Pizza Vinoteca

Fast delivery on a rainy day… Best whole wheat crust I’ve tasted so far… Oh and the coconut/​dulce de leche doughnut dessert is to die for… no seriously I died yesterday, and was resuscitated and saw splendor in each bite. LOL (I go overboard)

I was skeptical when I walked into Vinoteca.
I was skeptical of the ultra-​modern layout, I was skeptical of the fact that they could seat us (until we were led upstairs), I was skeptical of the neon-​lit wine cases, and the division of them by colors shouted out in large print (AMBER, STRAW, RUBY, GARNET).
I was skeptical of the iPad ordering system. Not for the same reasons as my tech-​savvy friends («First generation? LOL.»), but because I spend far too much time in front of a screen for work, and even if it wasn’t needlessly complicated, I don’t mind conversing with a person. It’s also odd to appoint a table captain and send him suggestions via the app; we break bread because it’s fun to talk to people about what we want to eat. But our waiter assured us we were also allowed to speak to him once we made our decisions, which is nice.
Once the food arrived, however, I was less skeptical. With their whole wheat, red wine-​leavened dough, I do think the grilled pizzas at Vinoteca ride the line between pizza and flatbread… but I’m not going to split hairs because whatever they are, they taste good. The pepperoni pie was my favorite of the several we ordered, although the potato pie and the fig/​onion/​gorgonzola option were also quite nice. And if you’re in the mood for a ball-​shaped appetizer, I preferred the arancini to the meatballs.
I also generally prefer substance over style. And although Pizza Vinoteca has style in abundance (it’s a matter of taste whether you consider it to be good or bad), they offer enough substance to make it worth a visit. Trust me; you could do far, far worse than Vinoteca if you’re looking for a group lunch spot near Union Square.

this gets 5 stars for inventive use of technology, entrepreneurial spirit, balanced pricing, foodie fare, atmosphere, and quality of ingredients.
we ducked in after scurrying away from the tumultuous lower east side halloween shenanigans and wanted a cheap pizza place. i always default to weird or interesting food options and he likes the beautiful simplicity of a good pizza… i think we found a great match!
we bought a fancy pants root bear float and a blood orange alcoholic Julius that tasted like a grown up creamsicle dream~!
the meat plate appetizer came with candied figs and pre-​seasoned bread!
but my fav part of this whole experience was the chunky spec bits (think really awesome bacon bits!) on the tangy bleu cheese fresh fig and pear whole wheat red-​wine leavened thin crispy crust pizza… oh my gosh put it all in my mouth again and again please.

Pizza Venoteca has a great atmosphere, hip décor, lovely customer service and excellent pizza.
Let’s just start with the décor. Everything from the exterior to the lights, the menu and the pizza box all tie together with a nice black and white design that emanates the impression of being in a place with consideration to the last detail.
The pizza easily follows this same method. The crust is thin and flaky on the outside, and soft on the inside. The sauce is nice and sharp while the cheese just melts in your mouth. I ordered the house margarita, and just look at this presentation. Excellent proportions with enough to get full and carry on for another 4 hrs.
If you’re in Union square looking for a nice and casual place to sit down, come to pizza venoteca. Bring a friend or a loved one! You will not be disappointed.

When hubby told me he got a groupon for pizza, I was like meh… Pizza Vinoteca isn’t like any pizzeria though:
— The place is very inviting, very clean, and has a modern vibe to it that make it a really cool hang out spot.
— The staff is extremely welcoming, smiling and bring you in like it’s their home.
— The menu is on Ipad, so you can place your order and it goes straight to the kitchen! How cool is that?!
— The meat balls were awesome, homemade in a delicious tomato sauce,
— The shrimp and fennel salad was fresh and huge,
— Order three pizzas. One with meatballs, it was good! One with figs and pear, also a winner. But my super duper favorite was the mushroom with truffle oil and cheese! Had it fell on the floor, I would have eaten it. So, so, so good!
— Left overs were brought home in a cool looking rectangular box!
— Perfect night, awesome meal, beautiful place, original food, must try hidden at the side of Union Square!

RESTAURANT OF THE FUTURE!
Very cool spot just off of Union Square. Just where I’m always looking for an affordable spot to tuck away. At Pizza Vinoteca you can have a nice conversation over delicious cracker-​thin pizza (THIS IS NOT CLASSIC NYC-​STYLE PIZZA), enjoy a beverage from their reasonably sized/​priced wine/​beer/​soft drink list, and even indulge in a decadent dessert.
All ordering is placed via individual iPads that display the intuitive & interactive menu. This is worth commenting on as it really does feel like the future. Each item is accompanied by a beautiful photo and description. Half way through the meal and you’d like to try something else? I did! Simply tap out your option, send it to the kitchen, and the reinforcements arrive within minutes.
The pizzas themselves were noteworthy for their toothsomeness. Our party of 3 tried 4 individual pies:
«HOUSE»: TOMATO, FONTINA, MOZZARELLA, BASIL · · · · · · · · $ 9
«EGGPLANT»: TOMATO, MOZZARELLA, CHILI · · · · · · · · · · · $ 11.5
«TARTE FLAMBÈE»: CRÈME FRAÎCHE, FROMAGE BLANC, BACON, ONIONS · $ 10.5
«SHRIMP»: GREEN ZUCCHINI, YELLOW SQUASH, TOMATO, CAPERS · · $ 11.5
All were crispy and delicious, especially the Shrimp and Tarte Flambèe!
Service was quick. Ambiance is great, though I can imagine that it will be a bit loud when busy (lots of marble everywhere) and the overall experience warrants a 5 star rating! You can bet your bottom dollar that I’ll return.

Pizza Vinoteca, where have you been all my life?!
This place is so close to perfect it’s scary.
10 things I love most about PIzza Vinoteca:
1) It’s in Union Square, really close to the subway entrance, so you can go even if it’s snowhailing outside!
2) It seats about a bagillion, so you can go snuggle up with a date OR bring 20 friends!
3) The beer and wine are really reasonably priced.
4) The wine dispensers are neat!
5) The pizza is DELICIOUS! And perfectly sized.
6) The service is super friendly!
7) YOU ORDER ON AN IPAD!
8) Just in case the iPad confuses you (I won’t judge), the staff is just available enough without being smothering.
9) The interior looks like if Virgin airlines opened a restaurant!
10) $ 9 – 14 for dinner is a great deal!
Oh yes, I’ll be back.

Ok – the food was absolutely fantastic and I would most definitely eat or order from here again, and I think it would be 4 stars if it ended at that, however I’m giving 3 stars because of everything else.
I have been wanting to try this place basically since it opened up not too long ago so I was pretty excited when I saw that there was a Gilt City coupon for it. I immediately snatched that up and my boyfriend and I went the same day (on a wednesday night). We had a reservation for 7:30 and got there pretty much right on time but it was barely crowded. The hostess told us to head on upstairs and see the hostess up there to be sat. The whole thing looked like it was out of a movie about the future. My boyfriend commented that it was like a restaurant you’d see in Japan. Very futuristic. Felt very sterile.
Once we sat, we were given iPads to do our ordering on. I mentioned the Gilt City coupon and the hostess assured us that someone would come by to apply it. No one ever came by after we asked her for a second time, so we just decided to get to ordering. I liked the idea of ordering off an iPad but we did have some questions and no one was around to answer them (we also strangely had no internet/​cell service in there to google the food items we didn’t recognize). We hoped for the best and sent our order on its way.
The food came out surprisingly quick. Barely took any time for us to get our apps. I again mentioned our coupon to the person that brought out our food and he said we could wait until we finish eating. The food was great. We got the cheese plate and the cucumber caponata as our appetizers. Both were really tasty. Not too heavy, just enough to keep us going until pizza timeeeeee.
For dinner, we split the tarte flambée and the eggplant pizza. Both also came out very quickly and were DELICIOUS. I really liked the tarte flambée a lot. Thin, crispy crust on both pizzas. Wasn’t heavy like a regular slice of new york pizza. We also were able to order 2 bombolonis with our coupon. We got the mexican chocolate and the coconut flavors. They were so tasty. Just sweet enough. A nice finish to dinner.
Since we weren’t able to get anyone to apply our coupon most of the night, we got our check with the incorrect amount. We had to ask again and thankfully the manager came over and marked it as used and gave us a new check with the correct amount. Kind of a hassle, but worth it.
I gotta say, after this, I think I like having a waiter/​waitress instead of an iPad but it was definitely a fun and new experience.

Pizza Vinoteca is a visually pleasing concept pairing delicious foods and beverages. They have an extensive wine/​beer and coffee list, delicious menu and great desserts.
We went here for a late lunch on a saturday and had a great experience. We ordered the veal meatballs, prosciutto wrapped asparagus two pepperoni pizzas and the shrimp pizza. All of which was fresh, delicious and satisfying. I ordered another pizza the nduja meatball not because I was still hungry but because I was being greedy lol.
For drinks one of my companions had a gelato float, another companion and I had a glass of Dao Tinto wine which was the perfect compliment to our meal. Apparently this wine is very popular because they ran out so I had the merlot. Not crazy about the automated wine pouring machines. I feel like we got less than normal pour with that and they should have wine by the bottle. As a coffee connoisseur, I like that they give you a choice of espresso beans to choose from when they craft your coffee beverage. This is very unique!
For dessert we had the bomboloni, one of each flavor to be exact and they were out of this world good. So good, I came back two nights in a row to order them to go for dessert!
It does take sometime getting use to the unconventional way of ordering with the iPad but the waiter was around to answer any questions we had.
Food: Excellent food
Service: Takes time getting use to ordering from an iPad but we live in the age of technology so I think I am up to speed
Atmosphere: Casual, sleek, mod

Came here with my husband today, a Sunday afternoon. We ordered togo as today was a beautiful day to eat in the park.
Waitress/​hostess was very friendly and helpful — explained to us how to order using the large tv screens. For some weird reason, ordering on their fancy computers didn’t work so we reordered and paid at the cashier station. We had no problem with this, or waiting for our food.
What i did have an issue with was how flustered/​not professional the worker who rang us up seemed. He seemed to be the manager, as he apologized to us a few times for waiting, honestly, we didn’t wait for more than 15 – 20 minutes, so that was no issue. What i did have an issue with is how unprofessional he was. He was yelling at the workers in the kitchen, for no real reason (from standing there for 15 – 20 min it was clear everything he said could have been said in a nicer more professional tone), More of an asking instructing tone as opposed to a flustered/​lecturing/​condescending tone. As a customer, it made me uncomfortable, especially since the kitchen is so open and customers can see/​hear everything.
There were about 5 people in the ‘kitchen’/behind the glass preparing the food, and none of them seemed very happy and they weren’t even THAT busy, i mean i wouldn’t have been happy either if i was being yelled at by my manager.
In addition, after all our food was ready and boxed up, it was at this time, they decided to prepare our drinks for us. To me this was minus 2 for the manager, as i feel like good management would have had drinks prepared first because now our food was all packed up, getting cold/​stale. When we were waiting for our pizza’s to come out of the oven, one of the five workers could have been working on our drinks. It just seemed like a disorganized mess … i don’t know how long this place has been opened, but i hope they get more organized and handle things better in the future …
the food was overall very good.
mushroom pizza was delicious — great flavor not too much cheese, crust was good as well.
sausage pizza was okay — the sausage was a little too fatty for me, a few pieces i had to spit out because i couldn’t chew it [kind of gross i know — but i feel like with these price points, the quality of sausage should be a better].
we got two bomboloni’s — they were very fresh and delicious, super sweet, feel like they would be great with coffee. I also ordered a iced latte, but it was watered down and did not taste good.
I would give the service a 1 — mainly because of that one gentleman, I actually felt really bad for everyone he was working with. The food itself would probably get a 3.5
I would come here again in hopes the service was better, there are also a few other pizza’s i wanted to try. Hoping our next experience here will be better than today’s

I was very VERY surprised with this place. I went to Pizza Vinoteca because my gf suggested we all go since it’s at union sq (a good central meeting point) after work. There was a lot against it but let me go through the steps.
1. I checked out the menu (website) and it was simple, so I didn’t know what to expect. I also thought it was the other pizza joint down the street as it has that euro-​trendy look from the 90’s or 00’s.
2. The place looked like an ordinary joint like Just Salad or something… but then we went upstairs where it looked like it was from the future behind the scenes 007 secret lab where they were harvesting wine from wine bottles in chilled perfect temperature for delicious wines.
3. The pizzas are rectangular. Basically one pizza can be shared (tapas style) with 4 people… The sausage and brocolli rabe is INCREDIBLE! There was something about the rabe and that made it taste very distinct. The shrimp pizza wasn’t bad. The house pizza is great. I think all of the dough is whole wheat (which was great).
4. The apps (though there isn’t much of a selection) were great. The cheese platter was so reasonable ($ 9 for 4 or 5 cheeses). The meat platter wasn’t too bad.
5. I forgot to mention that they give ipads as menus and to call for service and to send up food etc… No need to flag down a waiter or waitress. The menus worked really well too.
They must have invested a lot in the place, however perhaps they paid the wrong interior designer. The place doesn’t look like a restaurant until you go upstairs, but it’s so weird. I’m not giving this a bad review because of décor, as everything was perfect! Also did I mention we all left extremely full and had 2 drinks a person for $ 35 (which included tip).

Interesting place with awesome food. I feel like this place is the Euro-​modern version of what the Meatball Shop is for pizza. Did that make sense? I’ve been working on that line for like a week… Anyway, the iPad menus for individual ordering seems better in concept than reality, and the layout is a bit strange but pleasantly intersting: the dining room upstairs has huge skylights, and the downstairs seems like wasted space I’d prefer the open kitchen in the dining room as opposed to downstairs which is just kind of an over-​sized vestibule. I do think the downstairs would make a nice, dimly lit dining room for dinner.
Anyway, the rice balls are probably the best I’ve ever had (dipping in that truffle aioli is kinda like cheating), the house and sausage pizzas were both great depending on your mood. I didn’t care for the glasses they use for their drinks, but the negroni bianco was tasty and the substatial wine list is priced right for lunch or dinner, and it seems like there’s always a deal to be had for this place (Amazon, etc). Nice modest option for the neighborhood.

First of all I want to start off by saying some if the best pizza I have ever had. I partook in the house pizza, which I must say had some of the most vibrant and robust flavors I have ever had in pizza. It was as if they broke food down into the text book version. The crust was there but not something you really remember. The cheese provided a blanket of comfort of what you are usually used to when getting pizza, but with a lot fresher taste. The sauce was the foundation and it was phenomenal. I felt as if they picked the ingredients out back, and the basil gave a robust flavor which was not to overpowering. But it was enough to leave you in awe.
I was upstairs and I must say it was beautiful. The restaurant is well decorated and gives off a calming feel. The iPad menu is quite unique, but I believe that is what makes that restaurant them. It does lower the personal experience some, but they are so nice that you strike conversation with them. As my waiter came by he noticed I was trying to convince my godfather to watch Game of Thrones and we struck a conversation from there, and he was a really nice guy too.
I defiantly recommend this restaurant for lunch business meeting, because they also have a fine selection of wines. It will let them know that you have a certain amount of class, but you are still straightforward and know the basics. Have fun!!!

I have eaten in both the dining area upstairs with a reservation and downstairs for the happy hour and service was attentive in both locations. You order via an iPad, which is ideal if you like to pace your courses.
They have a great selection of food-​friendly wines and i have yet to find one I did not like. I have only tried one of their cocktails, the Boulevardier, and found it to be enjoyable.
Their cheese and meat platters are sold separately but I recommend getting both for 2 – 4 people as they have a great assortment.
Sides that I enjoyed are the arancini (crispy outside, creamy inside, pungent truffle oil and tangy dipping aioli) and the prosciutto wrapped asparagus (perfect amount of salt).
My favorite pizza is the Hawaiian; it is definitely unique and bursting with flavor. I have tried the Sausage pizza and the Nduja Meatball pizza and found both to be fine but nothing outstanding. I am interested in trying their Tarte Flambée pizza and Mushroom pizza next.
I enjoyed the flavor of the Mexican Chocolate Bombolini over the Lemon one and their Gelato Paninis are no joke. The Tiramisu Panini was perfect for sharing.
Overall, I like that a place like this exists. The ordering is fun, the staff is pleasant, the wine is plentiful and the food is consistently good with some dishes and pizza better than others. I highly recommend giving it a try.

Some of these reviews seem really sketchy to me… but anywho…
This place is really modern and gives off a sort of trendy vibe. The restaurant itself is very clean. There is probably not even a speck of dust on the ground.
I came here with my boyfriend around 5 PM on a Sunday, and it was pretty empty. We were seated right away and given iPads to order from. We ordered the sausage pizza and Hawaiian pizza, and they came out pretty fast. The pizza was alright, but it didn’t really wow me. The Hawaiian pizza was definitely better than the sausage pizza by far. The sausage pizza was just… very bitter. The sauce was too acidic and it was just pretty bad (and burnt) in general. Thankfully the Hawaiian pizza was much better and I actually enjoyed that one. However I’m pretty sure I’ve eaten way better pizza than this.
Service is attentive and pretty fast. All of the staff members are really nice and friendly.
It was a nice experience overall, but I probably won’t come here again as there are better pizza places around.

This place is amazing! The food and drinks most-​importantly are fantastic, everything tastes fresh and innovative. Atmosphere is beautiful and very modern, the service is top-​notch. All at such a reasonable price, especially for NYC. Will definitely be back here again soon and recommending this place to friends.
Love the wine keg wall upstairs, what a great idea!

This place is dizzyingly ultra modern. The menus are on iPads and you handle every ordering step yourself. I worked with computers for over 40 years so it was easy and fun for me. But, if you aren’t really computer literate, the staff will guide you through it.
That being said, let’s talk about the food. The pizzas are a different kind of pie. They are grilled, rectanglular, extremely thin and crispy and delicious. The whole wheat crust was crunchy and delish as were the fresh toppings.
The donuts for desert were pretty good, especially the tart lemon curd and pistachio.
The wine is reasonable, but be advised that the «full glass», claimed by our server to be 6 ounces, seemed like only 4. The glasses of beer are only about 10 ounces, but thirst quenching, cold and great quality.
The pizzas look small upon presentation, but we left thoroughly sated.
Foriendly staff, decent food, moderate prices. We’ll be back.

Pizza Vinoteca is a new pizza joint located on 15^th just off of Union Square West. While there is nothing particularly modern about the menu selection, the modern tech in this place is great though the staff is still trying to learn how to deal with it.
First, you use iPads to order through a custom app. Most people are very familiar with how to use an App, and the App itself is self-​explanatory, yet we had to listen to a 3 minute presentation on how to use it including directions on how to swipe etc… I am an App Developer so I am very familiar with how to work apps, yet I was able to send a double order over, so perhaps the UI could use a little work. Once I did place the double order, 3 separate people came by to check if I wanted the double order or not. 3 separate times I answered no.
Once ordered and the duplicate cancelled, the drinks came out promptly. Decent drinks, very reasonable prices. The food came out a few minutes later.
We started with a $ 6 appetizer of prosciutto wrapped sautéed broccoli rabe. Pretty tasty, but all the flavor was is the prosciutto, and the rabe was oversalted. To be fair, it was probably salted fine on it’s own, but combined with the prosciutto it was a bit much.
We split a Sausage pizza between 2 people, and were left a little hungry. Don’t be fooled by the photos here folks, these pizzas a personal in size. You get about the same amount of pizza area as 2 Two-​bros slices.
I thought the pizza sauce was a bit too acidic, the sausage to be under-​spiced, the crust to be a bit too thin, and the broccoli rabe to be a bit too soft. None of these issues were enough to make the pizza *bad* per se, but they also did not make the pizza great either. The pizza was $ 14 and we left hungry.
One unique problem I had at Pizza Vinoteca was with the flatware and plates. The pizza came out with the topping edge to edge. This isn’t a problem in-​of-​itself, but it did require me to use a fork and knife to cut bite sized pieces. The problem with this is that 1) this is NYC — you don’t eat pizza with a fork and knife — and 2) the plates have zero friction with the smooth (marble?) table tops. Trying to cut the pizza while holding my plate still on the table top was a bit of a challenge.
The cutlery was also modernly shaped, asymmetrical and pretty neat looking actually. The problem with them is that they don’t want to stay on the small plates. Twice I had placed my knife on the plate after cutting and twice it fell off the plate, table and into my lap. This also happened once with the fork. One spill I can chalk up to human error, but 3 tumbles into my lap and it indicates that there may be a problem with the shape of the cutlery and the shape of the plates.
When it was time to pay the bill, I told the app to ring me up and send the bill. Two different servers came over with two identical bills.
Question: If the menus are there to order with, explain the menu, and assist with the bill, why do you have so much waitstaff? There were about equal amounts of wait staff and customers, and with them standing around, it felt a bit like I was eating in a fish bowl.
I think that many of the more positive reviews are based on the tech of this place, seeing as iPad ordering is relatively new to the industry, but I was less impressed than others. For me it was mediocre quality food, not a stellar value, and a bit buggy in their opening weeks. I may go back once they iron out some of these kinks, but maybe not.

Fabulous pizza, great interior, super-​friendly waitstaff, and the prices aren’t bad either! Don’t be fooled by the main entrance room that has only two small tables — that’s just the «to go» area, and there’s a whole floor upstairs for main dining.
Came here with some friends for dinner/​drinks to check it out, and ordered the prosciutto wrapped broccoli rabe to start (my two favorite things!) — yum. The wine menu is divided by cute color-​shades, so you can choose your wine based on a light-​to-​dark spectrum. I find that very helpful, since I’m not a wine connoisseur but appreciate a variety. I ordered a glass of rosé (located under the «Whink» color section), and friends ordered a «Boulevardier» — which was essentially an Old-​Fashioned with bourbon — some sort of frozen drink with alcohol that was amazing, and a maraschino and cassia «Kola» (appropriately located under the «Not Wine» category).
We also ordered 4 pizzas — an anchovy marinara, a meatball and kale, a tarte flambee (bacon, onions, crème fraîche), and something called a Jowlciale which was honey, chili, and pistachios. The last one was the crowd favorite — reminded me a lot of Roberta’s Beesting pizza, mixing sweet and spicy to make something incredible. Would definitely come back and order a whole one of these for myself!
We splurged and got dessert too, since the bambolinos (aka filled doughnuts) were only $ 2. And who can resist fried dough of any kind? I certainly can’t. The lemon curd doughnut was wonderful, exactly the right way to finish off the night. Also tried the gelato paninis, which weren’t my thing (why ruin gelato with anything else?) but the rest of the group was a big fan of the butterscotch version.
Servers were wonderful, place was super-​hip and shiny with new kitchen toys and colorful accents. I’ve also heard all the ingredients are local, which is a nice touch. It’s nice to have a place that’s both high-​quality and casual near the office, and I’ll definitely be back. Doesn’t hurt that they have more than 30 wines available by the glass, too.

For me, even three stars is giving these guys a break. Décor is very interesting. Service is fine. But since when should a pizza come out just warm served on a cold plate?
iPad menu is interesting but it took too long for my server to run a demo. Wines are listed by specific colors — straw, ruby, cherry, etc — maybe a tad precious.
On the plus side my starter of olives and radishes was fine and a generous serving. Pizza tasted OK. Might try it again but I am in no rush.