Forno Napoli Pizza & Italian Restaurant — Restaurant in Town of Amherst

I can't even begin to describe how amazing our first visit was. I'd been seeing ads for a month or so. Went in to my hair stylist last night and noticed that they had ordered some pizza (which, they told me was devoured almost instantly) from this place. I saw the menu at someone's station and took it as a sign. I decided to pop in for dinner this evening with my husband not knowing anything about the place other than they offered authentic Neapolitan pizza. Let me tell you...that's just the beginning. Before we even made it in the front door, a smiling gentleman was waving to us through the window. It turned out he was on of the owners, Felix. He walked us through his offerings (so much more than just pizza) including Mexican Coke (my favorite) and unique Italian beverages. I ordered a Margherita pizza and my husband ordered a Pomodorini. Felix asked, "Do you like onions?" We replies that we did. He suggested trying a different pizza...the Bianca Napoli since we were already getting a pizza with basil. It was still a white pizza but also had wild oregano (which he let us smell fresh from Italy) as well as cherry tomatoes. We sat down while they made the pizzas in their wood fired oven shipped from Italy. Speaking of Italy, all of their ingredients are shipped in from Italy; the flour, the cheese, the herbs...the dough is even mixed by a special mixer that mimics actual hand kneading. The pizzas were delivered to our table and Felix's son brought over some garlic oil to dip the crust in. There was a whole bar of toppings and whatnot with which to adorn your meal. We bit into our pizzas and melted into our seats. I'm not being hyperbolic...this is THE BEST pizza in Buffalo. The crust was perfection. The char left by the wood-fired oven was blackened, crispy and ridiculously flavorful. The sauce was incredible. The cheese creamy. We each finished half our pizzas and packed the other halves in a box to take home and enjoy tomorrow. We were given a couple containers of the garlic oil to take home as well. Felix came over and asked us what our thoughts were. We told him how impressed we were. He was so moved. He asked us if we'd like to be shown around. He took us around the counter and showed off his impressive equipment and all the ingredients. He took us into the kitchen and let us taste the tomato sauce for the pastas. It was his old family recipe. I can't even begin to describe how good it was. He offered us napoleons for dessert on the house following our experience. We declined because of how full we were, but said we would be back very soon and would certainly try one then...as well as the pastas (I can't wait to try the cacio e pepe) and the Italian gelato. By the end of our time there we felt like family. Felix hugged us warmly and thanked us profusely for stopping in. I can't wait to go back. If I didn't have leftovers, I'd probably have gone back tomorrow. Seriously...this place embodies the spirit of Buffalo; warm welcoming people and delicious food with soul. If you live in Western New York or you're visiting, you MUST stop here. It will be an experience you will never forget and a meal that will...

Really not understanding the hype here. My cousin chums and I stopped by for a late dinner this past Sunday on our way back from the 9th Circle of Hell aka Niagara Falls, Canada. I knew Buffalo had a pretty legit pizza scene (I love 'best of' lists, and the ones I've seen for pizza around the country routinely highlight a few establishments from Buffalo) so I was eager to take advantage of our location. The first few that spoke to me were unfortunately closed, but this one had insanely high ratings and wasn't closing for at least 45 minutes, so off we went.

I know NOTHING about Buffalo but this didn't seem like it was in the main area of the city - this was a newer, gentrified-looking strip mall/shopping complex that seemed to be catering to nearby college kids based on some of the other businesses nearby (which included an Insomnia Cookies and a ramen place - perfect 2am cuisine). Not a negative necessarily, but a college freshman isn't as likely to have my pizza or just general food palate. It was easy to find and we wandered in with plenty of time to spare (more than we thought, given that we saw people ordering food within literally a few minutes of the 8pm closing, so that closing time could be flexible at least for to-go orders?).

This was much more casual than I was expecting, which also lends itself to the college kid business model. We went up to the counter and were told that upon ordering someone would bring out our food, but it wasn't a formal wait staff situation at all. Case in point - when my food was ready, an employee opened the door to the outside area and hollered my name so she knew where to go. Later on when we needed a few to-go boxes, I just helped myself to a DIY pile toward the back of the restaurant. Again, this is definitely not a con but if you ARE looking for a more standard Italian pizza/restaurant setup, this might not be your jam.

I saw no reason to complicate shizzle and got a Margarita Pie. Honestly, just okay. A big reason for that was the sauce, which (and this is a personal palate preference) had a lot of tomato chunks/slices in it, which is not my favorite. The cheese was fine but they put a ton of garlic seasoning on it, almost like they didn't trust it to hold its own, and honestly gave it more of a Dominos Cheesy Bread vibe than a normal pie. The crust, surprisingly, was the highlight - had a nice char and give to it. It was also a pretty expensive pie, all things considered; I paid about $25 for this, which is more NYC than Buffalo. I did have a slice or two of my cousin chum's clam pie, which was a special on that particular night, and I thought that was significantly better than mine, probably because it didn't rely on the tomato sauce. Would definitely get that again.

Maybe the play is something from their pasta section, but I've had significantly better pizza. Given the pizza reputation in this city, I'd look around for another option if I were...

We arrived, foolishly, at the height of the lunch rush, but we were greeted and made comfortable immediately. The open kitchen promotes an aromatic atmosphere. Of course, for me it makes menu choices, torturous; my brain tends to flail. We, me and the Mom Unit, finally made our choices. As a starter, I chose the Pollo Stracciatella, a robust chicken soup with fresh spinach, paper thin slices of Parmesan cheese, and egg. In this version, a perfectly poached egg floating in the center, unlike a more traditional whisked egg. Open the yolk and swirl in a rich flavor experience. My mom decided upon the Panzella Salad. Absolutely fresh greens, veggies, and grape tomatoes with wood oven toasted bread broken into crunchy bite size pieces and dressed with red wine vinaigrette. Perfect. Our entree was a difficult choice, but our taste buds prevailed. One Verdura pizza! The pizza was, as the restaurant’s name implies, an actual Neapolitan Oven pie. Paper thin crust with dark spots of brick oven love; crispy perfection. This pie brings together sautéed broccoli rabe, tiny earthy mushrooms, properly prepared eggplant, and cherry tomatoes atop an olive oil, garlic, and pecorino Romano substrate. No heavy tomato sauce. No thick cheese goo. Just honest Neapolitan pizza like I’ve eaten a hundred times in Naples. Fold it, dip it in garlic and oil, eat it, yum. We did save room for an absolutely wicked Napoleon. Airy flakey pastry layers filled with pastry cream and strawberries topped with whipped cream and more strawberries; finished with a drizzle of chocolate and a fine dusting of extra fine sugar. Be prepared, as it is large and very rich. It’s worth every bite! A side note. I love that the house wine is served in appropriate glassware. None of that long stem hoopla. The only thing more family style might be...