Pizzeria Mozza - wow!

[Lau]

I'm sure this place has been reviewed 500 times, but im going to review it anyhow...ate here with a buddy the other day and sat at the bar. We walked in and the wait was a bit annoying, told us 30 mins ended up being close to an hour, but whatever it was worth the wait. Now this place has some serious hype, so i was a bit concerned b/c 9 times out 10 places never live up to the hype even if they are really good...however in this case, it did live up to the hype.

I'm sure everyone can get pics of the place online, so i wont bother describing it although i thought the atmosphere was generally pretty decent, service was good, the wine was so so.

On to the important part, here's what we got:
- Marinated beets with horseraddish: these were awesome, pretty simple just chopped up marinated beets that had this simple horseraddish dressing on it...addicting and so good, i couldn't stop eating them (also went really well with the salad)
- Nancys chopped salad: this was good, it was just a chopped salad with a vinagrette i believe, that had various vegetables (tomatoes etc) and salami (and it went really well with the beets)
- White beans alla Toscana with extra virgin olive oil & saba bruschette: this was good although not great probably my least favorite thing. its pretty self explantory, the only reason it was my least favorite was that i thought it was a bit on the salty side although on an absolute basis it was still good
- Bufala mozzarella & prosciutto di Parma: great, some of the best mozzarella ive ever had (including in italy) and beautiful pieces of prosciutto (not too salty, but just great flavor)...they give u a side of olive oil which really gives it just something that makes it that much better
- Fennel sausage, panna, red onion & scallions pizza: probably the best pizza ive ever had (including NY where i now live and italy where i had some amazing pizza and this easily stacks up with them). Delicioius crust that is light and airy, the fennel sausage is just ridiculously good and not heavy at all and it just all pulls together so well

i really liked this place and thought the prices were very reasonable. We ended up paying $60+ per person but that was mainly b/c of the wine and i was so stuffed it was ridiculous, but if we had gone more reasonable i think u could make through at $30-40 per person for one of the best meals ive had in a while

[Maxmillion]

Nice report -- I went a bunch of times soon after they opened -- I def need to return. I think the fact that the hype hasn't died down and the crowds haven't either - despite the recent opening of Osteria M -- is indicative of the high quality.

Some peeps complain about the noise level -- i've never found it an issue.

I also prefer the pizza counter to dining at the bar.

FYI - I believe that fennel sausage pizza (also my all-time fave) is dusted with fennel pollen. Yeah - wow!

[Lau]

i meant the pizza counter, its much better than the bar b/c the bar is where everyone is waiting...i did like that it was fairly easy to walk-in bc they had saved quite a bit of the tables for walk in

[Maxmillion]

Right! And it's a crucial distinction to make to the maitre d' / hostess when you put yr name on the wait list, if that sort of thing matters to you as much as it does to me (!)

[Woolsey]

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. Pizzeria Mozza is pretty much my favorite restaurant in the city. And yes, you can eat well at Mozza in the $40 range or less. Hopefully you'll save room for dessert next time; the butterscotch budino is really fantastic.

[Lau]

yeah the waitress told me about it...sounded delicious, but i just couldnt do it haha

[radman123]

I hear ya - the place is simply great - GREAT food, GREAT prices, VERY GOOD service - you will see in a few weeks out of the blue you will begin to crave it and have to start the reservation process again.

[bruinike]

YOU ARE SO RIGHT!!! I literally start craving it especially after reading posts like this. Heading there for lunch for the first time next Saturday (have been there for dinner five times previously).

[exilekiss]

Hey Lau,

Glad you enjoyed your time at Pizzeria Mozza! Nice writeup. :) It's also nice to hear some perspective given your experience with places in NY and Italy.