Fiamma

Overpriced and mediocre… Awful service, and our server acted as if he was gods gift to the world, like he was above all, dude get over yourself, your a career server not the president of the usa

Average at best. The pizza was soggy and overloaded and the chicken was bland with flavore a totally out of balance. Definitely not worth the price we paid

The best homemade Italian food in Rochester. I’ve had so much over a lifetime. Most places offer «Rochester» Italian. This place serves «Italian» Italian. Like I had when I was in Italy. The pizza oven was imported from Naples. The Pizziolas we’re also imported from Naples, and you can hear them chattering away in Italian. The housemade house perfected octopus with beans was a surprisingly filling and delicious appetizer. We had a focaccia with that, that was made in their woodfired oven. Simple food that was just amazing. The Burrata salad featured fresh cheese, olives and arugula. The seafood dish had ample seafood and house made pasta, that was delicious, perfectly seasoned and imaginative cuisine. The wine list is also impressive. You can get an Amarone by the glass. Imagine that. The Space is eclectic and Intimate. It feels like a traditional Tratoria. Lots of activity, lots of food, and lots of people really having a good time.

Came back after a long layoff. Past 2 visits were really disappointing. Glad to say that Fiamma found its mojo again. Very good visit. Much better service and good to see owner engaged with customers and kitchen again.

It’s in a somewhat dodgy looking strip mall in an industrial part of town but once you are inside, the ambience is quite nice. The low lighting made it ideal for a date night.
I saw some reviews on Unilocal about less than ideal service but my experience was quite opposite — our server made frequent rounds to the table and was very helpful with her suggestions.
Now the main part — the food. We got the Diavola wood/​fired pizza (tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy italian salami, basil, spicy olive). It looks great and it was as good a pizza as you would get in Rochester — at par with Tony D, Pizza Stop and Joe’s Brooklyn pizza. And it was unique in its own way — very thin crust in the middle and puffy on the outside. The cheese was delicious and the salami was perfectly spicy.
The meatballs I thought suffered from being a little too meat-​y. Too much meat in meatballs shouldn’t be a bad thing but I felt the meat was packed too tightly and could have used some ‘breathing room’ which I believe is achieved via bread crumbs.
Everything on the dessert menu (see photo) looked so good — it was hard to pick. Our server suggested the profiteroles since there aren’t too many places in Rochester that have them and that ended up being a good choice.
Pretty good prices:
$ 14 for pizza
$ 14 for meatballs
$ 7 for profiteroles
$ 7 per glass of Montepulciano
Definitely one of the nicer Italian restaurants in Rochester.

Food was great, service was sub par.
Started with meatballs which were good, sauce was awesome. I ordered the breaded chicken cutlet over arugula. The portion was huge and the chicken was tasty. Party of six and five of us ate while one waited about ten minutes for her food. The cook apparently burnt her dish. Menu is authentic Italian without the normal Americanization. They do not have butter or coffee but as the server said they serve «exxpresso .» I’d go back for the food.

DONT buy alcohol there unless it’s happy hour. We were just fleeced. $ 16/​tall tanqueray and tonic? $ 10 for a Well Manhattan? Good lord. That’s atrocious.
Great food, a way too dark in there, people at surrounding tables were using the lights on their phones to be able to see the bill.
I really liked the food, it’s a shame they were so overpriced. The waitress suggested a little side of sauce for the food, told us its a bit dry, ok! Then they even charged for a little side scoop of sauce. Really?
The pluses– again, good food. But needs to be much more realistic on drink pricing. Well, I guess the jokes on me because I paid it, and the place was packed. Good for them!

The food is great but the service is atrocious. I once purchased a few groupons for Fiamma that only had stipulations regarding the day of the week they can be redeemed. No problem. I intended to use them to order take out as I have two small children.
I called to order take out, only to be told you can’t call ahead. You literally have to go in, order the take out and sit there while they make it. Can’t understand that rule at all. Anyway, I drive there, order and wait. I was literally the only one there. The bartender brings me my food and tells me my total. I hand her the groupon voucher and she flipped. She said it can’t be used for take out. There was NO STIPULATION on the groupon saying that. She and I went back and forth but she refused. She called the owner on the phone and he said she’d be in trouble if she redeemed my groupon (according to her).
That’s not the only time I’ve experienced poor customer service. The food is good but I can’t stomach the way I’m treated there. I feel like a second hand citizen.

We were a party of 6 there on a Saturday night. of course, the place was packed and the staff busy.
Service was OK at best, but the food was great. My wife had the Margherita pizza and enjoyed it tremendously. I had a garganelli dish that is not showing up on their online menu. Again, extremely tasty with cauliflower, garlic, prosciutto.
I felt that the lighting was a little low. I understand «atmosphere,» but I’d really prefer to be able to see what i’m eating.

The good:
They had a great selection of craft beers on tap. I was happy to find Pumking (which is a rarity where I’m from). I did enjoy my pizza and my coworkers really enjoyed their pasta and pizza. The crust on the pizza is the perfect thickness and everything warmed up well the next day. The service was friendly and food came out in a reasonable time. The atmosphere was nice for a dark, chilly night.
The bad:
I ordered a dish with anchovies. They were the salty, hairy, dark kind. I can’t stand those anchovies because the little hairs make the back of my throat itch. Considering the prices, I assumed they would be the light, pickled kind without the little hairs. The prices were quite high, although I’ve heard that to be true for much of Rochester. The mixed cocktail I ordered was just meh, which was a letdown considering the yummy beer I started with. Also, we had to wait 10 – 15 minutes to be seated in a restaurant with multiple open tables. What’s up with that?!
The ugly:
They will not let you do additions, substitutions, etc. If you don’t like what’s on the menu… too bad. I’m sorry, but this is not the Ritz or fine dining. I understand the menu has been put together with care, but I’m not a child and I know what I like and don’t like. If I’m paying $ 15 for a personal-​sized pizza, give me what I want.
I ordered a pizza that doesn’t come with cheese normally and asked if they’d add a couple of slices of buffalo mozzarella. I wouldn’t have balked at an upcharge, but nope, they couldn’t accommodate. They suggested that, if I wanted cheese, I could use the dry parmesan shaker on the table (yep, they couldn’t even spare some decent parm from the ktichen). Annoyed, I went ahead and ordered the pizza. And lo and behold, it could have really used some cheese to balance those super-​salty anchovies. Parmesan didn’t help because it made the pizza gritty and even saltier. So, by their suggestion, I took a pizza that I liked but didn’t love and made it worse with the cheese they provided me. I just feel like that is terrible customer service right there.

Food is very good but the customer service is poor and would recommend they hire someone to show them how to treat customers. Went there for my daughter’s birthday last week and was sat at a table where the sun was coming through the window right into her eyes which bothered her. Since there were no shades on the window I asked our waiter to change tables. The waiter spoke with the manager and came back and told us we could not switch even though there were plenty of open tables. When they saw that we were going to leave they gave us a new table. The food was very good but cannot believe they were not going to switch our table when we left there were still plenty of tables open as such there was no excuse.
Also don’t ask to bring a cake in as I called ahead to make sure it was ok and they charge $ 3 to serve each slice. Needless to say I left the cake at home.
I have noticed the last few times I have been in there are less and less customers. I do not care how good your food is, people will not spend their money for crappy service. It will be a long time before or if ever return.

I needed to try something new and pizza was on my mind. Well might as well try out one of the highest rated pizza places that is actually in good driving distance from where I live, I took along my girlfriend so we could have a nice dinner together and hopefully walk away satisfied.
We walked in but after the door was unlocked because apparently the door had a tendency to lock itself… odd but alright, we were noticed immediately. Despite it being close to dinner time, the restaurant was actually quite empty with only one couple eating at the front entrance. This made the restaurant appear very vast but we got the table right next to the oven, thus we never got cold.
I would like to just pause and comment on the great service that we had here. Our waitress was quick and efficient with a smile and had no problem explaining to us what some of the items on the menu were, easily refilled drinks without asking, and gave us a nice amount of time to allow us to decide what we wanted to order. In addition to her outstanding service, the other waiters also got us drinks and boxed up Kristin’s food with such politeness and curtsey that I wish I saw more often.
Now going back to the food, we were given four pieces of bread for a nice appetizer which is a nice amount considering the size of the pizza’s that we ordered. The bread was decent and pretty generic but the best part of the meal was the pizza. I had ordered the margarita while Kristin had the crespo (white pizza with cherry tomatoes and basil).
The pizza took very little time to arrive and we got to watch come out of the oven which was quite fabulous the way they finished them off. At first, these looked like big pizza’s and I was a bit nervous that they were going to be to filling but after cutting it the way I liked it, I saw that the pizza’s were very thin on the underside while the crust was nice and fluffy.
Overall, I ended up eating the entire pizza and still felt full afterwards and for me being a skinny person, this was a rarity. This was one of the best pizza’s I have had in a long time but I do wish that I saved some of it, I would have liked to share with my friends just to show them how good it tasted and how nicely it was prepared. I sampled some of the white pizza and it didn’t disappoint at all, kudos to the chefs for a job well done.
The prices were definitely reasonable for two people and we were thanked by most of the staff on the way out with friendly smiles as they hoped we enjoyed the meal well enough. I can say for the both of us that we did and judging by the excellent quality of the food and the great service by the staff, we will surely be back for another round sometime in the near future!

Was drawn here today by the great Unilocal reviews. This ended up being one of the most disappointing places that I have been to.
To start with, the place was littered with flies. The constant buzzing of the flies around our table and food was distracting and annoying.
Oh, and the door to the entrance is on backwards, btw.
Secondly, the hounding employees — it was aggravating that at any time 5 different employees were watching our every move.
Thirdly, the place is overpriced. The quality of the food was lacking in comparison to the cost. The pasta was overcooked, and my calzone was all bread with little filling. For these prices, the place could’ve at least had some ambiance, but there was none. Our table was sticky, and there were mismatched chairs everywhere.
Sorry, but for these prices, there are tons of better places. Same goes for the food. $ 55 for 2 dishes and a soup? Sorry bruh!

Fiamma’s is a small Italian restaurant located on Buffalo Rd in Gates that specializes in wood fired pizzas. In my opinion, they’re one of the best pizza establishments in the Rochester area.
The pizzas are prepared quickly, and damn do they taste amazing. The dough has a unique toasty flavor that you don’t find anywhere else in the area, even among other wood fire pizzerias. Fiamma generously applies their tasty tomato sauce. Mmm it’s so good. My favorite varieties are the margherita, napoletana, capricciosa, and diavola. They have a number of exotic offerings too, such as a butternut squash pizza. Sounds weird to me, but every review I’ve read of it has been positive.
My one and only quibble is that they won’t allow you to phone in a takeout order. They offer takeout, yes, but you must come in, order at the bar, and wait 5 – 8 minutes for your pizzas. When the bell goes DING, your pizza is ready. I wish you could call in ahead (if someone from Fiamma is reading this, please make it happen!!! You’ll see me phone in orders all the time). Regardless, I love their pizza and highly recommend Fiamma to any pizza aficionado.
Seriously, go there now.

Sat at the bar. Liked the happy hour.
$ 4 beers
$ 4 house wine
$ 5 sue vial wine
$ 10 pizzas
Server and bartenders (Gianna and Samantha) were knowledgeable… And answered all of my questions.
Downside:
The owner will not allow you to add/​subtract toppings to his pizzas… He is a stickler, and will not allow it, period!
Also no real outdoor seating. It has a few tables and chairs outside, but it’s not exciting or spacious.
I ordered the Diavola pizza:
tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy italian soppressata, basil, spicy olive oil… It was not spicy at all. Found myself adding lots of red pepper flakes to make up for what I expected.

Nice place, great happy hour. The Regina margarita is my favorite pizza. Half price bottles of wine during happy hour! And half off pizzas! 4 dollar beers. Their happy hour is from 4 to 7. I love 4 to 7 happy hours! My gripe with the place is that they won’t let you add anything to their pizzas, you can only get on the side. This is silly to me as most restaurants will cater to their guest within reason. I was only asking to add garlic.
You also need to try the chicken cutlets! They are huge and come on a bed of arugula. The perfect balance of mozzarella, tomatoes and balsamic vinegarette give these perfectly cooked pieces of chicken some pizazz!
Oh, and they only accept CASH at happy hour

Ate here a second time a couple days ago (Fri night), this time just for pizza. The place was packed and we were glad we had made a reservation! Every table we saw seemed to be eating pizza too and they all looked good!
I ordered the San Daniele pizza with imported prosciutto, two kinds of cheese, cherry tomatoes, arugula and a balsamic cream sauce. Flavors were great, but the crust was soggy and could not hold up to the toppings. I was so disappointed. The crust around the rim was cooked well, crisp and nicely charred, but the slices were so limp that all the toppings just slid right off. I was looking forward to a stiff crunchy bottom crust, but maybe this was because of how thin the crust was?
Next time I would eat it with a fork and knife… but beware if you are looking for something firmer/​crunchier — we’ve had better luck finding that consistency at Napa.

This is such a nice place with adequate parking, since you can park in the Italian center next door and walk over. The atmosphere is a little noisy, but nice. We went on jazz night and the performer was spectacular! We loved hearing the music.
My husband and I both ordered pizzas, while my mom ordered the pasta e fagioli azzeccata. The wood-​fired pizza is SO good. Really amazing. However, the pasta e fagioli azzeccata was a little bland and dry — not really what was expected for that dish.
We brought our two-​year-​old and he enjoyed the margherita pizza and vanilla gelato. They did have a highchair for him as well. They do NOT have a kids menu, but I think that kids will enjoy splitting some food with a parent. The portion sizes are large enough.

Crust is usually not a good thing, except when it comes to pizza and boy, the crust here is mindblowing! Soft. Fluffy. Scrumptious. It’s tasty by itself.
The bf ordered the Diavola which was mostly spicy Italian salami, basil with additional sprinkles of red pepper flakes in a red sauce. I skipped part of my meal, the rigatoni al forne, to munch on the crust of the pizza alone. I couldn’t stop!
The rigatoni al forne was okay, a little hard for my liking, but it’s baked in the pizza oven. Because of this, not only was the extra large rigatoni hard, it was also dry. It just wasn’t my kind of dish, that’s why I was picking on my bf’s pizza.
I definitely want to go back for pizza! They had a stack of pizza boxes near the oven so I believe they have pizza takeout.
P. S. They have a pizza crust/​Nutella dessert. There’s HUGE Nutella jars near the oven.

I took my mom here for dinner because it was close to home, and I heard great things. Not to mention we had an Entertainment Book coupon. Turns out they never authorized the coupon (this is the second place that told me that).
Regardless, we each had a beer, entrée, and shared dessert. My mother had the pasta fagioli. It’s a baked pasta (different shapes) with beans. There is very little sauce so appears dry, but was loaded with flavor. You could prob order a side of sauce if you wanted something wetter. We didn’t. It was great the way it was.
I ordered the Stella. It was an 8 point pizza, almost bowl like to hold the toppings (smoked mozzarella, olives, sausage, and arugula). I think it was drizzled with oil as well. The crust was slightly charred on the bottom, without being overdone. Still foldable to trap the toppings in! I love arugula and there was a ton of it. The sausage wasn’t greasy. It was perfect.
Finished off sharing the lemon sorbet. Served in a lemon peel, it was the perfect mix of sweet and tart. Very refreshing!
The atmosphere was warm and cozy. We loved it and can’t wait to come back!