Cucinova

So this concept attempts to translate the fast-​casual of Chipotle to pizza. You order at the counter, choose toppings from the bins, and wait a couple of minutes while it cooks in the oven behind the counter. They also have salads and pasta that can be similarly customized.
It’s a good idea as concepts go, but I see a couple of flaws. The ordering system isn’t immediately apparent when you walk in, the menu is not posted above the counter, paper menus are hard to spot, and the expense of the items is not obvious. You can get up to four toppings for a pizza, for instance, but some are extra charge.
They advertise «artisan» quality, but it’s more like Chipotle quality, which is pretty good compared to a buffet or Domino’s, but not on par with a top notch place. They do have a nice, clean space at this location, fast service and beer/​wine available. I would save this for lunch visits.

Best pizza I’ve had in Cincy. Ingredients were fresh & selection was great. Cooked perfectly in the wood fired oven. Just enough for dinner & lunch tomorrow. Staff was helpful for a first timer. Quick, easy, after-​work meal.

Great pizza place to take kids. The pizza and pastas are good and everything is pretty much the same price. They don’t charge for toppings. The staff can be hit or miss. One time we were there and the lady was about to take our order and instead a says «forget it I’m going on break», then walks away. It fine because you are not really there for the staff anyway.

Updating my review — I went in the other day because I was sort of in the area and it sounded really good. They’ve changed their model though, they no longer do unlimited toppings for $ 6.99. Now you’re limited to 4 toppings (cheese doesn’t count) and then for $ 1 more you can do unlimited, and the price was increased by $.50. Not a huge deal, and not a giant problem if you’re not trying to construct some sort of monstrosity worth of food. I was really happy with the (slightly less monstrous) pizza I managed to create, and again the staff par-​baked it at my request, but I really don’t like feeling a «switch» when I go to somewhere. They opened with a certain business model, attracted customers, and then changed that model. There’s still great options, and still some very tasty pizza, I think I’d have given them a 5 star review from the start if this was how they began, but after the «getting to know you» phase, they seem to have desired a different look!

I have been here twice now. Pizza is decent. Better than Blaze. For 7.49 you can pick 4 toppings. 1 dollar more for unlimited. Previously was 6.99 for unlimited. 4 choices for sauce: red, garlic, pesto and? They need an alfredo one. Takes about 5 to 7 minutes to cook. They also have basic pasta and made to order salads. Bogo pizzas in Entertainment book. Lots of seating. When I went today around 3pm only 1 employee was working so there was a wait.

The food and staff are absolutely amazing, my only complaint is the serving style. When this place gets busy, waiting to hear your name be called and going to get the pizza becomes a mess. I was wishing they did a McAllister style; you take a number and they bring your meal to you. But other than that the pizza is delicious and the workers are friendly and I will be returning!

This is my new favorite lunch spot in Cincinnati. You simply can’t beat the variety and quality for the price. I had pizza with classic red sauce, shredded mozzarella, caramelized onions, bacon and tomato. My boyfriend got the pasta and it equally delicious. We ended up sharing because it was so much food — all for $ 8 each! We will be back very soon.

So today was my second time here which was much better than my first time last week! This place is like Chipotle for Italian. Make your own pizza, pasta or salad for $ 7.49.
The first time i got pasta with white sauce and chicken, cheese. Not good at all. So not worth the $ 7 – 8. I could have made this at home. Very bland.
I decided to try them again but with the pizza this time. Much better! I got a make shift Caprese Pizza with pesto sauce, mozzarella cheese (shredded), tomatoes, onions, basil and balsamic glaze. Soooo yummy. It was done in about 3 – 5 minutes. I did take out and it was smelling up the whole office (in a good way :)) Glad i tried them again.

Another pop up build-​your-​own pizza spot. Affordable pricing and a lot of good toppings. Very similar looking interior design, selection and experience to many of the other places.
Pretty good, while not exactly amazing. I’d personally pick Pizzeria Locale over this place based on quality of ingredients and attention to detail. This might be a better spot to take the kids.

I love this place. You can keep it simple or get creative when it comes to toppings. You can choose pizza, salad, or pasta and pile on the toppings. And everything is fresh. It’s hip and trendy. Try a strawberry lemonade you won’t be disappointed

This is just like an Italian Chipotle. You pick pasta, pizza, or salad, then the protein, and finally unlimited toppings. Since it is your choice, it might be your fault if the ingredients don’t go well together.
The fire roasted pizza was good, because of its crust. Make sure to ask for well done if you added a lot of ingredients because it will be soft/​soggy. Less ingredients, the better

5 stars for concept, 3 stars for service and ingredients. Build your own pizza, pasta or salad for $ 7 is a pretty good deal, but the concept either succeeds or fails with the customer.
Personally, I failed the first two times I visited Cucinova. «Hell yeah, unlimited toppings» I thought. If you’ve ever had this same feeling at a Mongolian BBQ joint or a large salad bar, you know what comes next. Pile it on, taste nothing distinctly. Show a little restraint and pick flavors that compliment one another and this place is golden. Go too big, and you’ve got an oily mess on your hands. Oh, and for salads, get the dressing on the side. The two times I’ve trusted the people behind the counter to dress a salad, it came out drown in the stuff.
What would really set this place off is better ingredients. Some good olives and mushrooms that didn’t come out of a bulk GFS can would be nice. Garlic cloves would be sweet. I guess what I’m really asking for is the ingredients that make Deweys or Delicio so good, but I doubt they could afford to keep the lights on with primo toppings at $ 7.
Nice atmosphere, family friendly, typical unenthusiastic service.

It seems like I’ve seen a few fast-​casual pizza places that have popped up around town — we hadn’t made it to this one yet, but then it caught my attention in an article I was reading. The article was actually about Sbarro, a well-​loved mall pizza brand that is trying to find new life outside the mall. Sbarro has been opening stand-​alone pizzerias and reducing its reliance on declining mall traffic. Cucinova is currently open in Columbus and Cincinnati, operating as a casual gourmet pizzeria that assembles pizzas in front of customers.
Cucinova allows you to be the creator of one-​of-​a-​kind pizzas, pasta bowls and fresh salads. They «empower individual expression by offering one-​of-​a-​kind Neapolitan pizzas (fired up & ready to eat in 3 minutes), customizable Spaghetti pasta bowls and colorful salad bowls.»
Walking in, Cucinova is fairly modern with a touch of rustic. There’s a long hallway where customers can line up to wait their turn to order. Handheld menus are available and they are also posted on the walls. Honestly, it’s almost easier to just wait until you get up to the counter and can see all the ingredient options laid out. They have a really good selection of sauces and toppings.
Ordering was really quick, and the pizzas are cooked very quickly.
The pizzas we ordered were surprisingly soggy. This made the slices difficult to pick up, so I ended up picking up a fork. The flavor was decent, but nobody likes soggy pizza. The crust is pretty thin, and the toppings just seemed to soak through.
Verdict: Overall, it’s a really good price for the size and options. $ 6.99 for unlimited toppings — that’s hard to beat. I would have liked to see maybe some appetizers and desserts on the menu — I really wanted something sweet after all that pizza.
My husband said that he appreciated the speed and topping options, but he wasn’t really blown away. He would go back, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to return.

Located in probably one of the most high traffic areas in town, it’s safe to say Cucinova is a gold mine. I wish I had popped in sooner. Sandwiched between Fusian and Curito on Montgomery in Kenwood, this is the perfect place to come solo, or with a group pre, during, or post shopping for some good eats at an incredibly reasonable price that won’t break the bank!
Think chipotle style… You get in line and essentially «create your own» whatever (pizza, salad, pasta). It’s like Piada if you have ever been. But they have pizza. I didn’t get it but it looked incredible.
I wandered in right at opening around 11am and was greeted by a friendly team. I got a salad with chicken and lemon dressing. LOVED the topping options – especially the roasted carrots. So many fun options. This giant salad bowl that left me oh so satisfied was only 6.99. Great great value. Service was great too. Speedy and efficient and when the register wasn’t working on them (with me being the first customer of the day), they offered me a free beverage for making me wait. Oh yeah!
Other things–
They have free wifi! I had an hour to kill so I got on the wifi and was actually able to knock out some emails while I ate. Sweet!
Being the high traffic area that Kenwood is, id imagine it gets seriously busy here so just plan for that during more prime times. It definitely started to fill up around noon when I left.

Let me get straight to the point… AMAZING FOOD!
I first started coming here a few months ago and have been very impressed each visit. I typically created my own pizza with a mix of pizza sauce and white sauce and pile on the meat! Add onions and jalapeños to it and *kisses finger tips* there you have it. My perfect pie! Just minutes later it’s pulled out from the open flame stone oven.
They also have salads and pastas to boot. Today I made an Alfredo sauce topped penne pasta bowl with two nice sized meatballs! Slapped some onions and jalapeños in there and topped it with Parmesan cheese and crushed red peppers. It. Was. Amazing.
Service has usually been top shelf until today. These appeared to be new employees as they were slow, not very personable and had burned two pizzas bad enough they had to remake. I won’t let this hold me back from going again soon!

This is like a pizza version of Chipotle, Subway, Fusian, Pieda, etc. It’s like having really good chain pizza but won’t ever compete with your favorite non-​chain pizza place. If you like a lot of toppings on your pizza then it is a really good deal. It’s way too expensive if you have a kid that is just going to get a cheese pizza.
It doesn’t appear that you can get chicken on your pizza which seems odd and I really wish they had at least a couple ingredients that made them more unique among the pizza places.

Love this place! I’m here almost everyday on my lunch break. They tend to get a bit busy during the lunch hour, but they’re great about going through lines quickly. If you’re not feeling the short wait, you can always order ahead online. This place is also usually good for small groups (2 – 5 people), but may be better for a solo grab-​and-​go lunch. I’ve tried a build-​your-​own pizza, pasta, and salad. Verdict? ALL DELICIOUS!
There are places with a similar concept (Pieology in Clifton, Blaze in Columbus, and Piada in Hyde Park to name a few), but Cucinova’s got this custom pizza thing down. Their ingredients are well thought-​out, and they’ll let you combine anything. Even their crust is flavorful! My personal fave for pizza is mixing the red sauce with pesto, mixing shredded mozzarella with fontina, italian sausage, roasted mushrooms, black olives, peppadews, caramelized onions, then some fresh basil. Once it comes out of the oven, you can also have them drizzle garlic sauce or pesto over it, and voila! Lunch!
You’ve got two options for pastas: spaghettini, or whole grain penne. Then, you choose between red sauce, alfredo sauce, or arrabiata (spicy tomato — my fave!!). Then you can customize your pasta with anything they have on the line. I usually opt for meatballs, roasted mushrooms, black olives, feta cheese, and spinach. (Sound familiar?)
My favorite salad combo here consists of half baby kale, half spinach, white meat chicken, artichoke, black olives, roasted mushrooms, feta cheese, tomatoes, and Caesar dressing.
It does get a bit confusing when you’re trying to figure out where in line you’re supposed to go. Pizzas get started at the end of the line. Pastas are in the middle, in front of the pizzas. Salads are the closest station to the register. Sometimes when it gets busier, it’s hard to keep track of who’s been waiting for longer. Either way, the food is worth it! Highly recommend!

Great concept for quick pizza!
I could not believe I could get unlimited toppings on my pizza all for $ 6.99 – what a great deal. I began with the regular tomato sauce and the server said, «you don’t want to mix sauces?»…um sure! I added on some pesto, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, Italian sausage, artichokes, olives, and caramelized onions. My pizza was done in no time!
The crust was cooked perfectly with chewiness and crunch. The toppings were delicious too. I will definitely be back again to make another pizza. It was so good I don’t know if I want to even try the other menu options for a while.
The interior was contemporary and clean with wood accents and dark reds and oranges. It was pretty warm, however, even though I was wearing shorts. Even if they had some overhead fans it could be cooler.
I also felt there could’ve been a few less people on the line when ordering. It can become confusing talking to so many people just for one pizza. Overall it was a good experience and we will be back for sure!

I’m sorry… for $ 6.99, you cannot beat the price for fast, quality and cheap pricing! I didn’t know that about Cucinova. I was invited to a Unilocal Event a couple of weeks ago and was sold! I knew I would return fairly soon! This time I brought my husband. He is very critical and when it comes to pizza. At the end he enjoyed his meal!
Cucinova offers Neopolitan Pizza (order and only takes less than 5 minutes to make in their oven), customized pasta bowls, and salad bowls. All made from scratch and they also have an inventive menu if you don’t want to build your own.
For my meal, I got build my own pizza–
–Pick a Sauce:
Classic Red
Creamy Parmesan
Garlic (what I picked)
Pesto
–Add Cheese:
100% Whole Milk Mozzarella (I picked this for my half)
Fontina (I picked half this for my half)
Romano
Fresh Mozzarella
–Choice of toppings:
Pepperoni
Italian Sausage
Bacon (picked)
Ham
Artichoke Hearts (Picked)
Caramelized Onions (Picked)
Green Bell Peppers
Grape Tomatoes
Pineapple
Red Onions (Picked)
Roasted Broccoli
Jalapeños
Fire Roasted Mushrooms (Picked)
Peppadews
Long Hots
Banana Peppers (Picked)
Black Olives
Spinach
Basil
Balsamic Glaze
What I liked about the Build your own was that it is unlimited toppings. Other restaurants charge additional toppings.
Same goes with the pasta and salad bowls.
My husband got the build your own salad. Which you pick your greens, protein, and unlimited toppings.
With my pizza, I got the Whiplash Cabernet Sauvignon for $ 4.00. They also sell beer.
I really enjoyed my pizza. The crust was cook perfectly and toppings was fresh. Loved the garlic based! Same goes with my husband’s salad.
I know street food is getting popular these days and I can understand why. It’s perfect for those who are on the go. Definitely compare this to Fusion and Piada, both loved very much.
FYI, you can also order online which will be ready for you when you come in to pickup.
Overall, an excellent experience. The staff is super friendly and helpful. Restaurant clean and spacious. If it wasn’t for the Unilocal event, I wouldn’t have known about this place.

…And so continues the trend of the Chipolte/​Subway/​Fusion/​Piada style restaurants. Not that I’m complaining. I rather like the idea of quick service, quality ingredients, and customization. In this case Cucinova offers Italian fare, «Urban Italian» according to their advertisements.
You choose between Pizza, Pasta, or Salad. The pizza offers 4 sauce options: Classic Red, Creamy Parmesan, Garlic and Pesto. Your choice of cheese (Fontina, Mozzarella, & Romano) and a plethora of toppings that include Roasted Broccoli or caramelized onions.
If pasta is more your thing you can choose Creamy Parmesan, Arrabbiata, or Pomodoro sauce to top your spaghetti noodles. Meat toppings like Shredded Pork or Meatballs. Plus, all those yummy toppings we talked about earlier.
Salad…well it’s salad. A large salad… but a salad. You can add meat or toppings but come on… you’re going for the pizza and you know it.
Cucinova is good. It’s fast. You can taste the quality and the service is top notch. I will return.