A Tavola Bar and Trattoria

My family and I visited last night for dinner. It was our first visit after getting great reviews from friends, we ordered two pizza’s and both were undercooked and the dough was still soggy. Very disappointed to say the least! Not sure we will go back…

I took a friend and my sister here during the week before Christmas on a Tuesday night. OTR was especially busy for a Tuesday — I am guessing no one wanted to cook due to the holiday.
We were actually seated immediately even though the restaurant looked full — kudos! We nabbed a spot near the pizza oven and prep area, definitely cool to watch all the hustle and bustle and the food being prepared. During our visit, a party was seated at the bar in front of the food prep area, their food came out and they started to eat. When a table opened up, the wait staffed moved them to the table with their food — I thought this was nice considering they could have remained at the bar and the table could have been given to new customers.
Our waiter suggested ordering an appetizer, salad, and pizza for 2 – 3 people. We went with two appetizers since we couldn’t pick one and because my sister is weird about salad dressings. One was a special: roasted potatoes with mozzarella. And we ordered the risotto balls. They came out separately, totally fine, but the portions were pretty small. The potatoes were so-​so, I think they lacked some flavor. Perhaps they could have used a bit more salt. I loved the idea but mozzarella is so mild and potatoes aren’t the most flavorful thing either. We really enjoyed the risotto balls! Everything came out hot and fresh. I recommend the risotto balls.
We ordered one pizza: red sauce, mozzarella (there are two on the menu, one is called New York Mozzarella — not sure what the difference is, eager to find out), house made bacon, and red onions.
The pizza is definitely different — I think it’s the crust. The sauce and toppings are a bit upscale but pretty normal. The bacon was great! I want to go back and get asparagus with the pesto!
The only downside is that, we definitely didn’t order enough food. Two appetizers and one pizza is not enough for three people, in our opinion. We scooted down the street and got a dessert donut from Holtman’s which helped. I think we could have done two pizzas and a salad and been better off.
I also think the food is a bit overpriced. The risotto balls (6 in an order) were very small and I believe they were $ 7. I think $ 5 would have been more appropriate — they were just a bite each, although we were a bit more proper, cut them in half, and made them two bites each, haha.
The waitstaff was pretty good — everyone is bustling around and keeps busy.
The chairs are a bit odd too — if you have any sort of hips, you’ll probably be a bit uncomfortable. My friend who is a bit hippy but wears a size 4 – 5 in jeans felt a little uncomfortable and said she felt like she was spilling out of the chair — even though she wasn’t!

BLUF: Got it to go so that is all this review is worth. Very good and very interesting.
We got 4 pizzas for 4 people (2 men 2 women). Could have gotten 3 but that would be unamerican.
All three were incredibly interesting. Each had some weird topping (ie peas) but they all tasted great. Zero complaints and would love to try more.
I personally like a thicker pizza. I would not go here if you were in the mood for your standard pizza; this struck me as a more artesinal pizza place where you would go if you wanted fancy pizza and try something different.

Went on a Monday evening around 9pmish.
Was not very crowded. Staff was super friendly and on top of things. I had the house beer for the first time and thought it was great.
Roasted Cauliflower was awesome
Brussel Sprout Pizza was Awesome
Lasagna was AWESOME, i do think it is a bit pricey for what you get though:/
Overall, awesome and will be back

Quite literally the best pizza ever. Ever.
Get the gorgonzola piccante.
Great craft beer selection, the house spritzer is to die for, and the patio is fabulous. We have been here many times (almost once a weekend in the summer) and have never had a bad experience or food that was less than excellent.
Staff is awesome, super friendly and the bartenders know what they’re talking about and make a perfect Old Fashioned.

If I was a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle (something I dream about quite often), I would eat at A Tavola daily, the pizza is that good. And while it’s different than the New York Style Pizza you find on the East Coast, the ingredients are fresh and the combinations are unique and tasty and make you want to come back for more. The Fig & Prosciutto is by far their most popular pizza, but personally I’m a big fan of the Supreme and the Sausage and Sage. They also have great appetizers (I love the meatballs), so don’t forget to check those out as well. For those who hate having to find parking in the OTR area, be sure to check out the Madeira location for easy accessibility! A Tavola will surely leave you saying Cowabunga!

I have been to both locations, in OTR and Madeira. I like the Madeira location a bit better because there is free parking, less of a wait time, and the same awesome pizza! Maybe I shouldn’t have told that secret, but I love that they have two locations!
Most people I know love the Fig and Prosciutto. I personally think it’s a bit salty, but I’m not really a prosciutto fan. The sage and sausage is one of my favorites. I also like that you can make your own pizza creation. Try doing a pesto, mozzarella, with maybe a topping or two– so good!
The Madeira location can seat big groups. They have a wonderful happy hour. I have still not gotten to try the meatballs appetizer, but it always looks so good! I will say the price is a bit higher for pizza, but you’re paying for quality pizza. You can also get your pizza Neopolitan or Roman. Both are yummy! Anyway, love this place as being one of the most authentic brick oven Italian pizza places in Cincinnati! It also has a pretty hip vibe. Staff is nice and your water glass is always full! I am sure I will be back during my time in Cincinnati!

A Tavola, you are pizza perfection. Thin crispy crust, gourmet toppings, fresh salads, and delicious appetizers. I can’t think of anything I don’t love about this place.
I recently went to the Madeira location for a lunch celebration with my coworkers. It was a beautiful day so the hostess sat us outside. HOLY SMOKES, it’s an incredible space. I frequent the OTR location often, but I may starting swinging over to the East Side to enjoy their incredible patio on a warm sunny day.
Now on to the pizza. The Pizza. It’s amazing. I’ve had a couple of their pies but the Prosciutto and Fig is my absolute favorite. Sweet, meaty, savory: it’s like a taste bud party. The wood fire oven makes the crust perfection. The pizza is easily split between 2 to 3 people, but don’t be alarmed if you find yourself keeping the whole pie to yourself…

Wow! The pizza here was awesome! Next time I’m in Cincinnati we will definitely come back. The service was excellent and the food was wonderful.

Food was good — service was fair — customer experience was poor.
My wife and I tried the Madeira location this past Wednesday. The parking lot was full — it’s a small lot — but their was plenty of seating inside. (The patio was full — you’ll understand why below.)
First the customer experience — the tables were so close together that people at nearby tables had to get up to let people pass. The chairs were uncomfortable metal. The worst part was the ridiculously cold dining room. My wife was shivering so bad she had to go outside while I waited for the bill. I could see that other guests were also very uncomfortable. A prior reviewer made similar comments about the temperature. Keep in mind it was a comfortable evening outside, but it had to be in the mid-​60s at best inside. When I asked the hostess about the cold dining room, she said that the pizza cooks get too hot working the oven and turn the temperature down. So much for focus on the customer. I suggest long pants, a long sleeve shirt, and a jacket or hoodie — even on a hot summer day — if you plan to eat inside.
We ordered Sausage Bacon Dates as an appetizer — 4 dates for $ 7. It took 15 – 20 minutes to get them. Good taste, but overpriced. We also had a Fig & Prosciutto pizza on wood fired crust, because this is what many of the reviewer recommended. Another 15 or so minutes wait. The pizza at $ 17 was different, but very tasty. The crust was thin but firm enough to hold the ingredients, and the edge had a nice «chew» to it. The cheese was a bit salty, but had good flavor. There was a drizzle of fig jam on top and a sprinkling of prosciutto topped with a large salad-​worth of arugula with Parmesan cheese. For dessert we had an assortment of gelato. The dip sizes were generous and the chocolate flavors were very good. I can’t say as much for the cookies and cream and salted caramel flavors.
Service was fair at best. There were too few servers to handle what I would consider to be a relatively light crowd. Our server was nice, just not very attentive. I could see her wandering around the kitchen area, but she had no sense of urgency and seemed to lack experience at what really needs to be done to be an effective server.
The overall meal came to $ 38 for the food described above plus one Diet Coke and water before tip and tax.
Overall, a tasty, but very disappointing experience. I don’t see us going back given the number of issues that would need to be addressed to make this a truly good upscale pizza restaurant.

The food is amazing. The meatballs were delicious and the pizza had an outstanding char on the crust. The fig and prosciutto was as billed. Definitely worth the drive. Emily was a great server and the manager was very attentive.

A group of 8 of us women ate here for an early dinner on a Saturday. We started out inside since it was hot outside. But is was so cold inside that several of us where going back to our cars to get jackets, so we then moved outside. With the ceiling fans going, in the shade, it was comfortable enough temperature wise. HOWEVER, the metal chairs were so uncomfortable & NARROW at the hipline that most of us were squeezed in tightly & painfully! These made airline seats seem roomy! A teenage boy would be comfortable but not most adults!
Our server was friendly and did a great job.
My fennel salad was really good but did not come with bread, so I bought some.
It was toasted and I would have preferred fresh in order to really be able to taste it.
The order was $ 2 for 2 slices cut into 4 pieces!
My friends mostly ordered pizzas, and a few other items. All 6 pizzas came out with lots of black, burned edges and slim toppings. Even the thicker crust style was a thinner type, and none of my friends were impressed with them.
We will not go back and eat outside until those chairs are replaced!

I absolutely love this place, one of my favorite joints in the city. As most know there is another location in otr but at this one there is more space with way less of a wait.
The menu has variety and everything I have had is amazing the salads, meatballs, arrinchinis and the pizzas all great. My favorite pizza is the gorgonzola with the house made sausage, outstanding.
The food is fresh and I never leave feeling over stuffed even though I eat alot. The atmosphere is great right in the heart of Madeira and they have a nice outdoor seating area.
Also they have a great rotating selection of craft beers, last time I went they had three floyds on tap! My favorite and a tough one to find on tap in the area. Not to mention a great section of cocktails.
The only negative thing to mention is the price, which is slightly high for some menu items considering portion and all
This place really brought the maderia food scene to a new level I hope more like it fallow…

The outside area is our favorite. A Tavola is a wonderful Madeira addition. Service is excellent.

One of my favorite new restaurants we have tried in a long time! We sat at the pizza bar (only seats available on Saturday @ 5:30ish) which gave us a great view of the pizza oven, bar, and all the food and drinks coming out of the kitchen/​bar area. We started off with the Arancini — Delish! Then we tried the meatball trio (w/​the goat cheese and banana peppers on the side) which was awesome!. . A must try if you go to A Tavola! We finished up with the Gorgonzola Piccante Pizza which was also very good. Loved the crust. My husband enjoyed the selection of local craft beer (on tap) and I was pleased with a Manhattan and then the unique Strasser Wassail (as my dessert). A Tavola was great for a date night, but we are also planning on bringing the kids back (on a weeknight or for lunch).

Surprised a friend for her birthday this weekend at ATavola Madeira, we had a table of ten, our group had a great time enjoying their fresh salads, asparagus is just right size for few to share and a sampling of pizzas. We also brought a cake and they generously cut the cake back in the kitchen and served to our table.
The only two notes I have is:
On the service, when I ordered the wine, 2 bottles and when they brought to the table, served the sample of the white to friend’s husband and not me who ordered the wine.
Second the venue is really loud, even with the sound dampening panels it was hard to hear conversations at the table.
We are in Madeira so lots of families enjoying pizza on Saturday night.

Very busy, contemporary, natural hewn wood tables and bar. The ONLY roman pizza stove in the United States of America. Healthy tasty salads. Excellent gelato. Plenty of drafts and quality liquor selections. Louder than just about any restaurant without music.

We stopped here to grab a cup of coffee from the Deeper Roots pop-​up coffee bar on our way out of town. We didn’t know exactly where to go, as we have not been to A Tavola before, but, once you walk in the store, you see where you can grab a cup of coffee. Cincinnati’s coffee scene is growing, and it’s nice to be able to find many different places offering a locally-​roasted morning cup.
We look forward to enjoying the full experience when we can have a seat, and enjoy a latte. If you aren’t on the east side, and you were looking for a good cup of coffee, this is a safe bet, and a much better option from the major chain stores.

Major disappointment. We decided to try the Madiera location after a fabulous experience at the OTR location earlier in the week — big mistake! As many have said, it’s super loud here, and this is compared to the OTR location, which we visited at 8:30 pm on a Friday night. The worst part, by far, was the service.
At the OTR location, we had an excellent server who made thoughtful suggestions, checked on us and brought our food out quickly. At this location, our waitress wouldn’t let us order the pizza how we had literally two days before at the other location, didn’t fill up our drinks when she was nearby filing up others’ drinks and never mentioned checking on our pizza or appetizer despite the fact that it took over 30 minutes for anything to come out.
We tried the arancini, which took over 30 minutes to come out. And I should also mention that another waitress who we had never spoke to before came over to see if we ever received our appetizer, but never our actual waitress. They finally came out but were underwhelming. They had an oddly spiced flavor, sort of like red pepper.
Finally, the pizza comes out after 45 minutes. I should mention we got our pizza at the OTR location within 15. And seeing as we sat at the bartop in OTR, you can see it only takes about 90 seconds depending on toppings for them to cook. We noticed the kitchen staff seemed much slower and inefficient compared to the other location (you can see in the kitchen from the dining room). They were sort of standing around a lot, whereas the OTR location has a highly efficient assembly line. Also, when they dropped off the pizza, our waitress was at the table behind us and just walked right by without asking if it came out alright.
This was a long post, but honestly we will not be back to this location based on this experience, especially compared to the outstanding time we had at the OTR location. There are definitely some service issues which need to be addressed by management.

WOW! This place is incredible!!! I have been a huge fan of the OTR location but when you walk in this place you are overwhelmed with the amazing craftsmanship that went in to building this location. Everything was built by hand. The tables are phenomenal. We went out to the patio bar. Another moment of WOW. Cedar woodwork everywhere and lots of people enjoying amazing food. They did an amazing job of posting the construction progress on social media. I actually made that comment to the bartender and the guy that did all the posting was standing at the end of the bar. We had a great conversation and talked more about how amazing this place is. His name was Nick. Good guy.
They have a pretty good wine selection. We didnt have any trouble finding something we liked. They also have about 6 – 8 beers on tap and a full cocktail list. Sitting at the bar we got to witness the bartender knock out some cool looking drinks.
This location has two styles of pizza ovens. We stuck with their traditional wood fired but will have to venture to the other side next time. I always like to order several items and take the left overs home but we were going to a concert afterward so we just ordered one pizza. We got the quatro formagio and added italian sausage. YUM! Great crust and very good sauce. Everything about this place is excellent.
I would love to see them do some live music on the patio sometime. Its such a nice place to just relax and enjoy yourself. Easily one of my Cinci favorites.