Nizza — Restaurant in New York

Restaurant? Pretty. Food? Delicious. Service? Terrible. That just about sums up our experience at Nizza. We went in with a reservation for 3 and were quickly seated outside for lunch. The restaurant is clean and very good looking and did accommodate our dog with water. The menu is decently diverse for an Italian restaurant and we ended up ordering the grilled asparagus, margherita pizza, and the spaghetti pomodoro. The food came out quickly and looked delicious. The portion sizes were okay for the price, although the grilled asparagus was a very small plate. As for the flavor, the grilled asparagus was delicious. The asparagus was cooked perfectly and the basil pesto sauce paired well with the whipped ricotta. It surprised us with how good it was honestly, just wish it was a larger portion. The margherita pizza was good as well, with a good portion and well balanced flavors with a nice crust and sauce. Lastly, the spaghetti pomodoro was a hit. The noodles were soft and the sweet tomato sauce brought the whole thing together.

Now you might be wondering how this review ends in a 3 star rating and here’s how it happened… When we went to pay they brought out a paper bill, so we naturally assumed that we would be handing our card over to the waitress who would then run it in the back. Wrong. She came back up to us with a mobile card reader, which isn’t a problem in itself except for the fact that she stared at us as we paid which was very uncomfortable. After that we had to go through the biggest issue with mobile readers: tipping. It feels like common courtesy to turn away while people tip or some leave the reader as patrons do, but again she stayed there just looking at us with a very expectational body language. It was very clear her body language was that of someone who was expecting a big tip to come and to be very honest, that is the fastest way to not get a big tip. This all culminated when after we tipped a VERY STANDARD amount, she removed our card from the reader and TOSSED it onto the table. Incredibly rude, disrespectful, and all but confirmed that she was trying to eyeball us into getting a good tip. We always tip for good waiters and good service but this was just so downright disrespectful. Look, the food at Nizza is amazing, we cannot deny that, but that final interaction soured our taste enough to...

Went here with my best friend on a Sunday night. We were in the mood for some Italian cuisine and this restaurant did not disappoint. We walked in and the hostess greeted us with a smile, wrote my name and number down. The wait was around 10 minutes. Our waitress, Ana, introduced herself and greeted us with a smile. We normally have regular aperol spritz but decided to try the frozen aperol spritz. They were so good we had another round. If you like ricotta cheese, this Italian spot is right up your alley. Ana recommended the eggplant rollatini and the eggplant was grilled perfectly and the combination with the ricotta, tomatoes and parmesan cheese was excellent. We shared a caesar salad. The anchovy vinaigrette with the pecorino and black pepper was light and refreshing. My friend had the Sunday pasta which is the pasta pomodoro that includes spaghetti, Sunday sauce, 2 meatballs, sweet Italian sausage, ricotta. The meatballs were crunchy, soft, sweet and salty at the same time which complemented the pasta which was cooked perfectly al dente. I had the chicken Milanese and the chicken was tender and juicy and the breading was not too little or too much. For dessert, Ana recommended the ricotta cheesecake that has a lemon custard and a gluten free biscotti crust so we each ordered one. The cheesecake by itself was delicious and the inclusion of ricotta in the filling was amazing. One suggestion we both agreed on which we told Ana was they should include a raspberry drizzle and fresh raspberries instead of strawberries with the cheesecake. Overall, our meal was near perfect and with the ambience and excellent service we received boosted my rating up to a 5. The table next to us had 2 personal pizzas which looked amazing. We are looking forward to coming back and we will be sure to...

On our last day visiting NYC, we stopped in for lunch. It was still pretty empty (11:30am or so), we were greeted and were promptly seated. We placed our food orders and my bf got the bottomless sangria and I had a ginger beer to start. As we waited, noshing on the complimentary bread & olive oil, the place filled up really fast. There was a large group right behind us.

I had ordered the panini and the bf, the cacio e pepe. We waited. The server was very nice, but it plain to see that she was very overwhelmed.

After about 20 minutes, she came over to say that the panini was taking a while. I'm like...okay.....it's a panini. But, sure- there were a lot of people, the kitchen was backed up. Also, the bottomless sangria stopped being bottomless after 1 glass....but eventually someone noticed and refilled.

It wasn't until a family of 4 got their food (they arrived 15 minutes after we had been seated) that I got the manager's attention to inquire about our food. He said that the cooks were all working hard. I said I totally get it & understand, but we were there before everyone else and others were eating. He then said something snarky like "I'll personally stand behind them as they cook" or something like that (whatever dude).

A moment or two after that, our food came. Now, I gave 4 stars because although the service was way meh, the food was delicious!! Very flavorful and just good. I was told the soup was a vegetable soup....seemed more like butternut squash, but also very tasty.

The bf enjoyed his pasta...I think there might be better cacio e pepe out there, but he was happy. I wouldn't necessarily return to NY and make this a "must dine at", but if you see this restaurant and aren't starving from the start- do dine here. The food...