La Pizza Fresca Ristorante

I have returned to this restaurant 8-10 times over the six years I have been in Manhattan. It is the perfect place for an excellent meal, good wine, and attentive service, in a comfortable environment without a lot of pretension. Feeling a little short of money but want to treat yourself? Get the superior pizza and a glass of house wine. Want to spend a few more dollars on a good friend from out of town? Don't hesitate to bring him/her here and order one of the excellent meals. The place is like a really fine sports jacket: you can dress it up for a party, or dress it down with jeans, and you still feel like you've got class. more

Chanced upon this gem in the flatiron district, and was pulled in by the list of awards posted in the window. I sat at the bar and had a glass of robust house red, $8, and then started with their sauteed spinach $9. It was simply plated with a generous and perfectly sauteed portion of spinach, toasted pine nuts, shaved garlic and parmesan, ringed with a tangy-sweet reduction of balsamic. Delicious! I followed with their tagliatelle and sausage in a rich cream sauce $19. The meaty saltiness of the sausage was balanced with the subtle sweetness of the cream sauce, and the pasta was al dente, of course (a peeve of mine)...unbelievable! I highly recommend this place! more

Some may have forgotten (or never known) that this is the grand-daddy of the Neapolitan pizza trend in NYC, which I think dates back to '96 or '97. I've been eating here for years since it is near my workplace and their pies are as good as ever and a must-try when comparing the new Neapolitan pizza joints. more

I’m so glad that the city still has places where you can enjoy gloriously good, authentic Neopolitan style pizzas without the hyper-inflated, celeb... more

La Pizza Fresca is one of my favorite restaurant in NYC. It's not like you try once never go. I order Pizza or their dishes depends on my mood and budget. I love their Mrgherita Pizza. The salad is always fresh and tomatoes are sweet. I tried their new course menu last time. Ravioli was great and Baby lam was amazing.It was perfectly medium well. it's so tender and juicy. I am very sensitive with lam's odder. I don't even smell anything. It was so fresh. I recommend to try. There are so many restaurants change to wrong direction. But, they are always satisfied me from starter to dessert. The wine selections are excellent. The staff kindly recommend right wine for the food. Pros: wine list, fresh food more

La Pizza Fresca has got a neighborhood feel though it?s deserving of being a destination restaurant. I?ve got to say it reminds me of a soignee woman. Going there is like visiting an old lover. So comfortable. Everything is just as it should be. No spots on the stemware, no stains on the tablecloths; no lost reservations, no actorwaiters, no bad wines; no silly entrees, no sillier prices. I admit -- I am having a love affair with this place and with several LPF dishes. The spinach, pine nut and raisin appetizer is my foreplay. The Quatro P Pasta, is well, what can I say ? there is safety in numbers with those four cheeses ? and is it ever worth the calories. My favorite finish is the lemon sorbet because it?s better than any I?ve ever had (and most are quite good) and it?s served in a frozen lemon and somehow this authenticity is very becoming. I?d be remiss not to mention the pizza. If ?ubiquitous? had to start somewhere this is the womb -- the mother of all pizzas. No pineapple and cheese insult here, this is the real deal. Maybe this is a destination restaurant after all ? you get the goods here, plain and straightforward, without the S_x and The City teasing. Pros: Welcoming staff, comfy ambience, delicious food, great wine list, love those sorbet in the fruit desserts Cons: Hmmm..... can't think of any more

I recently went to La Pizza Fresca after a coworker's recommendation. The pizza is a must-have. But what was more amazing was the restaurant's wine list, which is maybe 1000 long. Our waitress walked us through several options to pick the one to match our meal. What made the evening even more pleasant was sitting near the front of the restaurant with the fully-open facade and we enjoyed the summer breeze but still had the privacy of the restaurant. Thanks for a great experience, I will definitely be back. Pros: pizza, wine list, friendly staff, great value Cons: - more

My boyfriend and I went this past Saturday before a movie. When we got there, there were only 2 other tables so it was not busy. The waitress took our order. We got our appetizers shortly after. It was excellent. The food runner then brought my pasta dish (rigatoni with eggplant and mozzarella) which was excellent. My boyfriend ordered the rustic pizza. His came out 20 minutes after mine was served to me!!!!!! I was done with my food when he got his! The waitress NEVER came to ask how everything was after she took our order. The busboy was more attentive! Yes, the food was good but the service was absolutely horrible! It was not even busy and i saw the waitress on her cell phone by the bar a few times! Needless to say, she did not get a tip from us and we did tip the busboy! Pros: Food is good Cons: Service is horrible more

This place is wonderful. Excellent servers who are really Italian... and the homemade pasta is worth every penny!!! I haven't had ravioli that good since I was in Italy. more

The pizza is excellent,the pastas were very good.It seems the simpler pasta wasn't as good as the more complex ones.I had the penne with cream and tomato sauce which was excellent,and I tried the rigatoni with beef and veal meatballs-wasn't that good.The wine list had some decent priced bottles,but overall the place is pretty expensive.Service on saturday night at 9pm was,as expected-harried and sporadic with us having to flag down a waiter several times. more

What a surprise to find this place, after being referred by a friend for the Neapolitan style pizza. I did not hear of Pizza Fresca before and never saw it in the ratings where they list the city's best pizza, etc. It is a hidden jewel. I have been to all of the usual suspects (Grimaldi's, Lombardi's, John's) and none compare, not even the alleged Naples style places (Una, Lutzio). I have been there twice already and love the pizza margherita (it has buffalo mozzarella which you can really taste compared to regular mozzarella) and the perfect crispy/chewy crust. I think the crust is so good because of their wood burning oven instead of the usual fake brick oven that uses gas. They said they have been in business for 11 years. I can't believe the food/pizza critics don't talk about La Pizza Fresca. Pros: great brick oven pizza Cons: wait for tables on weekend nights more

Six of us came in for dinner tonight early, to make it to a 7:15 movie; we'd made a reservation and told the restaurant when we needed to leave. Appetizers arrived promptly, but then, after about ten minutes, the two non-pizza entrees arrived. The pizzas were delivered at least 10 minutes later, possibly more--all I know is that my son had finished his entire pasta before the pizzas came. I ordered the day's special pizza, so you'd think it would be as described on the menu--with pancetta, cheese and grilled vegetables. After all that wait, I had to send the pizza back to have the grilled veggies added. My pizza was good, although none too hot; on the others I tried, the tomato sauce was watery and undercooked, and the crust was soggy and tasteless. No one apologized once for the wait--in fact, when we asked, the waiter said, "Sometimes the pizzas take a little longer." I'd never go back to this place. more

I have been going to La Pizza Fresca since I went there years ago. I simply love this place. The quality of food, wine and service is beyond what you can expect and has been consistent all these years as long as I remember. This is definitely a place where you can have a casual or elegant meal with your family or date. All my friends (some are italians) I brought to La Pizza Fresca were absolutely impressed with the food and were surprised at how wonderful the place was. Last Tueday, I had a dinner with my seven friends. All of us left the restaurant with happy smiles; delicious pizze with fresh ingredients, attentive services with good wine in a proper glass we all enjoyed. If you want to try authentic italian thin crust pizza, you must go to La Pizza Fresca. more

This is my favorite Italian restaurant/pizzeria in NYC and I love the new pizza!! The dough has that savory taste that melts in your mouth !! I suggest to try Monte Bianco, to be pared with one of the nice Barbera they have !! Yes, trust any of their friendly waiters, they know how to help , it can be difficult with such a wide and "decadent" choice of superb wines. Of course do not forget to try the three "portate" menu, you can create your own " testing menu" at a reasonable price, a delight !! It's like being back home in Italy :more courses, smaller portions ! The food is fresh,flavorful, rich and also light , w unusual yet classic Italian combination.You got to love this place if you are italian !! :) Claudia Pros: Wine list, Food Pizza , stuff and warm ambience Cons: none more

The polenta appetizer was pretty good. The spinach and garlic appetizer was also pretty good. The pizza was doughy. A waitress with a Polish accent coolly misguided us through the wine list. She was good. She repeated the wine we ordered three times to make sure we agreed. We later realized that that last syllable of her pronouncements, the one that was hard to understand, was for a wine with a similar name but almost twice the cost. When we received the check I looked at my friend. She looked at me. We said almost at the same time.. "She knew. We've been played". The wine game. This place isn't worth the effort. Don't bother. Pros: appetizers pretty good Cons: everthing else more

We went to La Pizza Fresca last night to celebrate our friend's engagement. We have all been there numerous times and loved it, last night though would be our last visit. There was a group of 12 of us, we ordered lots of food and wine, enjoying ourselves BUT our waiter was horrible. He broke (yes broke) an entire bottle of red wine over our friend's purse. Service seemed a bit disorganized, the servers and busboys were great and basically took on the role of our waiter who was not attentive. The biggest thing that will hve none of us returning was our bill. Our first bill had an EXTRA 3 bottles of wine on it! We had a total of 6 bottles of wine and they were charging us for 9. Now, I have been to many restraunts with big groups and that has NEVER happened. I believe they thought here is a big group and thought we could be scammed? I mean 1 bottle mistake is understandable but 3???? That is totally unacceptable. When we informed our waiter, he corrected the bill and stated "I am only human, I make mistakes".....to us it was more like, "I thought I could rip off your table and I got caught". There appeared to be no manager because no one came over to our table to apologize for our bad waiter and his big mistakes. Restaraunts come and go in NYC and I think La Pizza Fresca will be on its way out.............remember food is important but your waiters represent your place! more

Must gets: Pizza Margherita and Rigatoni Siciliana. The pizza is thin, made from brick oven in the back, and has fresh buffalo mozzarella, cooked to perfection. Makes for a good app. I have not met anyone that did not like the rigatoni siciliana, which has great tasting marinara sauce and melted mozzarella and eggplant. Also, wines by the glass are typically pretty good (and good value). They also make a good caprese salad (mozz / tom / basil). Usually easy to get seating, especially during the week, great food and good value make for a regular destination to this local italian restaurant (been going there once a week for years). My only con is that during the summer it is sometimes hot inside (a/c does not work that great, which is suprising b/c its a nice restaurant). It's a great place to go on a casual date, with friends, or family. Pros: Excellent food, great value. Cons: sometimes gets hot inside during summer more

My wife and I went to this place last night for dinner and we felt sick afterward. The waiters were friendly, although not too attentive. My dish tasted great, but after the meal and for the rest of the night I felt ill. My wife's dish on the otherhand was inedible. It was as if the kitchen dumped tablespoons of salt in it. Then they tried to overcharge us on the bill too. The ambience was very nice though. Might just have been one of those rare bad experiences, but I have never tasted a more vile dish than the one served to my wife. It was a pretty basic dish too, just rigatoni, marinara, basil, and some mozarella. Not worth the time or the money. I would not recommend it. Pros: Food, Service Cons: wine list more

When I saw that their website had a link to da Ciro in Napoli, I knew there was going to be good pizza! Their Margarita is best I've had since I've returned from Naples! The tomatoes, the crust, the mozzarella--everything is perfect! Brava La Pizza Fresca! Pros: La Pizza! Cons: small restaurant more

I came here with a friend and we both had really delicious pastas... mine was pesto linguini with shrimp and hers linguini with a pomodoro sauce and lobster... both were really great, but came out a little warm (not hot). However, looking at the table next to ours, we both sort of wished we had ordered pizza, which looked PERRRRRRRRRFECT. Still, nice service and the desserts were great... Lovely tiramisu and a DELICIOUS molten chocolate cake that was incredibly rich and wonderful. Nice restaurant overall, with classic upscale Italian decor. Pros: Pizza looks amazing, great desserts, good pastas Cons: food came a little cold, but did still taste great more