Colangelo's Pizza — Restaurant in Pittsburgh

Off to a smaller street in the Strip, you'll find the amazing Colangelo's Bakery and La Prima Espresso side by side. If you think you have a hard time finding it, look for the tables of elderly distinguished Italian men just shouting passionately. Trust... it cant be missed.

I happen to stumble into Colangelo's because I was in dire need for a caffeine fix. Imagine my pleasant surprise to find a great bakery attached to La Prima ... there's a gate that opens between their shared wall where you can go from one place to the next. A caffeine fix AND tasty sugar high... what can possibly be better.

Great thing about this place, it is open very early (7 am). So for me, I was always tempted to come here each morning to start my day. They have lots of variety here at the break of dawn. They didnt have all the savouries available but they had rows and rows of their famed mele. They also have cannoli, croissants, danish, cinnamon twists, cinnamon rolls, sfogitalle ... etc. A lot of sweet pastries at 7 am! For me, I asked them what they're best known for... Mele all the way. On their savoury menu, you have lots of options and it seem to have their pan pizza is the top in addition to their panini and pasta. I remember coming here shortly after a brunch and saw them just getting ready with many pans being placed into their display area. So lots of options for those who are looking for a heartier Italian meal.

Before rating the actual food, quick note on the service... it's pleasant and welcoming. They're constantly having fun conversation and quips with some of the older patrons who must have been coming for years. It definitely feels like a 2nd home or at least a showcase depending on the day. It think one day we came here a middle aged looking Jersey Shore extra came up with his Maserati and all the Italian eldery men couldnt stop looking or crowding it. Just another fun moment of the Colangelo's and La Prima Strip.

All Mele ... think of it as a smushed but still layered croissant filled with jammy fruits and doused with a helping of sugar. Tip to anyone choosing, get the ones that have the fruit spilling out and creating a caramelized crust on the pastry... the best!

Cherry Mele - They tend to sell out of this one first as they make less of them. This was the best mele out of all of them. It had lots of big pieces of cherries and was balanced between being sweet and tart. The pastry was wonderfully layered and flakey while still giving that nice crunch from the sugaring on the outside. I would have loved the fruit filling to be less jammy and more fruit but thats a small little note. 4.5/5

Raspberry Mele - This was the second favourite of the ones we tried. Definitely more tart than the cherry and a little more feeling artificially flavoured. The pastry was very good though and similar to the cherry mele. 4/5

Almond Mele - The filling was the least liked... it didnt taste like anything nut like unfortunately. It was just a very dense sweet paste that had an odd flavour. Not quite bitter nor quite sugary. Just an odd flavour combination. Pastry was good but the filling did take away from it. 3/5

Cannoli - I have a soft spot for Cannoli ever since I ate my first great one in the NYC suburbs. I usually shy away from them when I see them prefilled as they pastry would be a sad floppy wet cardboard. I still ordered this one as I was curious. I was pleasantly surprised how this cannoli still had a nice crunch and shatter a bit to give way to the creamy ricotta filling. This one had chocolate chips and a vanilla flavour. The ricotta filling was sweet but not terribly sweet where it felt overkill. I tend to like more chocolate shavings with candied citrus because I find chocolate chips the regular waxy Chip-Its default most of the time. 4/5

Awesome little find that I wasn't expecting and would be definitely coming back if I find myself in...

It’s a FOODIE’S FIND OF AN AUTHENTIC ITALIAN BAKERY 😎😎😎, a rarity in Pittsburgh despite many that claim to be one.

This is mainly a takeaway counter with a small outside area, possible only on good weather.

The REAL TREASURES ARE THE BAKED SAVORIES AND DOLCES.

The Torta Rustica, both the vegetarian and meat🤩🤩🤩, is as Italian as it gets. They bring fond memories of Napoli and Southern Italy.

The Sfogliatella is on the spot of its Santa Rosa origin 🤩🤩🤩. The laminations are very well executed, and the creamy filling has very muted sweetness, the two measures of mastery of a culinary craft of this very iconic Italian dolce. —- simply WOW.

Their Cannoli, chocolate and orange pistachio, are classic Sicilian 🤩🤩🤩. Crispy tubes, crunchy choc chips and pistachio all married together with the silken creamy filling of very muted sweetness👏👏👏👏 …. Very much the opposite of the common overly sweet horrible americanized imitation.

Service is...

Incredible doesn’t even begin to cover our experience here. I haven’t stopped thinking about it since! We stopped in one afternoon for a quick bite to eat before we hit the road back home to WV & I have been trying to come up with an excuse to come back ever since. I got an Alfredo to go and the bread it came with was to die for; truly the best I’ve ever eaten. My husband got a slice of pizza and had it gone before I got back in line to order an entire box of pastries to take home too-because they were begging me to buy them while waiting for our food to be finished! The cannolis, unreal. The twisted cinnamon pastry I forget the name of, obsessed. I can’t wait to come back and try as many things as we can! By the way my pasta was cooked to perfection-tossed in the silkiest, creamiest, yummiest sauce ever. The owner was so sweet and appreciative. Everything about it was 10/10; I’m telling you check this place out asap and...