Nona Mia Market, Deli & Pizzeria

I have been here a number of times – a few times for take out and a couple of times to eat in. The staff is very friendly and the food is really tasty. I do think it’s some of the best pizza in Asheville (yes, Farmhouse is great!). And the pasta is also delicious. I also think their wine selection is decent. The atmosphere is nice and for those of us on the West side of town, it’s really convenient. For very, very solid Italian in the heart of the mountains, this is your place.

Used to be one of my favorite pizza spots in town. Than they moved. The manager literally came to our table while my family was still eating, boxed our food and took plates we were eating off of. The server apologized. I paid they bill, tipped the server for their excellent service and left. I will not go back.

I really enjoyed dinning here, the sicilian pizza is delicious service was good, I cant complain about anything Yet!

I honestly don’t understand why this restaurant isn’t getting more love on Unilocal which is what prompted me to write this review. I normally have to take Unilocal reviews with a grain of salt, but some of the comments here are requiring an entire container of Morton’s.
One woman downgraded the restaurant because her husband’s tea wasn’t refilled promptly. There are so many niggling, minor complaints from peevish people here.
What I like about this restaurant, which is true to all restaurants to which I gave high marks, is its focus on handcrafted, locally sourced food. Nona Mia makes all of its breads and, amazingly, all of its pastas except the spaghetti. Unfortunately, my husband and I shared just a few dishes which means I did not get to eat my way through the entire menu, so I can’t weigh in on the pasta dishes — that will have to wait for another time.
My husband and I had the rustica salad which is described as being «mixed field greens, pear, walnuts, Gorgonzola, lemon, extra-​virgin olive oil.» What we were served was straight up baby spinach and apple plus the other ingredients. I was so tired at dinner that I didn’t realize until I was writing this review and was double-​checking the menu online, that we were served a substitution. The salad was fine — but a bit heavy on the spinach. We also ordered an antipasto and a margherita neopolitan-​style pizza. The antipasto includes homemade mozzarella and house cured meats. The pizza is probably the best I’ve had in Asheville thus far — certainly better than All Souls Pizza on Clingman Avenue.
To be honest, I don’t feel as if I’ve eaten enough of the menu to write a fair review here. What I do know is that by eyeballing the menu what I’m seeing here looks more intriguing and more authentically Italian than those of its competitors (why is there a *Greek* salad on Vinnie’s menu?)
I also spoke at length with our waiter and one of the owners, Yolie Affatato, who were both enthusiastic about how much of everything was made in house, which to me indicates a high commitment to creating superior quality food. Restaurants that are so detail oriented have my attention and Nona Mia should have yours. Nona Mia, as far as I can tell, is the only restaurant in town that gets close to executing what I consider to be refined Italian cuisine. I fully intend on returning here with a bigger appetite and giving a fuller report
There’s not a lot of Italian food in Asheville. I think some people in western North Carolina may be so parochial (namely, some of the reviewers here) they don’t understand what Italian food is. They are possibly the same people who think Domino’s is Italian. If you want unlimited refills of sweet tea, go to Bojangles.

I had eggplant pizza, the best pizza of my life maybe. I also had a side salad which was fresh and had a tasty vinaigrette.
Why three stars? There was a woman working there… I think she may have been the owner, because she wasn’t in uniform like the rest of the staff. She spoke about our waiter in a rude way behind his back, when all he was doing was following our instructions perfectly regarding the timing of the food for the kids. As a former waitress, that rubbed me the wrong way.
She kept telling our 3 year olds to sit down in their chairs, which is impossible because they are 3. She was well-​meaning and even brought them books to read to try and get them to sit down. But she just didn’t know when to quit (and I told her to buzz off as politely as I could). The chairs were wide, sturdy, and had high backs which continuously wrapped into the arms, so the fall risk was minimal. They were being so quiet and happy, her actions were seriously risking a tantrum.
I won’t bring my kids back, and I’m hesitant to support a place that clearly does not respect their staff.

The service was impeccable, food was top notch and the atmosphere was great. This place embodies the friendliness of west Asheville with food you will go back for over and over! The owner was there and checking on everyone, very pleasant and you can tell she cares about her restaurant. I highly recommend and will be back very soon!

The farmhouse pie is the best pizza I have ever had. Add roasted garlic to this pie. It takes a while to cook but is worth the wait.

Stopped in last night, July 4, seated right away. Service was pretty good the only thing was my husbands ice tea did not get refilled until he was done eating dinner. The food was really good, I tried a bite of everyone’s, all delicious. The calamari was over cooked, that is why I rated 4 not 5. Would definitely go here again.

I had hesitated going here, as it looked like a dive from the outside. A friend had gone in to apply for a job and told me it was lovely inside, with an interesting menu.
So far have had two full meals and two pizza nights here. Very lovely, friendly staff, from the bartender to the servers to the owners.
Took out-​of-​town guests here and had to bring them back for a second meal.
The pork chop special was delish. Great seasoning, cooked as requested, temp –wise. The accompanying asparagus were grilled perfectly and seasoned well. The fettuccine was light and tasty.
The ravioli dish on the menu was fresh, airy and filled with flavor. I understand it is a favorite there, as well it should be.
The bread basket with oil was okay. I liked the balsemic-​infused oil; the bread was so-​so. The long, crunchy crackers that came with were very tasty, but not dip-​friendly. Which is fine.
Drinks (martinis, cosmos, wines) were all fine, except the lemondrop. The one in our party who ordered it said it tasted like it was made with a Margherita mix.
The bartender accommodated us by preparing a dessert drink we had enjoyed in Italy. He was very happy that we liked his concoction and said he might consider it for the menu.

Best calamari I’ve ever had! They may be a little off the beaten path but they knock it out if the park every time. Definitely an enjoyable evening in a great atmosphere. I’ll keep coming back!

This is going to be the last time I order food from Nona Mia. The last few times we’ve ordered food, we have been completely disappointed. A $ 12 salad looked like they scraped someones leftover salad into a plastic container. The take-​out container is very deceptive. Someone is obviously weighing and being a sheister. The salad was not only small, but the ingredients did not taste fresh and we found an olive pit mixed in. A total of 3 olives in a $ 12 salad? WTF? And the pizza is marginal and the crust was completely dry. The only decent one is the farmhouse. This is not a gourmet restaurant by any means. It’s just so low class to be cheap and only think about your bottom line. Unfortunately the food suffers and the customers go elsewhere. Why this place can stay in business with the locals is beyond me.

I’ve been here twice as of this writing and not had a bad time. The food is good, the atmosphere is nice, just an all around good place to eat. Slight improvements could be made, but that’s coming from a 20 year former server/​chef, so it’s all little details. The thing is details make a place great instead of just good, and I root for this place to become great.

Solid food, no matter what you order (The Nona Mia calzone is darn good). the service is always consistently good.
my only complaint is that the place is generally loud.

I really, really want to like this place. I live in the neighborhood and have returned again and again in hopes that both the food and service would improve. Neither has happened as of yet.
The latest episode in poor service — the spouse and I placed a take out order over the phone this evening. The staff person on the phone informed us of a 20 minute wait for pick up. The spouse heads down after the allotted time, pays the bill, and waits… and waits… and waits. 15 minutes passes before the service staff informs him that they failed to put his order in the system! Wow, epic fail here. The server who was helping him wanted to give us a free large salad for our troubles (free pizza would have been more appropriate), but the owner pulls her aside and tells her NOT to give us a free large salad, but to scale it back. Again, I am astonished! Not only did Nona Mia screw up our order, leave my spouse waiting for a spell before correcting their error, then failing to COMP US for all of this waiting, but on top of it all when their own staff saw the terrible treatment the actual owner of the place stops them.
I just can’t give this place a thumbs up in any regard.
Another episode in poor service — the waitress took our cash payment AND DIDN’T RETURN OUR CHANGE. I can understand if the change happened to be around the proper tip amount… but it would have resulted in 35% tip! And when my spouse asked what happened to our change, the wait staff had the balls to question us. Seriously?!?
The owner and staff need a lesson in good customer service and serving patrons well. Until then, I suggest you keep on driving down Patton and find a better place.

Very nice find. Open, pleasant atmosphere — we got there early, around 5;45 and we were glad we did, by 7 there was no an open table — on the Wednesday!
I guess the management has been paying attention to all the bad Unilocal reviews — our experience was great — good, prompt table service, the owner came by twice to be sure we were happy. She had the Farmhouse Rigatoni, I had the Penne with Sunday Gravy — both dishes were very tasty, portions were just right. The house red was equally satisfying — good pour!
Great job — we will be back!!!

Nona Mia is one of our favorite places in Asheville. We eat there frequently, either in the restaurant or for take out.
I love the pizzas. I think they’re the best in Asheville.
Normally I would rate Nona Mia four or five stars (and I’ve reviewed it before on Unilocal and in the Fodor’s guidebook I write), but I want to try to get management’s attention about a problem with the pizza toppings, so I’m giving it two stars this time.
Tonight we ordered a Bronx pizza (thin-​crust Neopolitan style with tomato sauce, mozzarella and basil) for takeout. I’ve had this before and it’s excellent, and at $ 7.50 for the basic pizza a terrific value. We ordered the pepperoni topping (an extra $ 2).
But when we got the pizza home, it had at most four ultra, ultra-​thin slices of pepperoni on it. You couldn’t see the pepperoni, much less taste it.
This has happened to us before. A few weeks ago we ordered a Sicilian-​style cheese pizza ($ 14) with prosciutto (extra $ 3) and meatballs (another extra $ 3), and it came with NO prosciutto — despite the protestations of our waitress who claimed it had the ham on, there wasn’t a bite to be found.
The pizzas are a good value, but when you add the toppings (most $ 2 to $ 3 each) the pizzas become a little less of a deal.
I don’t know if the cooks are just not watching what they’re doing (the staff at Nona Mia seems to change weekly), or if management is trying to make a little extra money by skimping on the toppings, or charging for them when they’re not there, or what.
But we’re going to think twice about recommending or bringing friends again to Nona Mia until management gets the toppings issue straightened out.
The extra $ 2 or $ 3 or $ 6 isn’t the issue — the money involved isn’t any big deal — but I like to get what I pay for. And I resent being charged for something I don’t get.

Below average. Limited menu.

Very pricey for what you get. Would expect a salad for $ 15 pasta dish.
I was the only one in our group of four that enjoyed the plate I ordered. Service was slow, very cold even though we asked to be seated away from the front doors. The layout seemed awkward.
Gelato was the only redeemer. They even had pistachio!
Once we got back to the hotel the concierge apologized for the recommendation and said it had a been a very long time since she had been there personally.

How I love thee? The food was full of flavor. We tried the calzone, I was left almost speechless it was that good! It was a three meat Calzone and incredible.
The appetizers were also stellar, and service was very friendly. They greet you, ask how was everything. I could not think of a single thing I did not LOVE about my experience. A bit tricky to get to, but when there (was at the Crowne Plaza), well worth it. This is a must to do when back!
Would give it more stars but am limited to 5.

I was visiting Asheville for my first time the other week and completely stumbled upon this place. I had been having difficulties with my phone, and was actually headed to this strip mall for the T-​Mobile store. While waiting in the parking lot, I watched the people going into this restaurant and thought I would give it a try.
Best. Lasagna. Of. My. Life. Even better than my own, and I don’t say that lightly.
The service got a bit backed up and my meal wasn’t brought out to me until after someone else (who had come in after me) was served and halfway done. So, something went wrong in the kitchen with their prioritization. Fortunately, I was on the road and not in a lunch-​break hurry.
And, I am totally willing to overlook that service hiccup, as the food was that good.
Some other diners had big bowls of salad and sandwiches, and they also just looked delicious. HIGHLY recommended.
And, compared to my only other dining experience in Asheville (a much touted restaurant downtown that cost me a buttload of money for undercooked and otherwise unpalatable food), this is quite the steal for the money.