both the Vienna location at 118 Branch Road SE and a second outpost in Ashburn earned spots on the list, according to Patch. The restaurant says on its website that it has earned multiple Wine Spectator awards over the years.

The recognition comes as the "Crazy Tomato" (the English translation of the name) continues to expand its footprint in Danor Plaza. The co-founders opened Nozzo Pazzo, an Italian deli, two doors down at 122 Branch Road SE, in the space formerly occupied by Cenan's Bakery, which closed in 2018 after 26 years, Patch reported. The deli sells sandwiches, salads, imported meats and cheeses, and Pazzo Pomodoro's housemade pastas, sauces and meatballs to go.

Audia and Hicks, both Northern Virginia locals, built the restaurant's concept with Nicky de Chiara, an Italian native whose culinary influence still runs through the kitchen, according to a TysonsToday profile published Aug. 17. The menu draws on the working-class kitchens of Naples, Salerno and the Amalfi Coast. All pasta is made from scratch in-house.

A blue wood-fired oven anchors an open kitchen visible from the dining room.

"Our food will taste like it came out of my mother's kitchen in Salerno," Chef Raffaele says on the restaurant's website.

The dining room features red-and-white checkered linens, exposed stone and murals of southern Italy across several connected areas. A private space called the Capri Room seats up to 35 for events. An outdoor tent adds seating when weather permits.

Nozzo Pazzo is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Friday through Sunday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Pazzo Pomodoro's Vienna location can be reached at (703) 281-7777.