Piola
48 East 12th Street
(between Broadway & University Pl)
New York, NY 10003 (212) 777-7781
- Nearest Transit:
Union Square (4, 5, 6, L, N, Q, R, W)
14th St-6th Aves (F, V, L, 1, 2, 3)
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Street
- Attire: Casual
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Good for Kids: Yes
- Takes Reservations: Yes
- Delivers: Yes
- Take-out: Yes
- Waiter Service: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Good for: Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol: Full Bar
34 Reviews for Piola
I love Piola. Their pizzas are the best in the city! I first went to this place in the first week I moved here. My colleagues took me here and ever since I am sold. I usually eat their pizzas except when it's the 29th of month, then I get the gnocchi (unlimited). It's an Italian restaurant but it has a Brazilian influence, also because the chain has several restaurants there. Their caipirinhas and caipiroskas are great as well as the homemade tiramisu. The pizzas are all individual size. Try one with caitupiry cheese, it a Brazilian cream cheese, it's really tasty.
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My friend took me here. The main room is airy and open.
Really good food. Fast, efficient service. Our waiter was great, and their pizzas are solid. Very flavorful. And the best part of the experience was that they didn't try to rush us so we talked and laughed for hours. WHOOO HOOOOO!
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I love this place!! The staff is so catering to your needs. I have come here with friends, and we wanted to share meals, and they brought us out separate plates with the divided portions. Amazing! I don't know of another restaurant that does this.
As for the food, it's also really great. I really love the four cheese gnocchi (it literally melts in your mouth), but the pizza is great as well. They bring you lots and lots of bread, and of course don't forget the tiramasu!
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After deciding not to wait an hour or longer at Grimaldi's, a bunch of friends and I took the uptown train to Union Square for dunch at Piola. I was expecting an actual restaurant, something akin to, say, Lombardi's, and thus was surprised to walk into what seemed like a big cafeteria closer resembling an actual pizzeria than a restaurant. The area is huge, the tables are covered with modern-art-splattered placemats, and the TVs on the walls are tuned to sports channels (this was the day we all learned about the wonders of beach tennis), which all makes this a great place to bring a group of friends on a lazy afternoon.
And, yet, there's waiter service. Huh. Our hostess also served as our waitress, which, although a bit unconventional, was fine; she was attentive and incredibly nice, always at the ready with a fresh pitcher of water on that hot day. She helped in setting the mood a bit more, since without her, I truly felt as if I had just walked into a self-serve pizzeria, albeit one with higher prices. That's the thing about Piola: it seems a lot more plebeian than its waiter service and prices belie.
For my meal, I skipped the appetizer (we had had ice cream at Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory earlier--yum!) and went straight for the pepperoni pizza, because I'm boring like that. At $10.50, it seemed a bit much until our waitress brought the pizza out: it was HUGE! For comparison's sake, I'll say it was probably 50% bigger than a Pizza Hut Personal Pan Pizza. The crust was thin, there wasn't much tomato sauce, and the cheese was melted into the pizza near-perfectly, just the way I like it. I would have liked to have more pepperoni slices, though.
Despite its size, I did eat the whole pizza, which proved later to be somewhat of a mistake. In all, because of its prices and the size of its dishes, Piola is the sort of place I would come to for one meal then take half of my dish home with me to have for another meal.
Bathroom Grade: 4.5/10. Never mind the bad lighting or the confusing sink-trash can set-up. My question is: are they trying to confuse customers by making them walk down a hallway only to suddenly smack into the sink area before turning, perplexed, to see an open men's stall and open women's stalls? I can't even explain it properly.
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This place isn't bad.
I was part of a group of 10 who got tickets to see Fuerzabruta up the street. I needed a place to comfortably cater to my friends' dinner needs. Thank god for Yelp.com and the 'good for groups' checkbox.
The main room is huge -- two stories of airy restaurant-ness. It was exactly what I needed, but on any other day with a few friends, on my own, or with a date, I'd sooner walk down to the East Village.
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*PST* Here's a secret; you can get stuff that isn't on the menu. The other day I had dinner here and was positively craving a pink sauce. After looking over their pasta dishes I was discouraged to find nada. Never being one to admit defeat easily I asked our server, Jason, if I could get a lil' pasta with some pink sauce. Without hesitation he said, "Yes, what kind of past do you want?" Well I almost fell out of my chair with delight.
My dinning partner agreed the atmosphere is great with a super modern decor, non skeezy bathrooms, and plenty of room. The food was a little lacking in spices, but can be easily gussied up with some dried red pepper and a lil' oregano (or pizza weed as I like to call it).
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This is not an ordinary pizza joint. Its a chain direct from italy (there are only a few in the states) Their single serve sized pizza is simply delicious and a fair price. There is a happy hour at the bar in the evenings that serves munchables. I love the Strawberry Caipiroska.
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This place is great for happy hour. There are free appetizers which are nice to nosh on. Also, they have a wonderful drink with vodka and ice cream that is so good. The wait staff was very attentive and friendly. It was so pleasant just to have conversation and drinks and watch the theater of the street in the outdoor seating area.
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What a great selection of pizzas, salads, pastas, and more! The fun and upbeat atmosphere is fantastic to start your night off with a group..its really host to all guys, gals, dates, young, old, families, etc...
I have tried several of the pizzas and salads, which are really light and yummerz. Great service, food and value. If you are in the Union Square area and are looking for a fun place to have a casual meal -- Piola is your joint!
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While the drinks are a little pricey, Piola has a great happy hour. They serve free tapas and they're almost as satisfying as dinner. It is a little hard to get a seat at the bar during happy hour, but if you wait like 20 minutes you can get one. Also, the waitstaff and bartenders are really friendly, which helps with the overall experience at Piola.
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The BEST happy hour!! Lots of great interesting drinks like the kiwi capriosca. Fantastic FREE appetizers like foccacia with tomato, pizza bites, pasta, rice, and whatever happens to be available. Amazing service with extremely friendly bartenders and waiters.
And any time of day- great pizzas, yummy gnocchi and good paninis.
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The 8 of us went to watch Fuerzabruta last night and afterwards planned to go grab a bite to eat. Initially the plan was to hit The Chat N Chew for some good comfort food but after what would seem like a long wait, we decided to venture somewhere else.
We ended up at Piola, a place that was recommended after a few good happy hour experiences in the past by this particular friend.
The menu was mostly different kind of thin crust pizzas and there is a great selection so you're bound to find something to your liking. There are a few starters and pasta dishes but very few meats/fish entrees so be prepared to be in the mood for some pizza or .... pizza I guess.
It was recommended to try the Strawberry Vodka drink which consisted of real crushed strawberries and lightly flavored with vodka because all you could taste were strawberries. By the way, they should get bigger straws since the crushed strawberries are hard to get to due to the thickness of the straws - as this was explained to me when I commented that maybe the women just didn't have enough 'sucking power'.
They gave us some baskets of bread which wasn't very fresh or warm but we gladly accepted because it was almost 10pm and we were quite famished. We ordered a Bruschetta which was really toasted pieces of the same bread we got in the baskets but this time it was topped with a ton of fresh tomatoes, some oregano, olive oil drizzlings, and some salt and pepper. Not bad - even though we remembered about the 'killer tomatoes' and salmonella outbreak that hit the news just in the last 24 hours. They assured us 'this was a good batch' as we joked about it and we ate it nonetheless feeling daring with every bite.
A few of us ordered the pizza and 3 people ordered different kinds of pasta: gnocchi (4 cheese) and another with red sauce, and another ordered a linguini with meat sauce which looked very good as well.
My buddy ordered a sliced veal with tuna mayo and capers. It seemed more like an appetizer but was very tasty nonetheless - basically very thin slices of smoked veal (almost like proscuitto) topped with a generous portion of 'tuna mayo' that kind of looked like hummus with capers in the mix. Again, nice dish but more of a starter in my opinion.
We ordered 3 types of pizza: Mushroom, Firenze (basically sausage), and a Hawaiian (Ham and Pineapples). It was thin crust so the side of the pizzas were a bit burnt and the bottom of the pizzas were still quite floury as I noticed my hands getting white and chalky after the first slice.
Overall the service was good, the food was okay, but considering they specialized in pizza, I must say I wasn't too impressed. The place is obviously owned by avid 'futbol' fans as the large restaurant who was able to take a table of 8 in a few minutes where no other restaurant was able to (and we tried 3 of them before ending up here) was decorated with emblems and jerseys of many different clubs.
I had a good time because of the company. The food was okay and reasonably priced, but I did expect the food to be a bit better. I guess you have to try it at least once to make up your mind about it.
This place is good. Yummy brick oven pizza. Not half bad wine list. Warm and cozy European atmosphere.
During happy hour if you sit at the bar,,, you get free pizza! We learned this the hard way, so take advantage!
Outdoor seating but they need to get rid of the scaffolding.. Makes me nervous to sit under that.
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Sometimes I go to places based on location rather than the reputation of the food due to their convenience, and it's always a crapshoot. Most of the times, it's nothing to write home about, and other times, I'm pleasantly surprised. Piola falls just between the two, and the fact that it's an Italian chain that does relatively well in the city deserves some props. When I lived in Union Square, I came because I was feeling too lazy to be more inventive. Now, I just agree to go because it's convenient to the train.
Usually, you can't go too terribly awry with their pasta dishes. It's fairly reliable, but nothing special. The pizza's ok, but again, there are much better options for a really great pie. Their drinks are ok, but no master mixologists here. They occasionally show poker tournies on their flatscreen tele, and that's always a bonus because I've fallen into the trap of Texas Hold'em. The lighting in this place always makes me think of a cheap Eurotrash lounge.
If you're hungry near Union Square and happen to be in the mood for passable Italian, this isn't the worst you can do. Otherwise, go a block down around the corner to Jack for better food and ambiance (http://www.yelp.com/bi...).
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Decent brick oven pizza spot....
My first time and had a simple pizza without tomato sauce, so if I go back maybe I'll have something different and with a lil bit more pizazz! They do have a very wide range of options for their toppings!
Good service and prices....good spot for a quick bite to eat before a movie or show or something?! atleast that's what I heard other yelpers say....
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A not too shabby pizza place that's relatively cheap compared to the rest of the restaurants around Union Square. Though some pizzas stray past the $12 mark, most are around the $9 to $10 range. The atmosphere kind of reminds me of a more classy cafeteria, which can be a little confusing. The brightly lit, overly colorful space makes me feel like I should go up to the counter with a tray in hand... but they have waitresses?
As for the food, Some of their pizzas were amazing (the beef carpaccio one and the artichoke/mushroom one), while others left something to be desired (i think the rio de janeiro only appeals to people who like to slop cream cheese on everything). Pastas were slightly underseasoned.
Overall, I liked it and would go back again - it was definitely more filling than Cosi, which seems like the only other somewhat cheap, but still sit-down-able (at least at night) place in the area.
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The waiters were very friendly, the pasta was delicious, but the pizzas were lacking. They both (4 cheese and mushroom) needed more tomato sauce. We asked for it and they charged us $2 for it. Whatever.
Apparently, I have never walked down 12th St. between Broadway and University or I would have been here before tonight. I loved the food, decor, and service! There is at least 50 pizza choices on the menu! The salad selections looked nice as did the appetizers and desserts but I only had pizza and it was pretty damn good. Paper thin crust with fresh sauce, mozzarella, eggplant, and parmesan! Prices for all the full-sized pizzas ranged from $9-13 with most of them being in the $10-11 range. It was refreshing to be in the Union Square area and go to a restaurant where I could actually hold a conversation. Not being served by a snot-nosed trust-fund brat but an actual waiter from Bologna, Italy was a major plus! I have my eyes on about a dozen other pizzas I want to try plus some other things on the menu so I know I will be going back. Give it a shot next time your in the area.
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Seeing good reviews here, we went to check it out. The hostess was sweet in spite of the bit of saccharine sprinkled on top. The environment was clean, spacious, with loud music blearing (but giving a bit of privacy). Their website is based in Italy ("famosi per la pizza"). Their pizza menu is huge (but I kept looking for "quattro stagioni" - my favorite back home in Italy). Prices are reasonable. And the service is snappy (yet, the waiter didn't understand me when I said "calzone" - I should have picked this problem up right then).
So what's wrong? Well, I'm a substance-over-form person. I like good food. Their pizzas do have good dough, and they're baked to perfection. Their cheese is not greasy, but it's tasteless. The tomato sauce is barely there. But... the mushrooms in my calzone were of the cheapest canned type imaginable. They might be tolerable if all the disgusting juices were baked away. But inside the calzone they reeked of cheap vinegar and synthetic preservatives.
My girlfriend (who found precisely one leaf of basil on top of her margerita) pulled me away from "Big Enchilada" where I wanted to eat something really spicy to wash away the taste of the mushrooms. I settled for a shot of whiskey. Yes, it was this bad. Foodies, avoid this place in a big circle!
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This is by far one of my favorite restaraunts in the city. Combine a handful of mod-ish styling, a heaping measure of unique combinations of ingredients and equal parts art and music and you've got the recipe for a great culinary experience. The best part, I think is, that the experience extends far beyond a single meal. You can dance to live Brazilian music or feed your brain with the ever-changing displays of art and innovative decor; oh and don't forget Lucky Gnocci days, the 29th of each month.
The Brazilian-Italian fusion is a great combo making for some really great pizzas. Now this ain't your typical NY style pizza. It's definitely not Chicago style either. It's sort of like California style but not exactly. I guess you can say it's Piola style. Whatever you call it, it's a delightful change of pace from the run of the mill pizza. My favorite is the carbonara, which is topped with bacon, egg, mozzarella and parmesan. Yes I did say egg and it is delicious! They also make some great cocktails and desserts. If you're looking for something different stop in; if you want a typical NY style pizza stay away.
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How have I never heard anyone talk about this place! After passing by its mod-ish facade a dozen times, I finally ventured in with a group for lunch. Cavernous interior; no trouble getting a big table. Personal pizza specials for lunch! Menu of pizzas and pastas is extensive and inventive; live music offered on weekends. Yes, a chain, but the South American influence gives it a kick that is missing at, say, Uno's. With its bright colors, good food, and reasonable prices, Piola's is a fun, gratifying, no-hassle dining experience perfect for when you just don't want to think too hard about where to get something good to eat.
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I think I walked past this place every day for about a year before I even realized it was a pizza place.
Went there for the first time the other day and would go back in a second. Like everyone said, huge menu (there's literally 100 different pizzas to chose from and they all sound good), friendly staff, and if you like thin crust pizza you don't be disapointed. I had no idea that they had fancy drinks there too. We went there before a movie and were the only ones in the place. I feel cheated for not ordering one now. Oh well. Next time.
But yeah, its a great place to go to when you want to take someone out for good pizza, but you don't want to go into some sort of hole in the wall pizza place that has great pizza, but the extent of the atmosphere they have is a wobbley table and folding chairs.
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It's one of those places that makes those of us who hail from suburbia sigh; generic, pleasing decor, contemporary music with no particular identity, and sparce ambiance for entertaining large groups. No reservation needed, no drama. It's Pizza.
Not quite Patsy's; Piola doesn't want to be pretentious, it wants to be easy. Lighting is geared to make you remember those places you used to go when in HS... And since we are in New York, we can expect the Pizza to be just good enough to eat; no treat, but no trick either.
Forte's: Price (obviously), home-made lemonade is a SUPER plus; it's lemonade made with full lemons on a blender, and just the right ammount of sugar and ice as to make it perfect (yes I said perfect). Also try their Capirinha.
Aside from the pizza, I tried their Carpacci "Rigoletto" with mixed greens and avocado, and it was subpar, but edible.
That's all folks, 4 going down to suburbian memory lane.
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There is something so grotesquely sterile about the Piola atmosphere that it almost distracts from the good pizza and excellent service. Really brightly lit and painted in a huge (by Manhattan standards) space with way too many tables - it feels about as intimate as a high school date at a suburban mall food court.
The pizza had a great super-thin cracker-like crust and tasted delicious, although it seemed like the huge menu with the many pre-set pie options were all just different mixtures of the same 5 ingredients. Don't expect sausage or pepperoni or anything like that - instead they seem specifically into ham mixed and placed in a variety of ways.
It was good, but I hated the atmosphere and there are great pizza otions all over NYC - great pizza options that can make me a Sausage pie and not a ham one.
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RIMINI is the best brunch pizza!!
i love love love it.
and my second favorite from this place is LInosa it's soooo yummy.
the wait is never long, good pizzas, and you must must try this drink i had..
it's on cocktail menu, i don't remember what's it called but it's a combination of Vodka, & Key lime Icecream. it's too good to pass up.
and if you've never give Fusion Brazilian food a try, you must visit this place.
I stumbled into this place by accident when I was in the area for a concert and what a find it was!! First, I absolutely loved the decor, very bright and funky and modern. Their menu is mainly all about the thin crust pizza (which was delicious) and best of all their prices are really reasonable. I also tried one of their specialty kiwi drinks from brazil (I'm not going to try to spell what it was) and it was AMAZING. Only quip I have was that service was a little slow due to the restaurant's busy-ness but the waiter was very nice and apologetic. I'll definitely be coming back!
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Nestled off a tame part of South of Union Square Broadway, the inside is quite spacious with nice high ceilings. Decor/color schemes come right out of the early 90's - this is where Zach, Kelly, and Slater would be eating their pizza. Perhaps it fits their other locations better (they've got several of these in Brazil, a few in Italy, Miami Beach, etc.)
But aesthetic objections are overshadowed by their $8.50 salad and personal pizza special. (they also have salad/pasta specials for less than $10)
The salad is very good - fresh, leafy greens and a nice balsamic vinegar.
The pizzas offered in the specials vary.
I've had the Moderna pizza which added arugula and grated parmesan on top of the mozzarella/tomato sauce base. The pizza is generously sized for a personal pie. The crust is chewy but has a nice char and some crunch to it. The parmesan had a nice kick to it. I could probably take or leave all the arugula on it.
My last visit I really wasn't wowed by any of the choices and settled on a ham/mushroom pizza that didn't work for me. I'd likely skip the salad or pay $4 extra for it rather than settle again...
good service, good ambiance, fair food.
fair price.
need somewhere to kill time before ur movie in regal union sqr starts?
have a nice thin crusted light italian pizza at piola!
came here twice, am going again tonight.
it's just a chill-out restaurant, cozy and untimidating.
i was introduced to this place by a friend. i loved the decor. we were seated quickly. it was very spacious. the service was great. the menu is a bit confusing with the names of the dishes but it's explained as to what is in each dish or pizza. i loved their pasta. & everytime i am in union square i try to eat there. i also recommend the capirinhia (i think it's how it is spelled, not sure) the brazilian drink. the pricing is also reasonable. and the staff was welcoming as is the decor of the place and the music. i've been there when there is a person celebrating a birthday and the staff brings out a plate of desert and sing the person happy birthday which is cute. ohh yes try the desert it's delicious. enjoy =]
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Addendum: 11-03-06
Went on Thursday night happy hour... great atmosphere, great food, mini pizzas are wonderful, all the food served (free at the bar) was fresh and of good quality. Pasta, prosciutto, cheese, did i say mini pizza?, salami, salads, olives... all served all the time and they didn't wait for foods to be over to bring more... i didn't engage in gluttonous consumption, but i ate enough, without being rushed or frowned on. The bar tender had all in check and always attentive, $4 apple martinis and $5 bucks peroni's beer.
For this bar experience, they have earned the fifth star...
10-05-06
Piola is just a cute looking place. The colorful hanging glass lamps call your attention from the outside. We stopped here to kill some time before a yelp event (which we almost missed!).
We sat at the bar and ordered beer and iced tea. The staff was very upbeat and friendly. The bartender flirted with some girl a few stools down while we got our oder together. We had the Piola pizza. Just for a bite. It was delicious. The sauce was right on spot and the cheese selections were very nice. The crust crunchy and thin, almost like a pizza cracker. It was a very good experience. At the end, the bartender offered us a bit of vodka with vanilla ice cream (forgot the name in Italian). Was that tasty! Really good stuff that is customarily had at the end of a meal in some areas in Italy.
As a note, Thursdays happy hour includes some tasty treats on the house. And the other days, happy hours is two for one. I will definitely be back to get drunk or stuffed one of these nights!
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Piola is a great place located near Union Square.
If you are tired of boring pizza toppings this is the place to go.
They have a huge menu (more than 50 thin crust pizza choices) and also antipasti, salads, pastas and deserts (crema di papaya is very good).
The place is also nice and colorful and they serve special drinks like caipirinhas..so refreshing during Summer time!
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I passed Piola on my way to a movie and I was almost drawn in solely by the bright lights and colorful decor. Needless to say, I was happy to actually eat there when a friend recommended it recently. If you go, you'll be overwhelmed by the pizza choices. I ordered and enjoyed both the Verde & Co. salad and the Quattro Funghi pizza. But the best part of the meal were the strawberry caipiroska & the divine torta nera & gelato...absolutely decadent chocolate cake. So rich, but so worth it. The food is a bit expensive, but that's nothing unusual for the Union Square area.
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What's great is the bar... the bartender there is incredibly attentive (not to mention super cute!) and just in general, it's good spirits and times at Piola. Best deal is the Thursday evening fete (5 to 7pm) where you can get samplers of food at the bar. That includes things like cheese, salami, proscuitto, pasta, mini pizza's and so on... of course, you're giong to WANT to drink and they make some very good and generously liquored drinks.
Piola IS about the pizza. Plenty of varieties to choose from, some you may have never heard of as well! Nice thin crust that will make even those that don't like crusts chow them down.
It's just lovely. Go for the drinks, go for the pizza, go for the hot Italian men (^_^)... and top it all off with their after dinner drink, the sgroppino di limone. Lemon ice cream (or sorbet sometimes) with vodka. Simple and delicious.
I miss this chain that you found pretty much everywhere in Brazil and Buenos Aires! It makes me so nostalgic for when I had decent pizza (Buenos Aires has the best, and the Brazilian rodizio is heaven). Get a delicious kiwi caipiroska with the kiwi pulp right in it. The salads are great (try the Hearts of Palm salad) and very large. But, really it is all about the pizza. The Malta-a white pizza with potato and rosemary is very good and fills my carb needs. But, I also love the Sao Paulo- witha healthy dose of catupiry cheese (cream cheese type consistency...you either love it or hate it). I also love the Buenos Aires style for its fugazza-caramelized onion and the healthy Miami Beach with arugula. There are so many options here-it's really fun to go with a group so you can try a bit of everything.
The atmosphere is laidback and pretty quiet. Perfect for a night out and when you can't bear to go to Republic again for the millionth time.
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