Best Pizzerias in Little Italy / University Village

If you are a lover of true Roman cuisine, you'll feel right at home at il Carciofo. It (selfishly) pains me to write this as it is already a long line to get a reservation, but as a couple who truly loves spending time in Italy and have yet to find an American restaurant that holds its salt, Chef Joe Flamm and his team hit this one out of the park. Watching him work the kitchen was like watching a conductor at the Orchestra. The carbonara, carciofi and pistachio gelato transported us right back to our favorite spots in Rome. We originally booked back to back nights in case we had a last minute scheduling conflict, fortunately we did not. We enjoyed last night and we'll be back again tonight to take on the other half of the menu. Hats off, Chef!

Love the holiday lights and decor!! 🎄🤩Great food, service and value for our family dinner before ZooLights.

Had a great experience backed by solid service (a server we had before, I believe her name was Visjna? She was fantastic) and hospitable management team who went out of their way to customized a menu header for my guests birthday. Consistent dishes as always. The special however (short rib mushroom sugo) I would recommend adding more salt. Being a fat-rich dish, the meat and sauce screamed for salt. The only callout I would point to is the underhanded 3.5% service charge on the check which instead of adding that towards the end, the restaurant should really just work this into their menu pricing.

Great food (The Lia pizza and Caesar salad), great value, great vibe, great service. The gluten-free pizza was amazing. Fresh and tangy and remained hot throughout the meal. The Caesar salad is off-the-chart good. Again, fresh & crisp Romain lettuce, tangy dressing, excellent croutons and amazing white anchovy. I'll be back. Do yourself a favor and check out Robert's Pizza and Dough.

Always love coming here since I was a kid. The food is excellent and authentic.