Savoia

Totally disappointing. The initial reviews didn’t seem bad. But, the food was pretty terrible. We walked in and were promptly greeted by the waitress who stated «good, you will be our last customers.» It was 9:15pm. She stunk like cigarettes. We ordered the pizza with sautéed spinach, soprassata, onions and mushrooms, and it was virtually inedible. So gross. It tasted worse than a Boboli from the grocery store. It was soggy and spongy. We also ordered the pappardelle with boar ragu and it was cold and stringy. We just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, as did half of the staff, including the waitress, who were all leaving as we were waiting for our meal. Don’t waste your money. Go to Enoteca on Court or Mama Maria’s! I will never go back to Savoia!

Came here for late lunch and remembered that there is a reason Carroll Gardens is a good spot for Italian! The arugula salad had tomatoes that tasted just picked from a garden. And then I just ordered the margherita pizza — amazing! My husband loved the meat lasagna. And we had awesome gelato for dessert. Cute ambience and great service too :)

Best thin crust authentic pizza ever. Wait staff is friendly, food is great and prices are reasonable. Drive here from Queens and it is totally worth the trip

We came here for dinner Saturday night and had a lovely time. The server was such a sweetheart and the lasagna was most delicious. This is what lasagna should taste like, so other establishments should take note! They did not have the outdoor seating, which was unfortunate but we sat by the doorway. Would certainly dine here again!

Stopped in here for dinner before going to see a show and it was great. The buffalo mozzarella was melt in your mouth good, and everything was so fresh and flavorful. Pizza was great! The staff was friendly and the atmosphere was intimate and homey. Definitely recommend it.

Very good Italian food here. I had the pasta dish with seafood (calamari, shrimp, mussels, clams). The dish was a perfect portion to eat. On the downside there was only 2 shrimp in the dish. But it tasted great.
Very simple menu. A couple of dishes and a couple of drinks. FYI The soda is a 6 oz glass bottle.
The pizza was really good too. A rustic pie; not like domino’s or Ray’s.
The credit card machine was «broken» that night. The waiter offered the ATM on premises. Good thing I had cash because I did not want to get hit with $ 5 transaction fees.
I would eat here again.

What happened? New owners?
This used to be my dad’s favorite place to dine when he visited NYC. Well, no more… and, I sadly have to agree with him. I’ve been coming here for years — most recently around Christmas and then again, last week.
I don’t know where to begin, except with the differences between past and present. They used to have a substantial wine list, now the waiter just rambles off three white wines and three reds (you also have no clue how much they are and can only get them by the glass). Huh. Odd.
The quality of the food isn’t what it used to be (though, the pizzas are still delicious). They’ve removed some menu items, notably the fennel salad and multiple bruschettas. Oh, and what’s the deal with the spotted/​stained paper menus? Not really very appetizing or inviting or a good presentation of your menu offerings. They used to be cash only, but now also accept credit cards. Though, when I last visited, we were set to pay with a credit card and were promptly told that their machine wasn’t working… which I found strange because another table had just paid by credit card 15 minutes prior. Kind of sneaky if you ask me. Oh well, maybe I’m just too picky, or clinging to the past… but, I won’t be coming back any time soon and I’m a little sad about that.

decent italian food in a neighborhood riddled with choices and options from old school to newer and inventive.
there are several things i like most about this place; its willingness and capability to cater to large parties, their prices for the quality of food and their portions. these are all the reasons that i will come back again and again — to check off any or all of the above.
the food is good — and the menu has something for everyone. salads, cheese plates and bruschetta to start. the extensive list of pastas include lasagna, rigatoni with eggplant (a personal fav) and gnocchi with cream sauce.
entrees also provide plentiful options… cutlets, fish and various other meats that are braised, grilled and roasted. an added bonus is that all of their meats are sourced from sustainable farms and are grass fed (a very important detail these days).
pizza is also available if that’s your fancy. while i have never tried them here, they look pretty good and come out of a wood fired oven.
A final positive note, you can sit outside in the warmer months.

My fiancé and I were walking up and down smith street trying to pick a place to eat out the many different choices in the area. We finally settled on savoia after I recalled eating there once in a drunken state.
We got in and were seated right away which was amazing for a Saturday night at 8. The place was pretty crowded but the service was still really good. It seemed like the waiters were straight out of Italy. All of them had seriously thick accents which gave the place a nice vibe.
We ordered a pizza topped with fried eggplant, ricotta salata, and prosciutto. It was unbelievably good. I love brick oven pizza and have tried it at all the famous staples in Brooklyn. This pizza was right up there with them and I would eat it over and over again.
After the pizza we had a beef cutlet topped with roasted peppers and arugula. It was exactly what it sounds like. It was a chicken cutlet but instead of chicken it was beef. It was really good as well. Very tender and tasty.
I really enjoyed this place and will be going back shortly. I’m already thinking about getting some more of that pizza and trying different toppings.

Great pizza, friendly service:)

Had lunch here a few weeks back with my boss. The place has a nice rustic look even if the table was a bit wobbly (waiter put something under it and all was good). We split an Arrabiata pie and it was pretty good, nicely charred on the bottom. Sauce was good but couldve been a little more spicy but the boss was picking up the tab so no complaints from me.

This is our go-​to restaurant since coming to the area 8 years ago and it has gotten better each time. I love the food, and the staff is patient and polite even when we have our son in tow.
Only bad thing: they don’t take credit cards. Boohoo.

I rarely ever visit restaurants without checking them out on Unilocal first. Even if I’m looking for something new and just standing outside I’ll always have to consult with the Unilocal app. This time my phone died so I had no choice when my friend said «I’m hungry so we’re going here» and then quite literally dragged me inside.
We shared the Classic Bruschetta and the Tartufo Pizza. The bruschetta was really good. It really made me yearn for summer to arrive so I could be picking fresh tomatoes from my garden. The pizza was equally delicious. But then again you can’t go wrong with mushrooms, cheese anddddd TRUFFLES! Yummmm…
The ambiance of this place is great. Lots of families having dinner, kids and all. Also lots of groups having dinner with friends. The only negative during the meal was the look of disappointment and disapproval I got from the waitress when I declined on ordering wine and instead asked for water. B**** gave me the stink eye!

great for a nice quick italian dinner.
wasnt feeling how the center of my pizza was soggy.
however the pesto pasta is delicious
the waitress’s are very pretty.
service is great, and the space is very nice.
also would like to add that its very reasonably priced.

Very intimate restaurant. I got the brick oven Cornish hen, which was great, but my friend got the pizza (don’t remember what kind) and OMG IT WAS AMAZING! Definitely will be going back!
PS — They only take cash, but there’s an ATM machine in the restaurant.

The only reason I’m not giving this a five star rating is because they have issues with accepting credit cards. Otherwise, there is nothing to complain about.
I came here twice: once on a Valentine’s Day date and once just with a friend. Both times, the staff was extremely attentive. We got free cappuccinos with designs in them on Valentine’s Day, which was really nice. Their calamari salad is excellent and so is the brick oven pizza that we had, though I don’t remember what kind of pizza it was. Hope to return in the future!

I’d like to try Savoia again to see if my review goes up or down one star. But my first experience was fairly good… good enough for the 3.5 stars I want to give this place to be rounded up to 4 stars.
I was supposed to go to Lucali on a date this past Tuesday, but they randomly closed; disappointing, but there are tons of other restaurants in the area. We ended up at Savoia for some brick oven pizza. The restaurant, which is split into three separate areas (outside, oven room, dining room) was really quiet… maybe six tables of diners.
Our servers were nice, but a little slow. Maybe that’s just the way things are at Savoia… leisurely. I like a faster pace, not that I want to be rushed out of my seat while my entrée is still in front of me. But it took a good ten minutes to order drinks.
We both opted for the same Pizza Special, which was served on a hot pizza bread with slices of tomatoes (no sauce), basil, and slices of buffalo mozzarella. It was more like a salad pizza… but still very fresh and very good. And the pizza crush was also very tasty… usually I leave the crusts, but I ate everything.
We skipped dessert, but did take a peek at the menu… there are a ton of sweet options. Overall, I enjoyed it, but I feel like the service could go either way on a return visit. I’ll go back to try some Ravioli soon, especially if I can sit outside on a nice Saturday afternoon.

I’ve been back to Savoia twice. The first time back we had the same really awesome waiter as our first visit. Oh and that pizza. Incredible. PerfectionX3 (that’s my new superlative). My favorite being the Pizza Norma, which comes with shredded room temperature ricotta salatta, thin slices of breaded eggplant and tomato sauce. The crust is… perfectionX3 too. Thin, charred, bubbly. The funghi pizza was just as good, although more traditional with melted cheese and lots of mushrooms and truffle oil. Let’s face it, what can taste bad with truffle oil on it?
Third visit left me thinking twice about ever returning again. It’s considerable how lackluster service can do this, even when the food is close to being perfect. My boyfriend and I took my folks here as opposed to one of the more traditional red sauce joints, thinking it would be cool to expose them to new things. After that disastrous restaurant experience on Restaurant Row with my mom, I thought I could count on a Carroll Gardens restaurant to give us a exceptional dining experience. We could have gone to Red Rose, Marco Polo or one of the other old school places in the neighborhood. I was thinking Fragole or Savoia, and Savoia won out thanks to it being a bit bigger and more comfortable and less noisy.
We were the first customers of the evening (5:30ish). I got the distinct feeling we weren’t welcome at such an early hour. The waitress seemed a bit annoyed, not overtly enough for me to be like, «let’s go,» but still. We all ordered drinks and a pizza to start, which was as good as ever. And that fennel salad. Holy crap, out of this world good. I tried something different this visit, the buckwheat pasta with veg ragout and goat cheese and arugula pesto. This is another item on the menu that’s a really unique and healthy take on a typically heavy pasta dish. I liked it and would recommend it.
So this is where the good ends. When our food arrived, the runner came to our table to auction off plates (which we couldn’t see, nor could we understand him so we just kind of stared confused. At this point, you’d think the waitress might come over, seeing as we were the only customers in the restaurant). There was no managerial presence in the restaurant that I could see. Then my boyfriend realized, when there was one plate that the runner couldn’t auction off, that the order was incorrect. So our waitress appeared and this was explained to her. She gave a dubious «hmmmmm» and walked away. Then she returned and said that the kitchen *would* make him what he ordered (as in, they’ll do this for you as a favor), but that it would take time. Of course we were understanding, polite the entire time. But it just seemed like everyone was annoyed by us.
So, then you being to consider all the little things. Cash only. Wouldn’t you agree that’s ridiculous when a restaurant has average entrees at 16 – 20 dollars per course and salads/​apps run about 8 – 11 dollars? They have an ATM which is kind of tacky, too. It’s all at odds with things. That and the cracked toilet seat in the bathroom. The chipped plates. Not to mention when our plates were being cleared by a different waitress, my boyfriend asked if he could take the bone home for the dog, and she gave him a look like he was insane. I mean, it was so awkward that I laughed out loud. Then there’s the kind of big deal that no one said thank you as we walked out of the restaurant where we had spent over 150 dollars plus a 20% tip. Not cool. Not returning.
But wow, is that food ever so good. What do you do with this?

Ciao bella!
Tuesday night late dinner at 9pm following an electrifying Open-​Mike feature performance of near twenty minutes nearby MikNic Lounge surely wet my appetite for solid substance. Party of two where my friend quickly inhaled and engulfed the Rib Eye Steak Tagliata with Porcini mushroom Argugola and Parmigiano at $ 23.00 while I sipped on Trebbiano di Romagna Zini, Emilia 2009 white wine at $ 7.00 was not all exotic or induce with floral essence. My baby spinach salad was savory with Prosciutto, walnuts pear with Gorgonzola dressing at $ 10.50. Minus the walnuts my salad was the right consistency and a good portion. The Rib Eye Steak Tagliata was very flavorful and I greatly enjoyed Arugola and Parmigiano. My friend’s Falanghina white wine at $ 11.00 has a nice whimsy taste to break into summer. The wine menu is heavily engrossed with Italian wine of many I do not recognize, which Savoia detach themselves from typical Italian restaurants. They do not have the standard genres of Malbec, Shiraz, Zinfandel, Savagin for either red or white wine.
Service is attentive and courteous with a very Italian hospitality flair. Walnuts seem to be a key ingredient at Savoia in their appetizer and entrees.
Note: Cash only as Savoia do NOT accept credit or debit cards in any format.

So, I go back after far too long. The partner and I share a table w/​just the right amount of sunbeams shining through to still enjoy the amazing weather. After himming and hawing over Orechiette w/​sausage or Rigatoni w/​eggplant and ricotta, Rigatoni it is. Plus the Diavola pizza, of course! Cant resist the Sopressata…
But even before all of the tasty goodness arrives, we have ice cold water in our very own beautiful copper pitcher and the best bread + foccacia to dip into your custom made oil/​vinegar concoction. «Dont fill up on the bread» we tell ourselves, but do we ever listen? No.
Then the tasty goodness arrives, piping hot and perfect. I live to eat.