Della Terra

I love love love this place. I come here often with my wife. The food is GREAT. The fried chick peas — amazing. All their pizzas — amazing! Every bite is full of flavor and satisfying! Service excellent! You need to come here!

I really wanted to like this place. We ordered the baked olives, short ribs and chicken parm. The baked olives were good. I had more fat on the rib than meat. What was worse, it was luke warm at best. Once I scraped away all the fat, I was left with meat smaller than the size of a hot dog. The chicken parm was two clunky breasts with little sauce — which was bland. $ 26 and $ 24 each, no sides. We had to pay for bread. It wasn’t busy and now I know why. Good idea, so poorly executed.

Full disclosure, I used to work as a sales consultant in the food industry and know the owner of Della Terra from working with him at burghers, his other joint.
But I can tell you this, I’ve dealt with chefs and restaurants of all types over the years. White table cloth to greasy spoon, zero talent line cooks to top notch chefs. Ego maniac sociopaths, to smacked out short order prepers. And all the weird points in between.
So I can confidently say that Della Terra, is the realist of the real deals. Every dish, every ingredient, every preparation, impeccable. I describe the work of Chef Fiore in the way I describe the guitar work of David Gilmour (Pink Floyd): It’s as if his Instrument has managed to be merged seamlessly with his soul to enable an evocation of the full spectrum of the human experience through his chosen art. The end product is just perfect.
The eggs come from his home, from his own chickens. He makes every pasta by hand. He locally sources whatever he doesn’t import from Italy. They cure their own meats, grind their own cheese. And think about this, they mill their own flour for their doughs… Seriously…think about that for a second. This dude would mine his own salt if there was a deposit within 50 miles of his house.
Every dish you eat at this restaurant is deliberate. Its not over thought, It’s not pretentious. It’s the culmination of passion, education and vision from a chef that was actually able to achieve what he always wanted to do. Clearly, what he was born to do.
The dishes we ate:
Meatballs and polenta ⁵⁄₅
Baked olives ⁵⁄₅
Prosciutto and arugula pizza ⁵⁄₅
Rigatoni ⁵⁄₅
Carbonara ⁵⁄₅
Beef short rib ⁵⁄₅
Pheasant ⁵⁄₅
Cannoli ⁵⁄₅
Dessert of the day sweet ricotta with raspberry jam, balsamic whipped cream with lady fingers ⁵⁄₅
A perfect score for me. Not easy to attain.
The service: our server Mary was full of suggestions, attentive, and very sweet.
And as a foodie who has eaten in 30 states, 8 countries and 3 continents, I have been able to experience amazing cuisine in some pretty unbelievable places. And this held up to any of them.
I tend to have romantic sensibility about life. When someone does something with passion I tend to get immersed in their obsession. It’s my way of vicariously living their dream with them, and in turn, enjoying the fruits of their goals and drive.
I think that’s an important part of the human experience. And at Della Terra, you truly get one of those experiences that is transformative yet familiar. And when a chef and restaurant are able to do that to you, you have to be grateful. So to Fiore and Michele, Grazie per il vostro duro lavoro e dedizione alla verità di cibo.

As we sat at the bar, me sipping a well-​made Last Word, him a Barrel Aged Manhattan, I couldn’t help but wonder: Are we really in a strip mall in Harmony? The seasonal wild mushroom salad and baked olives we had as appetizers convinced me we could not possibly be. The beautifully blistered olives had been freshly baked in the wood oven, then finished with a splash of good oil.
When we moved to our table, the charming bartender continued serving us, recommending an excellent wine flight, served in fine quality glassware, for $ 12. How could I refuse? We ordered the pizza special, featuring fresh mozzarella, house-​made sopressata and ramps, in season for the spring. It arrived fresh from the wood oven, the crust having the perfect chew and just enough toppings so as not to overwhelm. The bowl of beans and greens was better than the description merited, full of flavor, with sprigs of fresh rosemary cooked and served with the dish (the woody stems could have been removed first).
The chef’s commitment to seasonal, local ingredients was evident throughout the menu, but the award for Surprise of The Evening goes to the dessert, a parsnip (yes, parsnip!) pot du crème with a beet sauce that was an epiphany. Hats off to the pizza chef, who is also the pastry chef of the establishment! A cappuccino finished our first, but certainly not last, visit to Della Terra.
In case you’re reading this *ahem* a few suggestions: If the lights in the dining room were dimmed and candles placed on each table, the ambience would be elevated to the level of the food. The menu, which changes daily, could also do with the simple upgrade of a better-​quality paper. It felt like a child’s school report in my hand, but at least it got an A.

Meatballs and Greens and Beans to start — Fabulous. Bread was really good and served right out of the brick over. Wife had the Prosciutto Arugula pizza and loved it. I had the pasta with pork cheeks and was easily the best dish I have had in some time. Don’t know what others complain about, this place is worth the trip north!

Disappointing, they do not offer gluten free pastas or pizzas, the only choices i had were salads and the fish, which came with a vegetable. Dinner salads and bread are an additional up charge, which can add up, my friend ordered a pasta entrée and was disappointed that not even bread came with it at $ 16 a plate. My other friend ordered the pizza, was small at $ 12, and was burnt around edge and bottom, she mentioned to the waitress who only said, thats because its from a wood oven, she left it and was not comped for the pizza, wine was 3 oz serving $ 10 — atmosphere — lacking, — we won’t be back

I’ve been to this restaurant twice and my first experience was underwhelming. The Italian food was excessively salty, overpriced and Not authentic by any measurement. The selection of beer is pitiful. I came back a second time to try the pizza and calzone from their brick oven as many have raved about it. We did enjoy the pizza and calzone, but it’s not worth the price. It’s a quaint little location, but you are better off going next door to Burghers.

Excellent food. Small restaurant. Real Italian five course meal but we weed only made it through 3 courses. Portion are right just the right size. It is a little out of the way in a shopping center. fresh local ingredients.

My husband and I went tonight to celebrate my birthday and it was so delightful to have a nice Italian meal close to home! This place isn’t cheap but it is not overpriced and I wish many Unilocalers would learn the difference. I had the ricotta gnocchi and the fava beans with it was amazing. We had the most unique desert, vanilla custard with acorn squash purée, peach, and whipped cream and it was awesome. Our waitress was great as well.

My husband and I had dinner at Della Terra after being in town for 24 hours and we were delighted. I’m thrilled to know the wonderful Italian food is near by. The service, food and ambiance was 5 stars all the way. We were treated as though we were right in someone’s kitchen interacting as long time friends. What a wonderful experience after traveling for 4 days. We plan to return very soon. I could eat there with «my long time friends» everyday. See y’all soon.

Drinks were mediocre at best and the food was extremely salty. Couldn’t eat more than two bites. Very disappointing meal. I had to pick up food on the way home.

Service was good and that’s where it ends. Pizza burnt, entrees small for the price. Entrees have nothing included such as a dinner salad or bread. Liquor high priced. Will not return. Not enough bang for the buck or quality of food.

This is one of my favorite restaurants! The food is always good when we go. I really like the appetizers. The meat and cheese plate is one of my favorites. The fried chic peas are good as well.

I wanted to love this place soo bad. I got the 4 coarse chefs choice because the menu looked great to me. It was 55.00 for that. First coarse was a bowl of tomato soup served chilled. It was good tomato sauce but not my thing eating a bowl of cold sauce. Second coarse was chicken wings w garlic and oil. They were good. Third coarse was a pork chop that was super thick. Tons of fat to trim around. It was okay but not my thing trimming around a ton of fat. The fourth coarse was two little baby cannoli’s. Not worth 55.00 to me. My gf got pappardelle pasta and wanted the meat sauce instead of the gravy sauce it came with. They charged 2.00 for the sauce change. Anyway it was soo salty that she couldn’t eat it. She didn’t even want to bring it home. A friend that was with us got rigatoni with the meat sauce. His rigatoni was raw. Very hard to chew and same sauce as my girlfriends extremely salty. I know al den te pasta and it was not that. They salt the water wayyyy to much to the point u can’t eat it. To be fair I will try this place one more time maybe get a pizza and a salad. But first time was a major fail. 160.00 plus tip and nothing was good except for the bread and oil that they charge you for as well. The service was awesome !

Absolute delish! We checked it out on sat, the service was impeccable, & the food was amazing! Will definitely be back!

If you long for Monte Cello’s to be back in Zelienople this is probably not the restaurant for you. This is real Italian food priced accordingly to finer Italian restaurant’s in the Pittsburgh area. I believe there is more detail in the food preparation along with finer ingredients than most Italian restaurants around Pittsburgh. If you like fine Italian food (Not Pizza Roma) and your mother was Italian and your not afraid to spend a few extra bucks go here, you won’t be disappointed.
Buon cibo!

Just had dinner for the first time here. I’m really impressed! Sadly, the Pittsburgh region lacks for great Italian bistro fare. Thankfully, Della Terra exists!
Quick roundup:
— Drinks: we had a negroni and a bottle of Chianti. The negroni was huge and very well-​mixed. The chianti was nice and surprisingly affordable.
— Food: we had the calamari, agro dolce style. A really nice and well executed twist on calamari fritti. Huge portion, and perfectly breaded. Wow! After that, we had the arugula/​prosciutto pizza and the bucatini amatriciana. The pizza is a nicely done neopolitan style with very fresh and delicious arugula. The bucatini had the right blend of chewy /​sweet /​tomato-​y goodness.
All around a great experience. Highly recommend!

AMAZING! The food and drinks were fantastic and refreshing!
For those who rated the place anything less than 5 stars:
1.) the waitstaff uses handheld devices to take orders, aka they are not just standing around on their phones.
2.) this isn’t a chain restaurant like Olive Garden, it’s all homemade, authentic Italian cuisine. Therefore, you are getting fresh, delicious meals that are well worth the money
3.) everyone was incredibly friendly and welcoming! I cannot wait to go back.
Give it a try, you won’t be disappointed! I guarantee it!

Not the kind of review that I like to write. I had hoped that I would like Della Terra. Their location is fairly close to where I live. And who doesn’t love brick oven pizza?
I should have known better. When I arrived, they were not busy at all. I ordered the Margherita pizza for $ 12. Very excited, I couldn’t wait to try it. Unfortunately for me, the pizza was pretty small, the sauce lacked any flavor, the cheese reminded me of plastic and the crust was burnt. The bottom of the crust was totally black. Disgusting. I would like to give them another try, but my first experience was so poor, it’s going to take awhile to build up the courage to go back.

Harmony is lucky to have a place as delightful as Della Terra (not to mention its sister joint Burghers, next door – but that’s another review).
On a visit to Della Terra after recently opening, my group enjoyed the Beans & Greens, Eggplant (Melanzane) Panino, and the Genovese pizza. This sampling was enough for me to come to the conclusion that you can’t go wrong with anything off the menu here.
The Beans and Greens were fab (read more about my obsession with Beans & Greens here:
) and the Eggplant sandwich was amongst the best I’ve had with layers of perfectly cooked eggplant (a feat in itself), with just the right amount of sauce and cheese. The pizza crust was perfectly tender and flavorful (though wish it was bigger!).
I look forward to the in-​house made pastas that are coming soon, and will certainly be back to Della Terra in spite of being quite a drive from the city proper.