Pompieri Pizza

I’ve been here a couple times and this place is the real deal! The pizza is borderline life changing, the app (arancini specifically) is so different and wonderful! The beer selection is perfection! And the staff is so knowledgable and helpful and just kind of awesome (shout out to Sarah at the bar, shes so great)! If you’re looking for real pizza and local flavor, I can not recommend this place enough!

Honestly, I was a little underwhelmed with our first experience here. I really only came because I love Bully City Burger, and this is their sister restaurant, but it didn’t live up to my expectations.
Let’s start with the good. There’s a decent amount of seating, the line moved pretty quickly despite it being almost to the door, the service was good, and they had Puck’s soda. I only ever get soda if it’s something interesting, so this is a huge plus for me. We got our order in a timely manner given the number of people here.
Now for the ‘meh’ part. I ordered the pork belly pizza, and my girlfriend ordered a different special on gluten free crust. My pizza was alright… could’ve used a little more pork belly (there were only like 5 pieces on it) and the cracklins didn’t go well with it at all. It’s also a thin crust pizza, and I tend to like a little more substance. My gf’s gluten free pizza crust was pretty terrible. I mean, gluten-​free crust is never really ‘good’, but a few restaurants have managed to make it tolerable. This was more like a pita bread than a pizza crust.
Begin mini-​rant:
The thing that really turned me off was all the restrictions they had on their menu. It always leaves me with a bad taste when menus have ‘no substitutions’ or whatever on their menu. It’s pizza, they’re making it to order. If I ask for something that’s going to cost more, than charge me more. But don’t tell me I can’t substitute one kind of cheese for another. Even their «build your own» pizza is totally full of limitations, if you can believe it. Limited number of toppings? Why can’t I get as many toppings as I want, if I’m willing to pay for them? Given the amount of toppings on my pizza, ordering the limit still wouldn’t have been enough.
End rant.
For something different, they did have a family dining thing where you pay a set price ($ 18 for adults, less for kids depending on age) and someone comes around with salads, appetizers and random pizzas and offers you some until you can’t eat anymore. That’s a pretty cool concept, and maybe we’ll give that a shot sometime to see if there’s a pizza we really like. But for now, we’ll probably keep to Mellow Mushroom for our pizza outings.

This pizza is uncut and uncensored. The vegetables are fresh, the crust is paper thin, the sauce is never too heavy, and they believe in those two great forces: garlic and onion. Fantastic!

We LOVE Pompieri! Thin Neapolitan-​style pizzas arrive shortly after ordering, smoky and charred and blistered from the enormous brick ovens. While we’ve tried all the pizzas on the regular menu, and many from the daily specials, our favorites are the Pompieri (with delicious, just-​right-​heat Peppadews) and the Margherita. Silly-​satisfying to cut your own slices with scissors. There’s a bar and while we are usually pizza-​and-​beer types we do love the fountain craft birch beer and not-​overly-​sweet cream soda. Flavorful and less fussy and expensive as El Toro a few blocks away. Dog-​friendly outdoor seating and wonderful friendly staff. At a recent visit EVERY employee who passed by our table thanked us for coming in.

Finally got back to Pompieri for a Saturday night dinner after a DPAC matinée. TIP: season members can bring in their ticket stub for a free Boppy Salad!
Boppy Salad fresh, light and delicious! Just what we needed while we waited for our individual pizzas to arrive. Drunken Horse and a pizza of the day which was a Salami one. I will say I have learned I am not good with scissors, but it tasted just great despite how I made those «slices» look! TIP: eat quickly… their pizzas taste best when they are nice and warm! (unlike some pizza that is great either way)
For dessert we did a bowl of two giant scoops of Brown Butter Gelato with Cajun Brittle. The small bits of salty Brittle helped offset the super richness of the Gelato. Good!
Just like their sister restaurant (Bull City), we prefer the full-​service bar to the pay-​at-​the-​counter and seat-​yourself main dining room. I had a nice glass of red, while Husband did a People’s Porter. We were lucky to have gotten there as early as we did because the place filled up quickly (for good reason!)

Pretty decent pizza (I tried the «Pompieri,» which had this nice touch of chili oil). Pizza can get a bit soggy, since the crust is so thin and I guess they use a bit more sauce than the crust can handle. I also tried the Kale Salad, which was alright. A bit boring. I did enjoy the interior of the restaurant — it was super cute and had an eclectic feel to it. I came here in a large group, and this venue was very adept at handling our table size. Food came out quickly. Other than that, nothing particularly spectacular about my experience here. I feel like I might have to come back to try more dishes and give a more robust review.

I thought the food was pretty good. If I were to go back I would probably order a different pizza that had more stuff on it. But that’s kind of part of the problem… all the pizzas have very little stuff on them because of the thin crust style (I think they are trying to be authentic).
Much to the dismay of the the hungry and business minded customers, they actually limit you in every way — sacrificing customer satisfaction for the bottom line. Running a business 101… putting costs before customer satisfaction 100% of the time is a horrible strategy, guaranteed to fail (and often result in Unilocal reviews). Our experience here was a clear example of that. So here we go…
You want to build your own pizza? You can only select items from the build-​you-​own list (which doesn’t include very common things like sliced tomatoes, most kinds of cheese, or the desirable meats like prosciutto), and can only pick a certain number from each section (even if you are willing to pay more). You want to add anything to your pizza? NOPE. Not allowed. You want more napkins? You have to ask the person behind the counter.
All that said… it really is unfortunate because the people working there were perfectly nice people, being instructed to carry out a business model set by owners/​managers who simply didn’t realize how destructive their strategy could be to the reputation of the establishment.
I hope that Pompieri adjusts their model so that in the future, customers are able to enjoy their food the way they want to enjoy it, while still having an authentic and pleasurable experience.

My parents insisted we go here because they said it was good. Incorrect. I will never be back.
I am lactose intolerant so I would have liked to get a build your own pizza. I requested them to add TOMATOES and was told nothing could be added because it was not on the build your own veggie list.
How hard is it to add tomatoes? This is a joke. Pompieri pizza is overpriced and the fact that they refuse to add TOMATOES to a build your own pizza is pretentious and lazy. They’re too lazy to have chefs make small changes and too lazy to train employees in discretion between allowing reasonable or unreasonable changes.
These business owners are ignorant and uneducated in their craft if they don’t understand that the tradeoff of nonexistent marginal benefit of refusing to make a minor change to a dish for customer satisfaction is ridiculous.
Durgam’s growth should not be used as an opportunity to exploit residents for overpriced food that is made with minimal effort. I am appalled.
That being said — the employees are nice, it is the establishment I am upset with.
There are also flies.

Absolutely appreciated every bit of Pompieri Pizza during a recent Taste Carolina food tour visit. Great downtown pizza place for the family to grab a bite to eat. We dined in with fellow tour-​goers, and sampled their Margherita and Pompieri wood fired pizzas… both were phenomenal. I hardly consider myself a Neapolitan pizza expert, but this Neo ‘za has got to be some of the best I’ve ever had. Their locally sourced ingredients had me questioning my stubborn Chicago deep-​dish heritage. I’m near convinced that pizza shouldn’t be made without San Marzano tomatoes and fresh mozzarella after this visit. Amazing concept moving into this old firehouse and opening one of downtown Durham’s best pizza and wine establishments. Kid and adult friendly, complete with inspiring aquaponic fish tanks and a fully equipped bar stocked to the brim with top-​shelf alcohol and cost efficient imported wine selections. Highly recommended with near certain return patronage.

The good: Cold beer, most of which is from Bull City Burger. Cool décor and a nice bar.
The bad: being charged an extra .50 for parmesan on the side. Soggy pizza. We were here a little late and got stuck sitting next to all the employees post shift and they were so annoying and obnoxious! Not a good way to behave next to paying customers.
The ugly: having to cut your own pizza with kitchen shears! Are the guys in the kitchen lazy, or what?! This concept is moronic. If I wanted to cut my own pizza, I would’ve stayed home.
GO TO PIZZERIA TORO, it’s way better than this place! Better pizza, better cocktails, and better staff hands down.

Pompieri is located in a little plaza downtown, and it completes/​balances out the area perfectly. It shares the space with its sister restaurant, Bull City Burger (the local favorite that’s always PACKED), Dos Perros (slightly more upscale), and Scratch Bakery (breakfast and brunch).
They know exactly what they’re doing: the menu is relatively simple, but all the items are intriguing and flow together well. I love the dressing and pickled veggies in the kale salad, though the kale is completely raw; it keeps the dish fresh, but might benefit from being quickly blanched or tossed with an acid to break down the leaves. Oh my god, the fresh ricotta and honey, oh my GOD!!! It’s like eating a cloud. Pizza-​wise, you can’t go wrong with the Pompieri. It has a really nice spice that builds as you shear off slice. after. slice. I would also highly recommend the White Florian, mostly because of the lemon oil. I was a little let down by the Drunken Horse. It was really good for a basic sausage pizza, but left more to be desired in the beer department.
A waiter brought us some little bread cubes with tapenade and peppers while we waited for our take-​out order, which was super sweet. Every time I’ve been there it’s been empty, which makes for a short wait but also seems kinda odd given how good the food is! Great for an early family dinner with little kids, a takeout picnic lunch, or a late night second dinner.

Delicious, organic, well priced pizza pies. It’s a great place to grab a glass of wine or a pint and have a pizza (with leftovers) with friends. It has the «bull city burger seating» feel that I really enjoy. First time visiting, I’ll be back for sure!
The only reason for four stars was the wait for our food– we were nearly the only folks in on a Friday afternoon and we waited upwards of 25 mins for our meals.
The fish were awesome ;) you’ll have to see what I mean. Totally a fantastic and fascinating touch.
Definitely a great durham spot.

Good place, super nice thin crusts that we like. Still haven’t found OUR favorite pizza but we are sure we will find our favorite soon!
AND NO STUPID TV’s!!! Yippie!!!

Finally, Some good, true pizza napoletana in the Triangle, and bonus: It’s super casual and is done by the Bull City Burger guys, which means fantastic beer!
So yeah, we’ve got a lot of pizza places in the Triangle, and a handful of them are even using wood fired ovens and making an effort to go the extra mile and make some authentic artisan pizza. They’re mostly decent, but they’ve all been somewhat lacking for me, which is really just good charred crust from good dough and fresh and somewhat traditional ingredients (no kale, no brussel sprouts, no whatever other weird toppings are en vogue at the moment). Weird and trendy pizza toppings are all fine and good, but more often than not I’m going to want the real thing with some fresh cheese, some type of yummy pork product, and good tomato sauce and fresh basil.
And the crust. It’s 99% about the crust. They’re doing a great job here. Light, charry, but fluffy and flavorful crust that you get to cut with scissors, which is something I didn’t realize I enjoyed so much. For some reason other places I’ve been have got most of the core ideas right, but the crust just translate.
Ultimately though, I love the concept of the place. Casual, order at the counter pizza, but really good pizza, with great beer in a casual setting in downtown Durham. I’m already a massive fan of BCBB, so the fact this is from the same crew is just a bonus. I’d be on board either way though. And the fact that it’s a true neopolitan pizza they are making, I couldn’t be more happy. I do wish it was in Raleigh, but I love any excuse to hang in Durham. My worst problem will be choosing whether to eat here or BCBB.

Wow, I can’t believe this place doesn’t have more stars! This is some of the best pizza I’ve ever had!
I ordered the special of the day which was topped with strawberries, asparagus, ricotta, lemon olive oil, and an egg. It was such an amazing combination of flavors! I was skeptical, but after the first bite I was hooked! My friend had the BC pie, which comes with portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, and goat cheese. I tried a piece and it was also excellent, but I can’t say it was as good as mine. Pizzas are not pre-​sliced, so they give you scissors to cut your own slices. That was a first.
I was also very intrigued by their «aquaponics» method for growing fresh basil. It’s one of the first things you see when you walk in to the restaurant. The fish provide fertilizer for the basil to grow, and the plants clean the fish water. Kind of weird but very cool!
Finally, take advantage of the outdoor seating. My friend and I were able to sit outside and enjoy the nice weather which was glorious!

I was a little surprised the first time I walked into Pompieri Pizza. The first thing I noticed was tank upon tank of goldfish and lots of cords hanging down from the ceiling. Little did I know about aquaponics until Pompieri’s, and that’s just the beginning of the coolness that surrounds this restaurant. Pomieri’s feel’s a little more casual then the competing pizza joints in the area, what with it’s order at the counter system. However, located in an old fire station, they are anything but fast dining. They have facts scattered throughout the restaurant that make you want to learn, some of the freshest pizza I’ve had in the area and their own made-​in-​house soda fountain.
We had actually paid for our meal before we noticed the soda fountain and went back and purchased 2x drinks, I’m ever so glad we did. The birch and ginger ale were fantastic. I definitely recommend trying a Puck’s soda and trying as many flavors as possible (only $ 1.75 for all you can drink!) We started with the arancini aka risotto and goat cheese balls served in a marinara sauce. God, were those the best balls I’ve ever tasted… but really, amazing and you MUST try them. I split the margarita pizza for an entrée and was not disappointed. Gosh dang if that mozzarella and basil wasn’t some of the freshest I’ve had! I loved the thin but crisp on the edges crust and simplest of the pie. They give you scissors to cut the pizza with which is also a nice touch. This is by far my favorite pizza in Durham (Pizza Toro ain’t got nothing on them!) The patio is perfect on a sunny afternoon or warm evening and they also have a cozy bar spot off to one side of the restaurant. I’m already looking forward to my next visit to Pompieri’s!

Pompieri is now my new favorite pizza restaurant in Durham. I have been on a quiet Sunday afternoon and then also on a late Friday night after a DPAC show. It is really great that Pompieri is within walking distance and since it is owned by the same owners as Bull City Brewing Company, that atmosphere has the same feel with communal tables, casual atmosphere, fantastic soda machine and the freshest ingredients. I love the Pizza Margherita and it is very simple yet so flavorful with fresh tomatoes, basil, oven-​fired crust and the best olive oil.
Most recently we took my two-​year old niece to Pompieri and I was very impressed with the staff and have to say it is a very family-​friendly restaurant. The servers are all very gracious and helpful and since you pay at the front and they bring the food to you, I realized I should have tipped in the jar at the front because they do a wonderful job and are so attentive to all of their guests. As you enter Pompieri, you wait in a line and can read the paper menus and glance at the fish tanks. After ordering, you receive a table placard and are free to see at any table inside or outside. It was a beautiful Friday night and sitting outside was very pleasant. We ordered a bottle of red wine and it was served in a red bucket. The price was also great at $ 19 a bottle. The kale salad was wonderful and we also tried the gelato. Everything from start to finish was delectable and I highly recommend Pompieri.

I debated a lot about what to rate Pompieri but I decided to land on four stars.
It is a casual place right in the middle of downtown giving it a nice contrast to the ritzier vibe of Pizzeria Toro. The owner Seth is of course big on using local ingredients and making most everything from scratch, a philosophy I appreciate. I also appreciate that unlike the bar of Bull City Burger, this one is off in it’s own area making it a less hectic place to enjoy the great bull city brews (Sorry Fullsteam and Triangle, this is my favorite brewery in Durham).
It was packed when it opened, but in recent times Pompieri tends not to be super crowded so I find it an easy choice to come by and enjoy a meal. The pizza itself is good (and yeah, I like the hipstery scissors cutting option) and I really appreciate the simple but delicious margherita pizza is just $ 8.25. In a world where downtown Durham gets more and more expensive I appreciate seeing a delicious meal with quality ingredients at a affordable price point can still exist. However, it is true the other options do start getting pricier and approaching Toro pricing.
I like Pompieri, Toro across the street stole a lot of it’s thunder, but I am the type of person where if I was stopping for dinner after work I’d rather head here.

Pompieri Pizza taught me that simple is best!
I came here with my girlfriends on a trip to the Raleigh/​Durham area. One of my friends had a strong craving for pizza which made me excited because I am always game for a slice of pizza! It may sound basic but pizza is my favorite food, my first love, my everything. When it comes to pizza pies, I don’t discriminate. You name it, I’ll eat it. Thin crust, hand tossed, obnoxiously thick crust, lots of sauce, baby amounts of sauce, extra cheese, regular cheese, doesn’t matter. I throw down. This is why I can never pick a favorite place to get pizza! I love it all.
However, Pompieri brings more than just pizza to the table (pun intended). When you’re selling something so universal like pizza, it’s crucial that you set yourself apart. Otherwise, somebody can go to the place down the street and get themselves a very similar slice. How does Pompieri do this, you ask? With scissors! That’s how. When they deliver your pie, they do so with a nice set of cooking shears. At first I was very confused and wary of putting scissors to my food, but you know what, they proved me wrong! Why have I never thought of cutting pizza with scissors instead of using those God Awful pizza cutters that never work? Brilliant.
So, I snipped away and the next thing I knew I had eaten ¾ of a pizza by myself. Oops? They lured me in with the scissors, but they kept me interested with the taste. I ordered the margherita– the most simple pizza of life. But the flavors blew me away. The sauce was the standout here: so distinctly sweet, yet savory. I could just eat the sauce by itself. Of course the cheese was a winner. When does cheese ever not win?
Go to Pompieri Pizza and cut away!

While I’m not the biggest fan of Bull City Burger, once or twice a year I feel obliged to come back. Since trying Pompieri for the first time, I’ve felt similarly but haven’t had the occasion to try another pie.
A few big difference between my two Pompieri experience.
–Experience #1: Dinner time, late in the week, not too long after Pompieri first opened. Claustrophobic seating arrangements, slow service, solid food. Not better than Toro but a little cheaper. And equally crowded.
–Experience #2: Friday night around 10:15. Virtually empty, room to spread out, solid service, and a killer BC Pie — portobello mushrooms, goat cheese, roasted garlic, carmelized onion, rosemary, and olive oil.
Great option during non-​peak hours when you’re looking for a quick bite but not my preferred destination for weekend dinner when starving.