Braza Brava Pizzeria Napoletana

Where do I start… my friend and I came in for lunch on a Monday. We were one of the first in the restaurant besides a 6 top in the back. The restaurant itself is quite small and cramped. We put in our order for bruschetta and pizza first. And it seemed like our server assumed that was all we were getting. Our food took a while to come out too. Finally we put in the rest of our orders, a salad and two pasta dishes. Bruschetta- the bread was not good at all. They didn’t even toast the bread. I was eating soggy stale bread. The flavor for the tomatoes were fine. Insalate della casa- salad was good, dressing is on the tangier side Cacio e pepe- they prepared it in a flaming cheese wheel lol. It was fun to watch. The pasta was overly creamy, it was more like an Alfredo. Save your $25 and get the Alfredo. Diavola pizza- absolute mess this was. It was extremely watery, but the crust was crisp. I was so confused. There was a puddle of watery tomato sauce in the middle of our pizza plate. I didn’t even think to take a photo. The taste itself was great though, so it was a shame. Linguini bolognese- again watery tomato sauce.. the sausage tasted great, I think it was house made sausage. The flavors were all there but the watery consistency threw us off. Such a shame, this place has such good reviews.

Fresh, flavorful Italian cuisine with a warm atmosphere and kind staff. Everything was fresh and perfectly seasoned. House made Italian sausage was wonderful in the Toscana soup and didn’t have all the fatty fillers that you find. The tomatoes in the barrata were perfect. The Cacio e Pepe? Highly recommend. Creamy and cheesy pasta for those who appreciate real Italian cuisines. The negative reviews here prefer the salty, pre-packaged, Olive Garden variety. This place is small and worth a reservation for a perfect date night. Live piano on a Friday night was the cherry on top of our perfect dinner. Sure to impress. We will sit at the bar next time to watch the kitchen create fresh focaccia and more.

Such a unique experience but food was a bit let down. If this is what authentic tastes like, I'd rather choose Olive garden. Visited during 4th of July weekend and was looking forward to their famous cheese wheel pasta. It wasn't super busy and you are able to see the pizza station as well as the pasta station. Our server was really nice and told us we were welcome to watch the preparation of the cheese wheel pasta. The prep of the pasta was incredible to watch. However, I did notice that the noodles were initially soaked in a lot of white cream sauce. This would later have a negative impact on the taste. When the pasta arrived and I took the first bite, I was instantly confused by the lack of grana padano taste. Instead, a slightly bitter taste of just the cream sauce covered my palate. My first time eating pasta from a cheese wheel... And there was less cheese taste than what you get from Olive Garden. In addition to that, we had also ordered a pizza and meatballs in marinara sauce. Both were bland. While the marinara sauce tasted nice, the meatballs had absolutely no seasoning to the point that anyone following a Hello fresh recipe could make better meatballs. Overall, an exciting evening that ended in disappointment due to poor execution in multiple menu items. I hope you don't experience this kind of inconsistency if you decide to go.