Piazza Italia Inc, Durham, North Carolina Restaurant Details

Food:

It's pretty good considereing that we're not in Italy (I'm italian, born in Italy and I've been there for over 20 years). So far is the best Italian place I went to where the pasta is not glue-like and they don't put weird spices in the sauce. It's a little bit over my budget but at least they don't put water in the wine like in some places.
The customer service is excellent and the cooking stuff is willing to make exceptions on the menu especially after I asked for a plate of linguine with cozze.
It was a very pleasant experience.

Food:

On the plus side, the seating was comfortable, the volume level is fairly low given the high ceilings and the fact that even on a Saturday night, it was not crowded.

That said, the food was poor to mediocre. The bruschetta was soggy, and not just on top. It was as if it came out of a box of frozen bruschetta and got baked instead of toasted.

My fettuccini with napolitano sauce was an overcooked solid lump. No chance to twist a fork in this mess, it was fork and knife and eat your pasta cubes. My daughter's spaghetti with pesto alfredo sauce was not quite as solid.

My son had spaghetti with meat sauce, and it was cooked correctly. Sadly, the over arching flavor was pepper. You may like it, but none of us thought it was very good. My wife had the special, and it was edible, although she only ate 1/3 of it and didn't want to take it home.

They make their own gelato, and it is passable, but if you want better, you can just walk to the other side of brightleaf and go to Amelia's cafe. So I tried the Tiramisu, and I am almost positive it came out of a box they bought in the freezer section. glorified whipped cream, and the final disappointment.

We had seven in our party, and even though there were checks for 3 and then 4 people, they added in base tip of 20%. So a pretty generous baseline tip. Our server was extremely nice, and we would have tipped her 20% anyway, but it would have been nice if that were a choice, not their decision.

This was our second visit to Piazza Italia, and it was chosen because it was the only place that could take a reservation for 7 two hours before a Saturday evening meal. It had been almost 2 years since our last visit, and I was hoping it had improved. It hasn't, and I don't think we'll return unless something significant changes. There are many alternatives in the area with better food at better prices. Even the local pizza places offer better food, although Piazza Italia does have a very nice ambiance. They just don't have good food.

Food:

Delicious gourmet food in an intimate, classy atmosphere. Great service and amazing selection of wine.
Frutti di Mare is my favorite dish!

Food:

We've been to this restaurant twice, and in both cases, I felt it was over-priced for the quality and service. The food just isn't that good, and the service is lax. We won't be going back.

Food:

It was our second visit to the restaurant. The first viisit was OK, nothing to write home about though. Last night was pretty sad. The lasagna must have been a Costco recycle and barely warm at that so the cheese was congealed, the filling yuk. The plate was tarted up with the dipping sauce pooled on either side, not relevant to the dish. The other diner's dish was not hot either. Caesar salads were pallid. As far as the service, is was civil, not very warm-like the food.