New Place in Ambler?

[truffles2]

Last night on my way to Twister's Yoga on Butler, I noticed a sign next door. It reads "New Restaurant Opening Soon - Hiring All Positions." Anyone know what may be going in there?

[AmblerGirl]

We went on Saturday night too. It was really nice, my husband called it a solid A minus. the decor is a nice warm space, open kitchen with with what looks like a tiled pizza over, very small an intimate, not a ton of tables. Service was nice, not great or overly knowledgable, but no complaints. Food was really good. I love the italian/portguese fusion idea, and we went all Portuguese in our meal. We started with the flaming chorizo, very good quality sausage served slaming in a terra cotta pig (cute presentation). Better than the Portguese places in the city, I think because the sausage quality was so high. I had pork and clams, one of my all time favorite dishes. A really good rendention with a nice broth (perfect for dunking in the portguese rolls). My husband had bacalau and smashed potatos, which was good but his fish had alot of bones. Very tasty though. The kids menu has just the standard items so we ordered off the grown up menu for my "discerning" 20 month old and got a half portion of the the papradelle bolognese for ger (actually I just wanted an excuse to try the homemade pasta). It was good, the pasta was delicous, the sauce was pretty good, not very rich or creamy though. I wanted to try dessert but my daughter could not sit still any longer so we made a hasty retreat. Overall great meal, and I look forward to going back. Great addition to Ambler!

[crazyspice]

Our group is headed over this Saturday night. We are thrilled to have a new BYOB to visit.

[AmblerGirl]

Have fun, we went back on Sunday and just got a pizza and brought a bottle of wine and had another great time. Their chorizo pizza is fantastic! And the service was amazing, the last time we went our waitress was just okay but this time we had the best waiter, he was great with our daughter, offered us a takeout menu for pizza since we told him we lived nearby and was overall just really good.

[truffles2]

+1 on that chorizo pizza. Went there last week and singed the roof of my mouth, but it was worth it. They aced the crust - it was light & crispy but still held up. To me, that is the key to good pizza. I don't even like olives, but I enjoyed them on this pizza. And for an extra bonus, the waitress referred to my grown son with this comment: "Let him pay for it, that's what husbands are for!" LOL

[TheAmblerRambler]

I haven't tried the chorizo pizza yet but I LOVE the prosciutto pizza! It is absolutely delish and tough to deviate from it for now. Truffles2, I agree about the crust, crispy and perfect! I've had some good entrées there but I can't seem to get away from wanting a greek salad and a pizza, with a bottle of red of course :)

[tourmama]

Had dinner at Massa last night. It's very nicely decorated, and the tables are spaced nicely, so it feels very uncrowded and relaxed. Mixed crowd - older couples, young families, and Mr. Mama and I (somewhere in between the two).

Service was excellent. We were seated immediately (had a reservation, although may not have needed one - yet), our waiter was attentive and knowledgeable, and didn't smother us with questions while we ate.

The food was a limited success. For an appetizer, we had excellent mussels in a delicious marinara sauce, but very small portion for the price. We sopped up every last drop of sauce with the complimentary rolls. Caesar salad was good, but not special. I had the crabcake entree, which was out-of-this-world delicious - huge chunks of crabmeat, no breading, very delicately spiced, and came with a delicious tomato salad with balsamic dressing. Mr. Mama had the pork tenderloin, and was less enthusiastic. He reported that the meat was boring and dry. He thinks he should have ordered the Chourico sausage as his entree. A number of other diners were eating it, and it looked and smelled outrageously good. Lesson learned!

Shared the Creme Brulee for dessert - very good. So good that we thought about going back after the movie to order another. But we resisted.

We'll go back and try other menu items. It is nice to have a new spot in the area.

[TheAmblerRambler]

They have updated their website, the menu is now posted. http://www.massapizzagrill.com/MENU.aspx

[ilovesummer]

thanks...was in ambler tonite but headed to saffron for my fix of Indian. Still have groupon/opentable offers to use at Bridgets and Deterra....but will definitely put Massa on my list to try!!!

[TheAmblerRambler]

I haven't had time to post any details but I scanned in the menu and some photos. http://montcoresource.com/2011/04/22/...

[TheAmblerRambler]

Just got back from the quiet opening and I am happy to report that this is way more than a pizza place! In fact I was really excited to have salad and pizza tonight but was surprised that pizza wasn't even being offered. Being a quiet opening it was a very limited menu, but the choices were great; Ahi Tuna Carpaccio with avocado, jalapeño and citrus, Caprese, Caesar, Mesclun greens and for entrées, Grilled Salmon with oven roasted tomato ravioli, wilted spinach and roasted pepper coulis, Penne Vodka with Lump Crab, Herb Roasted Chicken Breast with saffron risotto, broccoli and game reduction and a vegetarian option.
The salmon was excellent, cooked perfectly and the ravioli was so tasty. Dessert was a chocolate souflee that was out of this world! The atmosphere is lovely and it is BYO! It is family owned and everyone was very friendly and accommodating.
They will be open seven days a week for lunch and dinner with no break in between. The menu has a great selection of pizzas, meat and seafood and a few pastas. In my opinion this is just what Ambler needs, an affordable BYO that serves great food in a comfortable environment.

[AmblerGirl]

Sounds great, thanks for reporting back! I really can't wait to try it! I especially love the fact that they are open 7 days through lunch and dinner, I have a crazy toddler and whenever we go out to eat it needs to be at an off hour, and we have a hard time finding places that are open. I'm so excited! And its BYO!!!!!!!

[TheAmblerRambler]

The pizza will be the true test, can't wait to try it!

[jujuthomas]

wow, that all sounds delicious! thanks so much for reporting back. :)

[truffles2]

Sounds interesting, for sure. Will have to try them after yoga some Wednesday. Wonder if a bottle of wine will fit in my bag?

[AmblerGirl]

We just stopped by and picked up a menu. It definitely has a spanish/italian/portguese flair. I'm so excited to see some Portuguese options like pork and clams (one of my all time favorite dishes). We usually have to venture into the Northeast for good Portuguese food!

[ilovesummer]

anyone know a link with copy of the menu??? sounds quite interesting!

[AmblerGirl]

Theres a link to the website in the thread above but its pretty basic, no menu posted. We got ours as a hard copy, its a photo copy with BYOB written in pen on it, you can tell they are just getting started!

I have the menu in front of me and they have some interesting apps (portuguese steamed clams, flaming portuguese sausage, mussels, braised beef spanikopita, chicken parm ravioli, tuna carpacio), standard salads, entrees (portuguese dishes like bacalau, paehla, pork and clams, a number of seafood dishes, papparadelle pasta, roast pork, chicken, seared beef filet), a number of interesting pizzas, stromboli, and a lunch menu with some salads and sandwiches. Prices are what I'd call average- apps (8-10), entrees (15-26), pizza (8-17.50).

[ilovesummer]

thanks!!! do they have vegetarian dishes....and things like hummous..etc?

[AmblerGirl]

They have a "chef selection" vegetarian entree on the menu plus a number of salads and pizzas that are vegetarian. No hummus.

We stopped by tonight and spoke breifly with the manager. It is italian/portuguese fusion (fun!) and the chef is from the Four Seasons. Everything is house made each morning, even the pasta. Decor is very pretty with warm rich colors. They have a kids menu which means they are kid friendly. I am going to try to eat there this weekend. The pork and clams are calling to me.

[crazyspice]

I am looking forward to your review!

[missfunkysoul]

while getting my hair cut in a salon on main st, my stylist told me that it was going to be "mediterranean".

and there is my big contribution to this thread! :)

[TheAmblerRambler]

That's good news! I went by today and saw that the name is Massa Pizza & Grill. I peeked in but the floors were wet so I didn't go in and couldn't see past the vestibule. Good work missfunkysoul :)

[sharonlouk]

And I googled and found a web page. http://massapizzagrill.com.temp.reals...

[TheAmblerRambler]

I'm getting excited! Anyone have any clue what his other restaurant is?

[jujuthomas]

oh my! that's more than a "pizza joint" from his website! I can't wait to see the menu!

[AmblerGirl]

Thanks for sharing the link... it looks great!!!! I love all of the recon work going on here!

[TheAmblerRambler]

From what I've heard from the peeps at Twisters it is going to be another pizza place. I (along with many others) was pretty disgruntled as I think Ambler needs something other than another pizza shop, but I was able to peek past the paper on the windows last night and it looks really cute inside. Hopefully AmblerGirl will turn up further info, I am so curious! I'm also hoping for a BYO!!!

[AmblerGirl]

I just got the same info that its a pizza place as well. I agree that the last thing we need is yet another pizza joint, but if they are hiring servers (and it is a cutre spot) that might be a good sign that maybe its more like a pizza cafe (like an Arpeggio) than an actual pizza joing. We already have Candidas a few storefronts down.. along with many many others with just a few blocks!

I was hoping for tapas but, sigh, that was a reach :)

[TheAmblerRambler]

A BYO tapas place would be a dream! We also need a place to grab a healthy bite. I would love a Jamba Juice type place that had smoothies and served great salads, wraps and the like. That was my hope for the spot next to Twisters, it would have been perfect!

[AmblerGirl]

I know, there was a place in Chestnut Hill called Cafe Barcelona that closed a few years ago. Cute little place with some outdoor seats, casual shabby chic setting, tapas, BYO, everything very homemade. It was my favorite place, we need another place like that!

Or something healthy would be great too, they'd get tons of business from Twisters. There are really no healthy casual options nearby. We have so many pizza places, bars, gelato places (though I can never complain about too much gelato)...

[AmblerGirl]

I had not heard anything and that would be great news! That location is just begging for a simple little cafe (please let it be BYO!!!!). I will try to do some investigative work :)

Juju, yes Jojos is still open. I think they have odd hours but they are open!

[jujuthomas]

No idea! Rosies and Forest and Main are both coming to different locations... wonder what's going in there!

I wonder if Jojo's is still open. We stopped by a couple weeks ago and it was not open, and I can never tell from the train platform if there are lights on in there or not.

[TheAmblerRambler]

I was talking to Jo-Jo's last week and they would like to be open additional/longer hours but they need the business to sustain it. Look for some fun things they have in the works for the spring/summer. Your point is good about not being able to see if they are open from the platform, perhaps they need something in the window.

[jujuthomas]

Yeah for a while I thought their ATM sign was an Open sign. I would be very tempted to dash in and grab a cuppa while I wait for the train, if I knew they were open!