Dining out: Rock Creek Pizza Co.

Rock Creek Pizza Co. takes me back.

And if you're a child of the '80s or early '90s, it will take you back, too.

First, there's the rustic ambience, with river rocks protruding from the walls and a talking, moving full-size moose head in the entry.

There's a back-room arcade full of teenagers and kids in baseball uniforms, just like the pizzerias of my youth. Then there's the music mix; on the night we visited, we jived along to Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" and "Space Age Love Song" by A Flock of Seagulls.

So, yes, I liked the ambience. But none of that would matter if the pizza wasn't good. Fortunately, it was.

Rock Creek Pizza Co. isn't trying to be one of those gourmet pizzerias, although there are some delicious-sounding specialty pizzas like roasted chicken and peppers, garlic vegetarian and Alamo chicken, which includes picante sauce, three cheeses, chicken, peppers, tomatoes and red onions in "creamy southwestern" sauce.

Instead, they're trying to be a favorite neighborhood pizza joint, and based on the crowds, they're largely succeeding.

We started with the mozzarella-topped garlic bread, a sinful pleasure with its toasted, butter-and-garlic-brushed bread and oozy cheese. The kids ordered 6-inch cheese pizzas, which were simple but tasty.

I liked Rock Creek's crust, which on our pizzas was chewy, yeasty and golden-crisp on the outside. We didn't specify when we ordered, so I assume we got the pan crust ("traditional" also is available).

For my pizza, I had the five-cheese with white sauce and spinach. I'd asked for mushrooms, as well, but they didn't appear. Nevertheless, this blend of mozzarella, provolone, cheddar, feta and Parmesan was powerfully rich, creamy and delicious, with fresh baby spinach leaves baked on top to give it a little brightness.

I also tried a small bowl of minestrone, which was nicely tomato-ey and full of veggies (peas, carrots, celery, onions) despite lacking potatoes, beans or squash, which I've always considered staples of that kind of soup.

My husband was the adventurous one on this trip, ordering the pizza sandwich. A college friend of his used to make his own kind of pizza sandwich by taking two slices of pizza, slapping them toppings-together and eating the whole thing.

This was different, an open-faced sandwich that reminded me of French-bread pizza with its generous toppings of tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni, ground beef and big chunks of savory sausage.