Luna Rossa

Miss you. Hear the brick oven is repurposed. Can only hope fresh breads are forthcoming from this one-​time neighborhood joint.

I read the good reviews about this restaurant and I was excited to try it. I’m not that demanding of a guy. I like decent food and a comfortable atmosphere. But I ended up really disappointed.
I brought my wife and mother here for an early pre-​show dinner. We arrived around 5:15 and were promptly sat. At first we tried to sit outside, but the noise of the BQE and the sheer amount of flies made it impossible. Not really the fault of the restaurant, but don’t rely on the back patio for a nice setting if that’s in your plans.
So we move indoors. The place is uncomfortably hot and filled with flies, just like the back patio. These guys apparently leave the doors open quite often. As a local resident, I can tell you that this is an awful idea in July and August. Unfortunately, this isn’t Italy, and the area around this restaurant isn’t the Tuscan countryside. It’s pretty loud and dirty. But to the staff’s credit they shut the door and turned on the AC to accommodate us.
We ordered two pizza’s and a calzone. It took about 45 minutes for our food to arrive. Definitely a long time, but I understand that restaurants move more slowly when they’re just opening. And the oven was probably not warmed up. We’re cool with it.
But what happened then was inexcusable. My wife and mother’s pizza were delivered, and the waiter promised my calzone in a few minutes. A few minutes actually turned out to be around 18 minutes.
Now, I get it. It’s a small restaurant. S*** happens. I’m not a total hard-​ass. Plus I’m looking to enjoy a meal out, not be pissed off and self-​righteous. But the guy brought my food and said nothing. No apologies, no acknowledgement that this isn’t the right way to serve dinner. I’ve been to Italy dozen’s of time, and this has NEVER, ever happened there. Europeans understand the value of eating together, and how awkward it is when one customer is not served while the others are. As a result, I had to scarf down my food so that we could get out of there in time.
Maybe they’d offer to comp my meal? Offer a free dessert? A free coffee? Even an apology? Think again, as they offered nothing. It’s incredible, actually — as the marginal cost of food really means nothing compared to the loss of a potential customer and the bad word of mouth that entails. Instead of comping a $ 12 calzone, they’ve got me writing a lousy review on Unilocal.Probably won’t be the last one either.

The is by far the best pizza I’ve ever had this side of Venice, Italy.

If you like mushrooms, artichokes an prosciutto, you should definitely get the 4 Stagione pizza!!!
I had add this as a tip also, but you can’t go wrong with pizza in this place! Yumm

We come here probably once a week (we live around the corner). Consistently wonderful Neapolitan-​style pizza. The guys that run the show cannot be friendlier (my 3 year old adores the manager who treats him like family). Tonight, at the suggestion of the manager, we left our order in his hands, complete with wine pairing… for once i tried something other than pizza… the gnocchi with mussels… so wonderful. The gnocchi was amazing. Lemony, in a spicy tomato sauce (and he got a mussels skeptic to change her mind). We also were given the white pizza with broccoli rabe and sausage. Wonderful. The whole meal was so reasonably priced and delicious (the wines were also pretty damn great), but more importantly, we were made to feel like special customers. The guy knows by now he has our family’s loyalty as he sees us so often… but he went out of the way to secure it. Cannot recommend enough.

Unilocal thinks I’m a robot so here is my review again:
This is one of those places that doesn’t seem to get enough attention, at least compared to other spots in the area. I love almost all of the food here: great pasta and pizza that I think holds up to any of the other great pizza spots in the city.

Probably the best pizza I’ve had in a long time, every time I’ve placed an order for pick up it’s quick and painless. Prices aren’t terrible considering it’s an upscale spot. I haven’t been here for anything other than picking up pizza so I can’t give it 5 stars just yet, but the pizza alone makes me want to.

very good food, service, and price. can’t beat the location, since it’s around the corner from my place.
if you’re in the neighborhood, check it out for good italian.

Never say never., I came to this restaurant about 7 months ago and said I’m never coming back but, I knew I ordered the wrong food and gave this place 2 stars. I had a $ 25 gift certificate and I’m so glad I came back here to use it… First we ordered the eggplant parm and tomato and mozzarella apps and they were so good and fresh… For the main course we had the Pappardelle pasta with fresh mushrooms which was very good but what was outstanding was the Spinach and Ricotta pizza The waitress Joanna recommended it to us and I’m so glad we listened it was one of the best pizzas we ever had! The service was awesome, the food is not expensive here and I will say I am Definitely coming back ;0)

Great pasta dishes. We had a Pappardelle pasta with fresh mushrooms. We added sausage to the dish and it was superb. We also had a margarita pizza that had an excellent crust and fresh basil.
The wine selection was solid, we chose two glasses of Italian reds.
Staff was friendly and they cared about all the food. Quite a gem in the neighborhood. We’ll be back!

Thumbs up for this amazing pizzeria!
I came here for dinner with a couple of girlfriends on a weeknight and we absolutely loved the pizzas and arugula salad we ordered. The wine which I got, San Giovese, was excellent.
Our waiter was very attentive and friendly. Everyone in the restaurant speaks Italian, which is a good sign.
Having lived in Italy and being spoiled with delicious pizza there, Luna Rossa definitely exceeds my standards. I highly recommend that you try this place!

The waitress Jo was Fantastic in describing the food and providing wonderful wine pairings… The ambiance is great and the neighborhood is a gem… loved everything. The prices are very resonable as well… Enjoy

The pizza was mediocre at best. I was really disappointed. Will not return.

We tried a few things on the menu and nothing really blew my mind. It’s a tiny Italian restaurant with great ambiance but the food was just average. Decent wine list to get you tipsy so you forget whatever mediocre food you are eating.
Starters
Gamberi & Calamari– just ok. the calamari had a nice crunch to it, only 3 shrimps but the arugula salad was drenched with oil. I would have preferred to have the dressing on the side.
Parmigiana Di Melanzane– soggy and mushy with no flavor. I really couldn’t tell what I was eating… I thought I ordered Eggplant, not baked baby food.
Pasta
Pappardelle Di Funghi Porcini– very good. fresh pasta and great mushroom sauce. cooked a little past al dente which is how I like this pasta.
Pizza
Capricciosa– I’ve recently grown fond of Anchovies so I opted for the Capiricciosa. The toppings were fresh but gosh darn it was too soggy! The crust became limp with no crisp and the cheese/​toppings slid right off the pizza. Ugh.
Specials
Lobster Ravioli– seriously. almost $ 20 for this 5 ravioli entrée. WHERE’S THE LOBSTER? It wasn’t bad… but it was deceiving. I think they just put some red food coloring in the ricotta and called it a day. Ok, I’m sure there’s an explanation to this but I that’s how I felt. Waste of time, stomach space and money for me.

Small intimate place — the pro’s end there. Food was subpar and the service was zilch to none. I would have been better off serving my own group. Forgot reservation. Forgot orders. Brought wrong drinks (gave me white wine when I ordered a coke… I’m 7 months pregnant). Was not sorry for messups and did not seem to care to correct.
Sorry I wasted my evening.

5 stars for the pizza… on par with Saraghina and just under Motorino.
4 stars for the wine list, great prices, good choices. Not up to par with Motorino, but also $ 5 — $ 10 less for comparable bottles.
3.5 stars for the ambiance… it’s not Frankies which leads to:
10 stars for never having to wait more than 5 minutes for a table.
6 stars for the value.
There is no better deal in New York for true Neapolitan style pizza, with decently priced wine and good service close to the train.
so i think that makes 5 stars or something
The other appetizers and entrees use excellent ingredients and are solid for the those not interested in pizza.

A hidden gem! This place doesn’t get very crowded, but it should. A busy dining room might detract from the personalized attention you get from the super-​nice and attentive waiters, but they deserve the business.
The pizza is very good. Some of the combinations are a little strange — I didn’t think the ham on the Capricciosa quite worked, but I’ll give them an A for effort. Most of the other pizzas I’ve tried have been delicious.
The specials are also usually solid bets.
All in all, it’s well worth a visit — especially if you’re hungry and can’t get into a place like Buttermilk Channel right away.

On a cold Saturday afternoon the boy and I were looking for a new place to go for a late leisurely lunch. Where were we looking for such a place? On Unilocal of course! And Unilocal lead us to Luna Rossa!
We did indeed have a late leisurely lunch. The server won us over with his charm and wit the minute we entered Luna Rossa. At 3pm on a Saturday we had the place to ourselves, but that didn’t stop us from feeling comfortable and welcome. We shared the puttanesca pizza and the siciliana pizza! Both were amazing! If you are a fan of anchovies, I definitely encourage you to order the puttanesca. We paired our pizzas with peronis and had a truly Italian afternoon! On our way out we declared that we would be back soon!

Wow. This may be some of the best pizza in NYC. It easily holds its own against some of the Neopolitan kings — Keste, Motorino, and Luzzo — and to be honest, may be better — and the prices were quite reasonable.
The crust is perfect and fluffy and it holds nicely when you eat — it doesn’t droop. It has the right amount of crunch. It sounds nice when you eat it. There is also the right amount of fresh mozzarella on the pizza so it doesn’t get too watery. The sauce is nice and simple. And they drizzle olive oil on top as well. Some fresh basil. I think what impressed me the most was that with each bite I had, I could actually taste the separate ingredients. Simple, yet just what you want out of a pie.
I had the diavola, which had little crumbs of sausage and chili flakes. I thought that the sausage was good, but personally, when I think of a diavola pizza, it’s a bit spicier and is typically with a soppressata or something along those lines, and not just common sausage. But it was still excellent, as was the margherita.
As other Unilocalers have said, this place deserves to be more packed than it was. I went for lunch and a block away, Buttermilk Channel had a huge brunch line — as did Prime Meats and Frankie’s. The service was attentive. This place is the real deal. And bonus points because one of the customers said «fuggedaboutit.» Yes folks, this is what Carroll Gardens is all about. Wait in line at Lucali for 1.5 hours? Fuggedaboutit. Luna Rossa is amazing.

I’ll be the first to say that this is THE BEST pizza I’ve had not only in New York, but outside of Italy! My mother lived in Naples for a long time, so I have traveled (and eaten) extensively there. There are always Italians eating there (so you know that is a good sign).
For New York, its definitely on par with Grimaldi’s in Brooklyn and John’s Pizzeria in the Village, but a lot cheaper and not as crowded. Napoletano owners and pizza maker, who are super nice and make the atmosphere great, although the last time I was in there, they had a couple of cheesy gringo guys who kind of killed the mood for me. I hope they are just waiters and not new management.