Piatanzi

Eight of us ate at the Juan Tabo location. Overall, we had a great time, and the food was excellent. Nice ambience, too.
Minor negatives: The wait staff was not completely up to speed on the menu and had not much to offer in helping make a choice of menu items. Even though it wasn’t particularly loud inside, somehow it was difficult to hear other people at our table and even our server. It might have been our location because there is a wide expanse of sound-​absorbing ceiling tiles so there really wasn’t any echoing going on.
Positives: Bread with olive oil was offered – a good start. The sommelier, Scott, was particularly helpful to the point I even asked his opinion of a couple of dishes. I discovered that what I was looking at were «small plates,» which were not clearly stated as such on the menu. Make sure you know what you’re ordering. Scott recommended the Pescatore.
I’m glad I took his advice. Gnocchi, shrimp, mussels, clams, and a large scallop were accompanied by a spicy, rich tomato sauce. Yum! I had a Caesar salad beforehand, which was good, but nothing to write home about.
If Scott is around, ask for his advice on both wine and menu items.

So we decided to try this new restaurant the food was good but we had to wait nearly an hour to eat they said they were really busy. Our waitress was rude and obnoxious never refill drinks or asked if I wanted another beer brought the check and never asked if we would like coffee or dessert we told the manager and he said sorry we were really busy so I guess being busy is a reason for poor service will never go back

Went in for lunch today (Sunday) around noon with my wife and there were about 4 other tables at the time. Service was fast and friendly. Food came out in a timely fashion, about 10 minutes for the appetizer which was the cheese bread with sauce. It was down right deeelishhhous! About another 10 minutes and the meals came out. Fettuccine Alfredo for my wife which she stated was AMAZING! The sauce was very rich and creamy. I had the clam linguini which was robust and bursting with flavor. I do believe that this is the best that I have ever had the pleasure to eat. The only thing that I think would have made this any better would have been the option of a side salad (I did not see any on the menu, just large meal salads) to set off all of the carbs. By the time we were done eating around 1:00 pm the other tables had already cleared out. For a new restaurant and the second one here in Albuquerque I am sure they will work out all of the other complaints in the near future. This place is here to stay!

Tried this place for date night on a Monday night a couple weeks ago. I loved the atmosphere and the setup of the restaurant and that was where my love ended.
The server was an older man, impatient and fast talking. He sighed and rolled his eyes when we asked questions about portion sizes for sharing a couple plates and an appetizer. My boyfriend wanted to order crab cakes for an entrée but was told they only come as appetizer and the portion wasn’t large enough for a meal. My boyfriend ordered two and the server told him no! Who does that?
The food was tasty, but nothing I would rush back out to get. The service was very slow even though we were one of four tables.
The best part of the evening was the young lady who refilled the water. She was so sweet and friendly, I wish she had been our server. The hostess was also sweet and greeted us upon arrival and thanked us for coming in as we exited. Our server should’ve spent more time with those young ladies because they were far friendlier than he was.
Three stars because the atmosphere is nice and the food is pretty good. I probably won’t go back though. Other places in town have better service and better prices. Dinner for two (appetizer and two entrees, no wine nor dessert) was $ 70 and felt very overpriced.

My husband and I tried Piatanzi for dinner on a whim. We’re not in this area of town very often, and had never even heard of this place. In fact, we were actually thinking of going somewhere else for dinner, but we drove by this place and thought it looked interesting, so we went there instead.
The restaurant is beautifully decorated, and has a very classy, modern vibe to it. My only complaint with the layout is that the tables in the dining room are in very close proximity to each other, so much so that you are practically eating with the people at the next table. Also, we had to say «excuse me» and wait for several other diners to scoot their chairs in both while being seated and leaving, just to get by, and I felt an inconvenience to the other patrons. But there is a BEAUTIFUL view of the Sandias to enjoy as you eat.
My husband ordered a Ceasar salad to start and fetucinni Alfredo for dinner, and I ordered the Orechiette Salsiccia. The food took a little while to come out, but everything tasted fresh and homemade and my meal was fantastic. It is easily one of the best pasta dishes I’ve ever had. My husband really enjoyed his meal, too, and liked the Alfredo sauce. The portions were very generous as we are each getting two meals out of our dishes. A few tables down from us ordered pizzas and they looked amazing and big enough to share. The service was friendly, a little slow at times but not bad. Also, their patio looks very nice. It was particularly windy this evening so it was not patio weather, but I would love to come back when the wather is nicer and enjoy eating outdoors. We will make special trips across town to come back!

Full disclosure: I’m from New York City originally, then over a decade in Los Angeles, now 4 months in ABQ on business. This is to say that I know good restaurants. I tried Piatanzi two nights in a row to better sample various dishes. A few general notes based on bad review
mentions previously from others on Unilocal: «Bad Bread» whoever said there is bad bread
for the table at this restaurant is clearly confused and talking about another restaurant, the table bread here is authentic flour-​crusted outside, gluten chewy inside authentic handmade
Italian bread, its terrific. Served with a high-​end fruity buttery olive oils dipping, ask for balsamic to add to it and some fresh ground pepper. YUM. «Slow Service» All the dishes are FULLY made to order here, not under heating lamps like at McDonald’s. It’s very quick getting your food but not McDonald’s fast. This is a good thing. The wait-​staff is sweet, punctual, helpful, on top of their game… no issues. The Wine List is pretty exceptional. Wines by the Glass excellent and clearly some thought put into the selections and overall very good pricing.
I think more daily «specials» would be a good thing because over the long haul they would benefit. Now to my two meals… Saturday: Rombauer Chardonnay by the glass x 3, very nice. Olive appetizer, lemon/​pesto/​gorgonzola Chicken wing appetizer, Beef Carpaccio appetizer. All marvelous and excellent! Main course: Fettuccine Alfredo. To be fair all the ingredients involved in this dish were fresh and top notch however the sauce is not the smooth, velvety, creamy Alfredo sauce I was wanting/​expecting but a more heavily parmesan and frankly thick and glue-​y sauce. I ate a few bites but really wasn’t a fan. Sunday: Raeburn Chardonnay by the glass x 3, very nice. Ceasar Salad with anchovy, grilled lemon baby artichokes for appetizers. EXCELLENT all the way. Main course: Meat Lasagna. Oddly… again exceptional high level ingredients absolutely, however, ratio of lasagna noodles to Meat/​Sauce was off balance. Almost no noodle whatsoever and very very heavy on the meat fillings/​sauce. The meat filling is the most expensive (for the restaurant) part of this dish so this tells you they
spare no expense (which is readily obvious in everything they do) but in eating the entire
lasagna with a proportionate bite of noodle to meat/​sauce ratio there was an ENORMOUS pile of meat and sauce left in the plate after the noodles were gone. Just a bit odd but it was
very delicious. During the week they have wine dinners prix fixe which looked lovely and which I will have to try. I am a FAN of this restaurant, they have a high level of ingredients
and care. I will update on my next visits. I do recommend very highly.

Excellent casual/​upscale neighborhood Italian joint near the house. Friendly hostess and servers. Ginormous portions of pizzas, pastas, a nice selection of vino in all price points (count on leftovers). Roomy, well-​designed, well delineated interior channeling a mid century vibe. Cool lighting. (Except for the ONE Christmas music played this April– HINT: don’t rely on Spotify) Good music. Overall a nice buzz. Piatanzi is a welcome addition to these heights!

Good food and friendly employees. Try their Brussels sprouts, baby artichokes and calamari. Calamari is so crispy! It was my boyfriend and his mother’s birthday and they got them complimentary cannoli. Nice selection of wine too.

Went there for my mom’s and my birthday. Had two bottles of pinot and a massive feast. Dad had the duck ragu. I had the linguini with clams, my friend had spaghetti with meatballs and my mom had the pizza. We all shared calamari, Caesar salad and Brussels spouts. Everything was excellent. The plates are plenty big enough to share. (And as the birthday boy, I was able to try everyone’s food.) And all al dente (finally). Our servers Nao and Jennifer were both very attentive and helpful. Was even given free birthday deserts. Would certainty go back.

Lasagne Verdu was a deconstructed lasagne with grilled eggplant. It was not forth coming. The lasagne noodles were paper thin. The eggplant lacked any grilled flavor or texture. We expected delicious, and did not receive. We had a Caesar salad which was nicely prepared. The menu says above Pastas, «Gluten Free available for $ 2 more. We asked and it was not available. Thanks for reading. The Bike Chaplain

Piatanzi– Albuquerque, NM
So this place really is just so-​so. It’s not amazing, it’s not terrible. The service here has some much needed work to be done. We came here for St. Patrick’s Day since Oneill’s was ridiculous. I had to wait for my husband to get out of work which took forever and a day. My waiter pretty much ignored me until he got there, even though I said I wanted a drink and would order an app. Also while I sat there being ignored I observed some terrible things.
One, the host, a very young twenty something, if that, was a complete snob. Seriously, the last time I saw hostess like her was at Farina Alto down the street and I won’t go back there either because of the attitudes of the employees. She was borderline rude to me, which I shrugged off, but she sat a couple down next to me eventually. The couple asked her a question. She half rolled her eyes at them, said «I don’t know» and walked off. Not, «Let me find out,» or «I’m not sure, let me find out for you.» No apology either, just a simple «I don’t know» and walked off.
Then, a water boy came over, filled their glasses. The couple asked him the same question, «What is your soup of the day?». He literally answered the same way the hostess answered, and also walked off without an apology or some form of «Let me find out». Finally their actual waiter showed up and he could answer it. It didn’t bother the couple as much as it bothered me, but that’s ridiculous. You have to ask 3 times to get an answer? I don’t think so. This place isn’t a dive bar where that level of awful customer service could fly. You’re paying close to $ 20+ a meal per person. That’s just basic customer service stuff. I mean, if I was trained that way working in some crappy retail jobs as a teenager, I would expect a classy restaurant to make sure that was pretty ingrained in their employees heads.
Food tasted okay. Again, I’ve had better, and I have had worse. It just was so mediocre middle of the road that it’s hard to be really excited about this place. Anyway, if you’re in the neighborhood and maybe want to try something new, this isn’t a terrible place. I know they haven’t been opened long, and perhaps that was just a crazy busy day or something… but there is some work to do.

My husband and I stopped in for dinner on a Saturday night. We were seated in the small room in the back. The restaurant is loud to begin with, but there was a weird acoustic thing happening in our room. Because of sound bouncing off of a rotunda, we could hear a couple across the room like they were sitting at our table with us. It was very strange and annoying. The food was ok. We had fettuccini with meatballs and shrimp scampi. The food was ok, but nothing to write home about. The meal, together with one of the cheaper bottles of Chianti, was $ 90. I don’t mind paying that much for fabulous food, but this wasn’t fabulous, just so-​so. The shrimp still had some legs, a pet peeve for me. The marinara sauce tasted really good but was watery. The staff was friendly and helpful. We probably won’t go back.

First time experience was just ok. The pasta was good but the meat in the sauce lacked flavor. My girlfriend got one of their pizzas and the meat lacked flavor on that as well along with the sauce and crust.
Our server was incredibly friendly and attentive and the restaurant itself had a nice, open feel. The hostess lacked personality and friendliness but only had to deal with her while we were seated, used Open Table fot reservations.
When you factor the lack of flavor, price, parking/​location and mixed consistently with service, I wouldn’t choose or recommend this place. With so many great Italian restaurants (ie Trombinos, M’Tucci’s) in town, not worth your time.

The restaurant layout, design, décor, and atmosphere is very similar to the location on Girard. It’s alright. I don’t plan on going back to either locations anytime soon. Wait staff is «a-​ok» but could make it more welcoming and friendlier. At each location, I’ve always seen, if I’m were, the owner (s) at the bar tasting wine but never acknowledge or welcome you, especially to this new location. In both visits, the pizza crusts were not fully cooked. I think it’s a bit pricey (food and drinks) and the environment isn’t all welcoming, as I’ve said.

Went there for the second time… last evening much better than the first. Think the first may have been about a month after opening. Had artichokes which were very good were cold after being fried. Go figure. Mussels in a white wine sauce were good too. Ordered the vegetable lasagna which was really very good. I was pleasantly surprised. I was dreading going back here but my honey made the reservation. Instead of getting a table in the dining room we ate in the bar area which we both enjoyed as it was quieter. I think this place needs to improve 2 things desperately. First is the menu is barely readable. I had to use my cell phone light to read it adequately. The wine list is barely readable at all. I guess they try to cover the fact the prices on the wine list are easily 20% too high. It made me so angry we had beer. My honey told me to chill. I will go back but will not order wine.

I was under the impression this was a pizza place, and yes it does have pizza but also pasta and other over priced foods. It was around 3 dollars per bruschetta
It is very pricey and the environment was attempting to be warm and welcoming but it actually was very odd vibes.
I am definitely more of the «broke college» persona so this place was not for me. Let’s just say the people that were there looked like they would enjoy and early bird special… If you know what I mean.
The service was friendly though but I just wasn’t really enjoying my time there so I actually left after we got the bread and water. So I can’t really tell you much about the food!

We decided to try a Saturday lunch date here. There was no wait and we were greeted as we walked in. Our server provided us water after we sat and we looked over the menu.
They have beer and wine, good local beers on tap, great start to lunch. My husband decided on pizza and me a meatball sandwich with ceasar salad. It did take a good while for our food to arrive, had we expected that we might have ordered an appetizer. At least we had our beers.
The food was very good, the crust on my husband’s pizza nice and crisp which is a must. My salad was good, nicely dressed and the croutons crisp (I hate soggy croutons). My meatball sandwich large portion great seasoning, I’d get it again.
If our food had arrived faster I’d give it a 5, the wait does make my hesitant to return on a busy weekend night. Give it a try for lunch, we will go back.

Most excellent new place on Juan Tabo near O’Neills and south of Garcia’s. Ever since this place was transformed from a motorcycle dealership into its current incarnation, I have been curious to try it out. You would never know that this place used to be a showroom for jet skis.
I ordered the Tre Porcellini pizza, and my wife ordered the Fettucine Bolognese. Both were excellent! They do have kids menus. The kids menu does say «sides», but they are not included with the kids entrees. And the side of fruit costs $ 6, so if you bring the kiddos, you can order one plate of fruit for two kids, depending on how big they are.
It’s worth a shot of you haven’t been here yet.

Very nice place. I love the building and the atmosphere.
I started with the aspargi salad which was absolutely delicious. The asparagus was perfectly tender-​crisp and went well with everything on the plate. I’m suspicious that the cheese was something other than gorgonzola because it was very mild, but tasty none the less. A bit small, but that could be because it was so good I wanted more. :)
I also tried the Porcellini Pizza which had great crust and great flavor.
I sampled my dinner mates’ plates (Quatro Formaggio Pizza and Fettucini Alfredo with pancetta and peas) and both were equally scrumptious. The fresh basil on the Quatro Formaggio gave it a fresh, earthy aftertaste.
I will be back.

Juan Tabo and Montgomery area is not hurting for good restaurants but I won’t complain when another one is added! Ran in for a lunch with the wife and we both enjoyed a couple bowls of what my wife called «Great fat kid food.» Granted, she ordered the Alfredo and I got more veggies.
Server was top notch, food was fantastic and right in line with the prices.