Zavino

This place was great! Rosemary flatbread with fresh ricotta was delicious and the pizza with arugula was also fantastic. I will definitely be back.

Disappointed with this place!!! Got treated badly by the waiter. Overpriced 6 pieces of ravioli with little sauce for $ 13. He was not willing to return my change; No way that I am going to tip this waiter after being treated badly!

I’m officially obsessed with Zavino! I’ve had Zavino’s pizza four times in the last two weeks to make up for all the time that I wasted not having it in my life.
On my first visit, I wasn’t sure what to order. I was debating between The Joey and Kennett since I love spinach and mushrooms, so I asked my server which one she would choose. She enthusiastically recommended The Joey, and I took her suggestion and ordered that. My pizza came shortly after, and it was easily the best pizza I’ve had in my life. The crust was crispy on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. I love the balance of veggie, meat, and cheese, and that it’s not greasy. The pizza was smaller than expected, only 10″, but I could only finish half of it anyway so it wasn’t a problem for me. The next time I went here with a friend with whom I went to Pizzeria Beddia, and we both agreed that Zavino is better and that The Joey surpasses what we got from Pizzeria Beddia. I usually come here for lunch, so I never have an issue with not being able to get a table, but I can imagine how packed Zavino would be on Friday night.

This is one of the places my co workers and I like to go for happy hour. They have good wine and beer deals after work and we love to get the flatbread with ricotta cheese (please no one tell me how many calories are in that cheese). It’s a great environment (last time I went we arrived at 5:30ish and didn’t leave until 10)…too bad we had to work the next morning.

Margherita pizza (on whole wheat crust) was pretty good but nothing special. I wanted to try the Kennett or the Stache, but my date didn’t want to try them :(We also got riccotta with flatbread, which I have to say was AMAZING! I don’t like ricotta, but THIS was really good — it came with a slightly sweet oil, which was freaky delicious. I’ve heard from some of my friends that the gnocchi and the spaghetti squash were really good here, too.
Excellent friendly service, and beautiful, classy/​modern atmosphere. I think the pizzas are pretty overpriced though.

There are fruit flies, EVERYWHERE. What the hell? It’s not like they have a bunch of fresh cut fruit everywhere or a wide variety of wines open. Their bar and restaurant is fairly small as well. But to be writing this as I swat two flies away from my food and two more from my wine, I’m totally losing my appetite. If they have this kind of problem in the dining room. imagine what it’s like in the kitchen. Gross.
Anyway the service and food is great. But seriously. Get fly catchers or something.

One of my favorite restaurants in Philadelphia.
Excellent pizza and salads and the best food happy hour in terms of quality of food and prices.
The happy hour menu is small but sooooo good.
Ricotta with flat bread, chicken meatballs, margherita pizza are our staple items during happy hour.
The salads aren’t on the happy hour menu but we recently tried the kale and butternut squash salad which was awesome. The caesar was also good.
The patio is nice when it’s warm the staff is always friendly. For those with babies they are usually nice and try to be as accommodating as possible but there isn’t a lot of room for strollers and some of the tables are not suitable for small children because they are elevated.
If I’m in the mood for pizza I can’t think of a better option than zavinos.

The hostess was kind and our waitress was extremely patient with us since we did take a while to decide on what we wanted. We finally decided on the margarita pizza and brunch calzone. The pizza was a bit burnt on the bottom but I didn’t really mind. The calzone was cheesy and stuffed with potatoes, eggs and sausage. My only complaint is that I was seated right by the door so it was a bit chilly. Other than that, I would love to visit again.

When i worked at Drexel, i never had a chance to stop by here because i was still a poor post-​grad worker. fast forward… my mentor/​colleague came to visit and I suggested we go here since it was close by.
We didn’t go with reservations, so there was short wait. The post happy-​hour crowd were trickling out. The place is pretty nice and cozy. Dark wood and nice mood lighting. Our server was really good this night. He saw we were catching up and gave us space and coming back after we reviewed the menu. He also was able to provide additional description to menu items.
We opted for a vegetable heavy dinner (low carb).
–spaghetti squash
–broccoli avocado (with +$ 6 chicken).
–brussel sprouts
–meatballs
I ordered a house red (i think it was a cab). It was good. I was a bit surprised a house wine would be $ 10 for a fairly standard pour. The food was all pretty good. The sizes were bigger than tapas and with those 4 dishes, it was pretty filling. The one miss was the grilled chicken. I assume the chicken strips are used for their pizza? It was a bit cold and dry. But the salad overall was good.
The server then brought out a Margherita pizza which was «on the house» which was nice. We were both on low carb so we didn’t really eat it. I tried one slice and it was ok. A tad salty. The rest was packed home. The server gave us space so we could continue chatting and we didn’t feel rushed to leave. There wasn’t a line of patrons so turning the table wasn’t an issue.
Overall, i enjoyed my time here. I will definitely stop by again especially for the happy hour.

The wooden interior really made me feel at home. Me and my friend shared a Kennet Pizza. The mozzarella cheese was tasty but there definitely wasn’t enough mushrooms on it. Onions were rich and sweet and the overall flavor balance was great.
For drinks, the seasonal sangria was great. Light and refreshing with bits of apple in it too. My friend ordered a milk stout and it was very rich with hints of chocolate and caramel too. She enjoyed it. Overall great experience here!

The only reason I’m giving this restaurant a four instead of a five is because I think it’s overpriced. However, the food is amazing. When I went I ordered the «Stach» pizza (whole wheat crust, pistachio pesto, mozzarella, parmesan, lemon vinaigrette, baby arugula). I’m a person who loves big portions, especially considering my pizza was $ 17. The pizza was a good size, it filled me up, but for the price I could have gotten a whole lot more. It was phenomenal. The service was also really great. I went at lunch on a Friday so it was little busy but our food came quickly, and our service was honest in her opinions on the menu.
This is definitely an awesome place to come if you’re not a cheap-​o like me!
They are on Caviar, so you can have them delivered. My coworkers have done that a few times and the food is still great.

As far as the food is concerned, this location is every bit as fabulous as the 13^th street location, and vice versa! The menu is the same, and there is anther glorious pizza oven in the back that is constantly in use!
Lunch after PA School graduation from Drexel landed us here, since the 13^th street location is my go-​to near my apartment I wanted to bring my family. This location is much nicer for walk-​ins and large parties, as they just have so much more SPACE! Not only does it allow for larger groups, but you can appreciate the rustic décor as well. They have a large outdoor space, high-​too tables near the pizza oven, booths, tables… anything you like as far as seating.
My favorites here (both locations really) are the diavolo pizza and the charcuterie boards (especially the salted pizza dough used for pita). I’ve tried the salads, pastas, and other pizzas without disappointment as well, so really they stick to what they know and keep it consistently delicious. I highly recommend this place and will certainly miss it when I move! Grazié Zavino!

Below average.
Their gnocchi was hard and the tomato sauce was bitter and tasted like it came from a can.
Broccoli and avocado was literally 10 pieces of steamed broccoli and 4 small pieces of avocado.
Left hungry and unsatisfied.
Overpriced and unfortunately successful because of the business of undergrads.
Their pizzas looked good but I didn’t try them.

Came here for a dinner date last night and had a pretty decent time. We decided to sit at the bar, and we had a really nice bartender/​server. She was knowledgeable about the menu and specials, and gave us ample time to review the menu and drink choices. She even recommended us a dessert at the end which I enjoyed.
I also ordered the blood orange old fashioned, which was really good. I like my drinks strong, and my biggest complaint when we go out is a sweet girly drink. I really enjoyed this drink a lot, and hats off to the bartender.
The reason for the lack in stars is that I believe there’s a slight mismatch in the quality/​flavor of food and the prices. The prices are decent, not too extravagant but pizzas are priced around $ 15 for a 10″ pie and honestly I’ve had better. The dough is good though. But for example, I had the mushroom pizza with carmelized onions and béchamel, which is VERY similar to the pizza at Enjays, but Enjays does it 100% times better. It’s just more flavorful there, this was just missing. something. The special pizza was pretty good, butternut squash, apple purée, and bleu cheese was very inventive.
The tiramisu mousse inside of a mason jar was perfectly priced at $ 5 and I enjoyed that to close my meal. So I’d maybe go for happy hour, but for dinner the pizza just isn’t there for me.

This place is the ultimate for me. I love the cozy atmosphere, and really, does it get any better than that crispy, chewy crust? Pizza porn alert.
Love everything I’ve ever tried here, with my favorites being:
–margherita pizza
–diavolo pizza
–kale caesar
–gnocchi
–meatballs
–brussels sprouts
Honestly you can’t go wrong. Just come here. And call me first so I can come too.

We started off with the ricotta and bread. It was very nice. Creamy, fresh, and a good way to get dinner started. Ricotta though, usually a dessert cheese when served with nothing else or not used in cooking.
Tried three different wines and the biggest issue was the limited amount of non-​wine. The wines by the glass were satisfactory and they had a large variety of by the glass wine. Bravo. However, beer and cocktails were limited. I could not even get an espresso after dinner. An Italian restaurant that can’t serve espresso is beyond me. Also, no single malts either in that huuuuge bar of theirs. Wines were attractively priced.
Food. The raviolis were tiny and you only get 5 or 6 of them. Luckily I won with food quantity with the Polpettini pizza. Crust was beautifully baked and you were able to taste the minerality of the water. The tomatoes were light and vibrant. The veal «balls» were a bit of a disappointment. I do not know how they made these fluffy almost cotton ball veal puffs. They were just ok with limited flavor. They looked good though.
Service was polite and full of smiles.

Quality food and great customer service! I love eating here and love how it’s so close to school
My go-​to is ALWAYS the house ricotta with flatbread. It’s so addicting! Also, the margherita pizza is a classic yet yummy choice. The cheese plates are good, but it is a little bit pricer for the portions.
Also, I got takeout once (the house ricotta and the Caesar salad which had a great dressing), and they forgot the pita/​flat bread so I had to walk back (luckily it was a short walk lol), but the hostess threw in another order of ricotta and bread for free so I left happy!
Overall, this is a great place on university to get some light food and drinks

Update: I returned yesterday for happy hour, which was only a week after my original review, and they had increased their flatbread prices to $ 2 and there was no $ 2 beer offered. The flatbread + ricotta also went up to $ 6.
Still an excellent deal!

We were thrilled to learn that ZaVino had joined the westward expansion of Philadelphia’s thriving restaurant scene. This ZaVino appears to be quadruple the size of the original 13^th Street location.
Our dinner, enjoyed at the beautiful serpentine granite bar, was terrific and the quality was on par with the original.
The culinary renaissance in University City makes me yearn to return to my student days. Almost.

For what this Zavino’s lacked, it made up for in other areas.
I came here with a group of 7 people on a Sunday night, and were seated promptly. The service was perfect, with the tired waiter taking time to explain everything on the menu and also introducing special pizzas of the day that weren’t on it already. The only problem was that the lighting at night is extremely dim – so much so that we couldn’t read the menu. But at the same time, the lighting creates a more intimate atmosphere, and this branch is so much more roomy than the center city location to accommodate larger parties.
I particularly appreciate all the gluten free options on the menu, and while the 10 inch pizzas are more on the pricey side ($ 13 – 18), the interesting choices more than make up for the price. I choose a simple margarita pizza that had a perfectly soft crust and delicious sauce, and enjoyed pieces of the avocado pizza (the pizza of the day) and veal pizza. The portions are perfect to share, so it didn’t end up costing that much anyway!
I will definitely come here again for happy hour or for a more upscale dinner, and can’t wait to try the sides and beer! Definitely a favorite spot in University City.