Pizzaiolo Primo South Fayette — Restaurant in South Fayette Township

It only opened two or three weeks ago, but since it’s another outpost from an existing place, they should not have opening problems, and on our recent visit, we did not experience any. It’s nice to see this area getting more restaurants that will draw more people and this one will likely draw a continuous crowd both because it serves well-known and crowd-pleasing American-Italian fare, and because the food is good. That is not to say that there are not problems though, but I will address those later.

Four of us made reservations and came out for dinner. We tried an appetizer, pizza, main dishes, wine, and dessert to give us the whole gamut of the experience. For the appetizer, we went for the Arancini which we all liked, but would have definitely liked to see the rice mixture include peas. The pizza is supposed to be a specialty of the house and they feature a wood-fired over with a pizza station right in the corner of the dining room. Again, we liked the Margharita pizza we got, but we all thought the crust was way too salty.

For the main dishes, we tried the Chicken Parmesan based on the waitress’s recommendation and it was very good. We also went for the Branzino which was very well done. Interestingly, it was described as coming with “seasonal vegetables” and it came with Asparagus on the side – which is hardly in season in late October. Finally, we tried the Chicken Vesuvio. This was not too successful as the chicken was overcooked. For desserts we had the bread pudding (delicious!) and Cannoli – which was just OK. Portions sizes were adequate with the exception of the Chicken Parmesan and the bread pudding.

As you can see from above the food ranged from OK to really good. There were some problems though. The biggest one is built in to the location. They chose not to put any sound dampening material in the industrial ceiling which meant that all sounds reverberated throughout the room. We could barely hear each other and the waitstaff had to scream at us to be heard. This is really not acceptable.

Second problem was with the wine service. We picked a bottle of wine from their wine list. When it arrived, it was not what we asked for, so we sent it back. The second time it came, it was also not what was on the menu, so we sent it back again. This time, we asked for a different wine. It came – wrong again! The manager came over and apologized for the mistake in printing the menu. Huh? Ok, mistakes happen. We accepted the wine and moved on. However, that is not really good.

Third problem is that we ended up spending around $80 per person for this meal. While it did include wine and three courses, that is on the upper end for a place with as many problems and for food that was just a little above the good rating. For that price, I would want to have been wowed by the experience...

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5 – Decent First Visit, Great Server Personality, But Some Disappointments

My boss took our office out to lunch here yesterday to celebrate my one-month work anniversary (I didn’t choose the place), and this was my first time dining here.

We arrived right at 11:00 AM when they opened. The restaurant was very clean, and we were greeted right away by the hostess, which was a good first impression.

Our server—an Italian man, probably in his early 40s, with shoulder-length fluffy black hair—had a great personality. He was funny, helpful, and clearly knew the menu well. I appreciated that he helped us pronounce menu items and even asked our preference for water temperature and lemon, which is a nice touch.

I ordered the shrimp Alfredo. I was a little disappointed to see the shrimp still had the shell on, which made it messier than expected. For a dish priced between $16–$18, I also thought four shrimp was a bit skimpy. The portion size overall was fine, but it seemed like too much oil was used, which upset my stomach later.

What really dropped the experience down a bit for me was that our server didn’t check on us while we were eating—I really could’ve used some pepper, but there was none on the table or nearby. I ended up just eating the dish as-is. It also took a long time to see our server again after we finished. When he finally came back, he was moving so fast it was like watching the Road Runner—entertaining, but a bit chaotic.

He collected the checks and took our credit cards, but it took him about 20 minutes to come back, which made me a little uneasy. I don’t think anything shady happened—it just felt like too long to be gone with someone’s card.

Overall, it was an okay experience. The vibe was pleasant, and our server was fun and knowledgeable, but the food and the long wait times would make me hesitant to return unless our boss brings us again. Maybe I’ll try something...

My husband & I are big foodies as well as both work in the service industry.

Let me begin by saying their food is delicious. The cooks do an amazing job as everything always tastes fresh & yummy every time we've dined. (Multiple Occasions)

However, the service last time we stopped was severely poor & unwelcoming (specifically the bartender & manager). I called the establishment at 7:40 to make sure their kitchen didn’t close. (As they close at 9pm, but I wanted to make sure they didn’t close the kitchen an hour before or whatnot). My husband & I were on our way to the restaurant at 7:40pm. We are just about there & I noticed TWO missed calls on my phone (11 & 14 minutes later). I call back & the manager states that they want to close early and asks if we are still coming in. I said - Yes we are just about here.

We walk in and sat at the bar. The manager was at the hostess stand and didn’t greet us with any welcoming comments, only looks. He then walks behind the bar & says “We’re you the couple that called?” We graciously say yes we know what we want, we won’t be long. (We only ordered a small spicy pizza.) We were blatantly being ignored by the bartender on duty. We attempted to spark a conversation with her - How’s your day going? She replied -“ It was slow, but not slow enough to close early” and walked away.

Our spicy pizza came out and we finished it within 10 minutes. We were served no waters and my mouth was absolutely on fire. When we got our bill I asked for a water and the manager didn’t seem too thrilled that I asked for a water.

We were in and out in 20 minutes. (Keep in mind there was about 6 other tables still in the dining room / patio.)

Not welcoming hospitality & poor attitude...