Piazza Caffè — Restaurant in Santa Fe

UPDATE after owner's surprisingly rude response. No this is not misinformation that I posted, it's 100% accurate. The price for the breaded cutlet with 2 sides, exact same lunch, exact same portion is double the price on Saturday and Sunday. You gave me a weekday and a weekend menu, it's right there. I wasn't going to bring up the other part about the pizza, but since you've brought it up, I guess I will have to clarify that too for people reading this. YES, I did receive a gift card. However, it was for the takeout pizza that I ordered for dinner. The pizza was ordered as takeout, along with other takeout items. The waiter brought out our meals plus the pizza and I nicely said, the pizza is for takeout. In fairness to the waiter, he did ask me, would it be okay if I put it under the warmer? And I said, sure, I didn't want them to have to make a brand new pizza, I don't like wasting food. But I didn't realize that the warmer would be cooking it to the point where it was inedible. The cheese was so hard and the crust, well literally, I could not chew it. I ate part of the topping and had to throw the rest away. So please, if you're going to respond, please state the facts correctly. The $25 gift card, which, by the way, I think was $22, was not to compensate for the misunderstanding on the price differentiation on the online menu vs the price I was charged, it was for the pizza that was thrown in the garbage. I'm actually very shocked at the response, your information was in fact inaccurate, so I then had to bring up the pizza, which I originally did not want to mention ( I thought that was nice of me). My main reason for my review, was so my fellow Santa Feans realize the big price jumps if you choose to dine in or takeout on the weekends. I didn't feel like I was treated well, and now with this extremely rude reply, all I can say is WOW! I was in customer service/management, my entire career, spanning 43 years, and a response like this is NOT how you should be treating your customers. Because I was in customer service and came to realize firsthand, that people will complain but they never compliment, so I ALWAYS give compliments, for everything, when deserving. For every 50 compliments I give to establishments, I may have 1 complaint, sorry it had to be you.

Beware of inconsistent menus posted online as far as prices are concerned and note that we paid DOUBLE THE PRICE Saturday for the exact same lunch compared to Friday! My husband selected a meal online through the "Open Table" app. He chose the Milanese, which is a breaded pork cutlet. I was meeting a friend for lunch, and we ate in, and I got takeout for my husband. He saw the price was $21.00 for the cutlet, AND this included two sides (at 8.00 each), seemed like a pretty reasonable deal. I was charged $25.00 just for the cutlet and $8.00 for each side, total $41.00! After realizing this, I went back a few days later with my receipt and spoke with the manager, and he said, oh, that's the reason, you were here on a Saturday, we have a different menu on the weekend. Okay, I get that places will have different items on different days, but the exact same lunch at double the price! $41.00 vs $21.00 because it's Saturday? That's ridiculous, and frankly, just wrong! They didn't apologize nor were they sympathetic or sincere about the misunderstanding. When I told them that the menu we looked at online didn't differentiate between days, he said, well, I don't know anything about that. Well, they should know what's going on with the online menus if people are using them to order. I wasn't expecting a free meal but it would have been nice if I would have been offered at least a refund on the difference. I don't think I'll be going back. The food was ok, Rustica was better in my opinion. And if you decide to give them a try, do yourself a favor and save a lot of money, don't go on the weekend! We were regulars at Rustica, thought I'd give it a chance, but I was very...

Came here hoping that this restaurant would be a worthy successor to Rustica, which was about as good Italian food as you can ask for in the middle of New Mexico. Left fairly disappointed.

The service was extremely friendly, albeit a bit slow. I’m not penalizing them too much for the slowness; they opened a couple of weeks ago and are probably still getting their feet under them.

The food quality is a major concern though. Everything is overpriced for the portions and quality you get. The best food of the night was the skinny grissini sticks you’re served in a glass upon being seated. The porchetta was ok, if maybe a little overly simple (it’s just a cut of pork belly with a small bit of sauce on top of it, no real seasoning to be found). The pork itself was tender and juicy in some spots, but dry and somewhat tasteless in others. This was, nonetheless, the best entree.

The spaghetti carbonara was fairly mediocre and flavorless; if you’re a decently talented cook, you can probably make it better at home. But the lasagna was by far the biggest disappointment—it was tiny and lacking in flavor despite an upscale price. Honestly…you can get better lasagna at Olive Garden for $6 less. Nobody in my group finished their side salads either, they essentially constituted bowls of mushy vegetables that were overly salty.

In summary, I give Piazza Caffè two stars because the service was friendly and the grissini at least was tasty. However, the quality of food needs to improve drastically to even ensure basic viability, much less meet the standard of Rustica. Finding good Italian food in New Mexico can be a challenge, but at least for now, you can do much...

When I discovered that the owners of Plaza Café were opening a new Italian restaurant, I couldn’t wait to try it. My love for Plaza Café and Plaza Café Southside runs deep, and I was thrilled to see them embark on this new culinary adventure.

On Sunday, I decided to bring my mom in for lunch. We were warmly greeted by the staff and promptly seated at a lovely table. The new design of the space, which had been previously occupied by Rustica, has undergone a remarkable transformation. It’s sexy, thoughtful, and intentional.

The menu at Piazza Caffè is meticulously curated to showcase authentic Italian/Tuscan cuisine. I opted for the roasted pork belly lunch special, which came with two delectable sides. I chose the spinach and the caponata. The pork belly was generously seasoned and cooked to perfection, resulting in tender and juicy meat. The spinach was also cooked to perfection, and the caponata was a symphony of flavors and ingredients that truly evoke the essence of Italy.

My mom indulged in the spaghetti al pomodoro, which was cooked al dente and the sauce bursting with vibrant flavors.

To conclude our culinary journey, we savored a scoop of gelato and Giuliano’s Tiramisu. OMG, it was simply divine! Some might even say it was dangerously good. 😉

Overall, our experience at Piazza Caffè was nothing short of wonderful. I highly recommend it to anyone seeking authentic Italian cuisine.

The service was attentive and friendly, and the prices were very reasonable.

Leonardo and Giuliano, bravo!

Until my next...