Umberto's Pizzeria — Restaurant in Town of Huntington

Ask anyone in New York, particularly the Metropolitan area, and they will tell you what we are famous for. Notoriously overpriced housing, poorly maintained public transportation and roadways, and pizza. Especially the pizza. New Yorkers pride themselves on their pizza - almost as much as Long Islanders pride themselves on their bagels. New York City should be renamed from the 'Big Apple' to the 'Big Slice'. Pizza runs in our blood as red as the marinara sauce that tops each and every crispy, chewy, cheese covered pie pulled from a hot oven. Which is why I was so badly disappointed by the quality of the slices I just ate at Umberto's. And for the price I paid, I have to say, the quality did not reflect the product. I've eaten at Umberto's before - once heralded as one of the best Pizzeria's on Long Island, they have been celebrated with slinging out dynamite pie for nearly seventy years. The Huntington branch has been in this same location for nearly a quarter of a century - I even remember when they opened. But hiw times have changed, and not for the better. My recent experience to this once 'icon of Long Island Eateries' was a far cry from its glory days. The ambiance hasn't changed once in twenty-plus years; the walls are still red, with black trim. Black, white, and grey photographs of the Amalfi coast, Venetian waterways, Tuscan fields, and the occasional random 'Nonna' twirling pasta in a bowl hang from dusty portrait frames around the dining room. The tables are old; worn in. Random condiments shakers litter the tabletops in no particular reason or order. The counter hosts the point-of-sale system along with a glass sneeze guard which stands watch over several tray pans filled with slices of Grandpa style pizza. The variety isn't extensive; a few meat and cheese slices, specialty pies, some pinwheels and sausage rolls, and then a one, plain cheese pizza. It looks like everything was made hours ago - so I'm guessing it's been a slow day. I ordered two specialty slices and a plain cheese slice - plus a bottle of Coca-Cola, because nothing goes better with pizza than either a beer or a Coke. The service was fine - not meriting anything more or less than a simple exchange of money for goods/services. I can't complain, nor comment, on the quality of said servers performance. Total comes to just shy of twenty dollars. I have a miniature heart attack - twenty dollars, I said aloud in disgust. That seems awfully high. But I pay it anyway and step aside to wait for the slices to warm up. They are pulled out and slipped into the takeaway box and out the door I go. It's not more than a five minute drive from Umberto's to my job site, and I park, unload the car, settle in and finally break out my lunch. Maybe a total of ten minutes have elapsed. The pizza is still warm, but not hot - I'll admit, it's been ten minutes since it was pulled from that screaming hot oven. But the pizza was saggy, flaccid, lifeless and soppy. The taste was just north of Elio's frozen pizza squares, but the mouthfeel was bready, doughy and sponge-like. It was not good. Umberto's, what happened? You used to produce some of the best pizza in the area, and I used to frequent your store here in Huntington regularly. Now I see why I've stopped going - this is not my first poor experience with this branch. To be honest, it might be a while before I return to Umberto's, perhaps when they come under new management? Truth be told, with all the other great Pizzeria's in the immediate area, I think it makes more sense to just go to one of them than 'hope' that the food will have improved by that...

This restaurant is affiliated (same owner) with Mama Sbarro's in Deer Park (where we eat -- no exaggeration -- 5-6 times per week).

We decided to stop in because one of our favorite waitresses (Maria) is now working at this location.

It's a little smaller than Mama's in Deer Park but decorated very nicely. It was a warm/cozy feeling about it.

Pleasant atmosphere. Nicely decorated. Very clean.

Now ... the Manager on Duty (Patrick) is a friend of mine so he made me a special dish. Although it doesn't have an actual name I can tell you that it consisted of gemelli pasta, vegetables (carrots, red and green peppers, spinach), and grilled chicken in a light sauce (sort of a garlic and oil with a touch of tomato and a touch of pesto).

It was not good ... it was GREAT!! Seriously. One of the best pasta dishes I've ever had.

Of course the service was excellent!! Maria is exceptionally friendly and attentive.

We didn't have room for dessert -- but I'm sure a cappuccino and a freshly-filled canola would have hit the spot!

If you're in the area (Huntington, Huntington Station, Melville, Syosset, Woodbury) and you want some really good pizza or pasta, be sure to visit Umberto's!!

If Patrick is there, ask him to...

Definitely a bad experience. The waitress was overwhelmed, despite the fact that she told another table that she sent home the other server because she could handle the whole restaurant herself... Except she couldn't. She forgot to bring multiple items including waters for quite some time. Disappeared behind her station to have a chat with every other employee possible. The kitchen ran out of bread while we were there and didn't have any fresh cheese. The pasta dishes we ordered were two drastically different sauces on the menu yet looked and tasted exactly the same upon arrival. There was spaghetti mixed into my penne leading me to question the cleanliness of the kitchen and I wish that I had noticed it earlier. One dish was so oily it was inedible. The caprese starter was served with a balsamic emulsion instead of plain balsamic and had roasted red peppers all over it instead of the correct number of tomatoes to go with the slices of mozzarella. It was almost as though they were out of those too. One family sitting behind us had half their meal entirely forgotten for over 45 minutes. Will not go back. What a...