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Ron Molinare opened Il Pizzaiolo in Mt. Lebanon in 1996. The restaurant started with just pizza -- now some of the most authentic Neapolitan pizza you can eat in the United States.
As the years passed, Mr. Molinare repeatedly expanded, adding pastas and salads, acquiring a liquor license and building a second-story wine bar behind the restaurant that is sleek and atmospheric while the main dining room is bright and welcoming.
This year, Mr. Molinare hired a new chef, Richard Sphatt, who has added entrees to the menu.
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703 Washington Road
412-344-4123
Hours: Monday-Thursday, noon-10 p.m.; Friday-Saturday, noon-11 p.m.; Sunday noon-9 p.m.. Wine bar, Monday-Sunday, 5 p.m.-close.
Basics: This casually chic, yet family-friendly, restaurant serves up an ever expanding menu of antipasto, pizza, pastas and, most recently, entrees. Don't miss the super-authentic Neapolitan pizzas.
Recommended dishes: Arancini, panzarotti, antipasto napoli, insalata tricolore, pizza margherita DOC, pizza provola, gnocchi alla sorrentina.
Prices: Antipasto, $6-18; pizza, $12-17; pasta, $16-23; entrees, $16-24; desserts, $6.
Drinks: Eight mostly classic cocktails, $8-10; a dozen beers by the bottle, $5-20; small but interesting all-Italian wine list, loosely organized by intensity; seven white and sparkling wines by the glass, starting at $8; nine red wines by the glass, starting at $8; 11 sparkling and white wines by the bottle, six for $40 or less; 25 red wines by the bottle, 11 for $40 or less; mark-up ranges between 200 and more than 300 percent of retail price, with higher-end bottles typically being marked up less.
Summary: Main dining room wheelchair accessible; credit cards accepted; no reservations; no BYOB.
Noise level: Main dining room, loud to excruciating; wine bar, excruciating; patio, low.
The variety of offerings is matched by the variety of the clientele. Il Pizzaiolo is a favorite of families with young children, but it's also a great spot for a romantic evening, especially if you can snag a table on the lovely, sheltered courtyard with its serene atmosphere. Adult groups tend to favor the upstairs wine bar, putting up with the ear-splitting noise for the Brazilian Caipirinhas (cocktails popular in Italy long before they were stateside).
Whatever the group or mood, this versatile menu has something to offer. Arancini and panzarotti are perfect bar food ($6 each), the former traditionally made from leftover risotto, the latter from leftover pureed potatoes. Here, golf-ball-size arancini are fried just long enough to turn their light breadcrumb coating a golden brown and melt the fresh mozzarella hidden inside each croquette. Each crunchy bite of cigar-shaped panzarotti gives way to a perfectly smooth mouthful of pureed potatoes, enriched with just a little mozzarella ($6).
Balance out these crunchy, salty bites with a refreshing tricolore salad, named for the way the red radicchio, white endive and green arugula represent the Italian flag. An exuberant lemon vinaigrette and large shavings of excellent parmigiano-reggiano take the edge off the salad's vibrant bitter notes ($10).
While the restaurant sources many ingredients locally, it doesn't blink at bringing specialty items from the mother country if they are the best available. A caprese salad featured burrata cheese "just flown in from Italy last night," served over tomatoes riper and more flavorful than tomatoes in April have any right to be. Drizzled with balsamic and olive oil and sprinkled with salt, a touch of the fork broke the skin of the cheese, letting loose a perfect flood of creamy mozzarella curds coated in cream.
On another evening, the special featured soft shell crab, coated in focaccia breadcrumbs and pan-fried. The flaky meat and crunchy shells were nicely offset by a tart cucumber and red pepper salad and saffron-scented mayonnaise.
While this menu seems to go on and on, choices aren't quite as numerous as they first appear. Many pizzas and pastas share almost identical ingredients, which made assembling a diverse order a bit more challenging -- admittedly, not necessarily a problem for the average diner.
Inconsistency was a more pressing problem. The best Italian food relies on coaxing sublime flavors from just a few ingredients, and past visits to the restaurant left me impressed with the vivid flavors of many dishes. But during these last few dinners, superb dishes were undermined by others that were at best forgettable and a few that bordered on unpleasant.
Gnocchi alla Sorrentina showcased excellent potato dumplings -- delicate, yet compact -- but the marinara was too salty ($17), overwhelming the delicate flavor of shreds of fresh mozzarella scattered throughout the dish. Spaghetti alla puttanesca ($16) is a classic example of the way a few inexpensive ingredients can be transformed by the right balance of flavors. The spaghetti was cooked well, but the marinara sauce tasted too much of anchovy and olives, without enough balancing heat. The result was pleasant enough, but dull.
Caesar and misticanza salads couldn't recover from lackluster greens ($10) that made each bite a chore. As for the entrees, even the best were still works in progress.
Lasagna di carnevale ($16) sounded straight out of an Italian grandmother's kitchen, with fresh pasta, layers of meatballs, sweet fennel sausage, fresh riccota and mozzarella and marinara. Unfortunately, the fresh pasta had become gummy and stuck together in patches. Meatballs and sausage were indistinguishable in flavor, nothing tasted like fennel, and worst of all, the square of lasagne was cool in the middle.
Shrimp Scampi ($23) was served in a pool of sauce made from white wine, lemon juice and garlic enriched by butter and olive oil and thickened with some toasted breadcrumbs. Unfortunately, it was a little too salty to really enjoy. The shrimp looked and tasted as if they'd been treated a bit roughly.
Although not successes, these dishes were not total failures. With a little tweaking, both could have been wonderful. Pizzas, happily, remain some of the best items on the menu. The crust is an excellent contrast between the delicate middle portion and the chewy, lightly charred edges. Some complain that this style of pizza is too wet, and it should be eaten quickly to prevent it from growing soggy. The delicate crust is essential to creating the right balance of flavors.
First-timers must order the DOC Margherita, the platonic ideal of pizza, with its perfect balance of San Marzano tomato sauce, fresh buffalo mozzarella, basil and parmigiano-reggiano ($17). For a subtle and sophisticated contrast try the salsicce & rapini, a white pizza with small pieces of slightly bitter rapini and chunks of sweet fennel sausage evenly distributed over a thin layer of fresh mozzarella ($17). My new favorite is the provola, with smoked buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and basil, topped with a shower of arugula that adds a crisp finish and a peppery note to every bite ($17).
Mr. Molinare acknowledged that adding entrees has been a challenge for his staff, given the small size of the kitchen. That may help explain why servers seemed to have so much trouble pacing meals. Repeatedly, courses were brought before we had finished the previous one, forcing us to juggle for space. Given the relatively high prices, I expected slightly more attentive service, especially in the wine bar, where those who don't get a seat at the bar may have a hard time getting drinks in a timely manner.
Despite a few rough spots, this restaurant's popularity is deserved. What the restaurant lacks in consistency it makes up for with its wonderful atmosphere, and a menu that is still dominated by excellent dishes. But perhaps, after years of additions, some editing is in order.
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