Forcella

Forcella has an unlimited brunch option where for $ 25 you get a brunch entrée (or can pick between two pizza options) and unlimited sangria, prosecco, mimosas, or Bloody’s, which you’d think would have immediately sold me. I came here with a group of five other girlfriends to take advantage and get a little tipsy off some prosecco.
We were there on a day that they were having trouble with their oven, which wasn’t a big deal since all of were all about the pizza anyway. They allowed us the same brunch option of the flat rate, with our choice of pizza and unlimited drinks, which was basically what we were all going for anyway, so it worked out and we were appreciative of that courtesy being extended.
The prosecco was the best choice (we were presented with the options of prosec, mimosas, or sangria), as the red sangria was incredibly bitter and not sweet at all (though it came in a cute Mason jar, which counts for aesthetics, but looks really will only get you so far).
The pizza was also good — my margherita extra was nothing to write home about, but it tasted good and was a decent size (personal size, nothing you could split). Plus, you keep drinking prosecco and life is just a little bit more beautiful anyway.
The service was our biggest issue — we all thought that our server gave us a bitchy attitude. She didn’t wait until we finished our orders before walking away, which frustrated us (and probably her because then she’d have to keep walking back and forth), which happened throughout the two hours that we were there multiple times. When we tried to ask for more water or drinks, she’d walk by like she hadn’t heard us, even though we were literally the only ones there.
It absolutely could have been stress induced from the problems in the kitchen, and we still tipped 25%, but I think we’ll be taking our next girls’ brunch somewhere else because the service was off putting — and there are endless unlimited drinks brunches in the City.

Really delicious food! Got the burrata and prosciutto, which came with fresh tomatoes and a tasty balsamic drizzle on top, the homemade meat balls, which were AWESOME but there were only three of em. the truffle fries with grated parmesean, and shared the gnocchi for our entrée. The gnocchi was a bit more on the al dente side than I usually like, but still very good, served with a pesto sauce. Awesome flavors all around. Of course had to wash it all down with some of the house vino. Our server was very sweet and attentive. I’ll be back next time I’m in the city!

Decent pizza. The dough is light and fluffy but the bread ratio from crust to slice is out of whack. The slice is much too thin. It was so thin in some areas that there was no dough in certain places on one of our pies. The pesto, truffle oil and tomato sauce pizza was good but there was too much truffle oil poured on top of the pie (There was literally a lake of truffle oil sitting atop our pizza). The sauce would have been better if they mixed the pesto and tomato rather than putting them on separate parts of the pie.
The service was ok but it took about 40 minutes for our pizza to come out on a night that wasn’t very busy.
It’s pricey for a pizza shop. A meal for two — Two personal pies, an appetizer and 4 glasses of mediocre wine will set you back $ 100 (ex tip). Ouch.

I know pizza. I lived in Italy 15 years. This is one of the few places in NYC that get the pizza right and they also get the espresso right (most of the time, that is, depends on the day and who operates the machine). The staff changes all the time but the pizza is pretty much always good.
I have not yet visited the Park Av location but I visited the Brooklyn location and sadly they don’t have an espresso machine (FYI!)

I was here for a private event last night. We ate a lot of things, but OMG…
For the past 24+ hours I have not been able to get the Decumani pizza off my mind.
The hot and fresh pie with its harmonious combination of bufala mozzarella, truffle oil, arugula and pecorino on the perfectly perfect crust was enough for me to:
Think about it while we were drinking
Think about it while we were dancing
Think about it on cab ride to train station
Think about it on the train
Think about it in my car driving home
Think about it when I showered after I got home
Think about it when I went to bed
Tell my intern about it this morning
Tell my boss about this this afternoon
Tell YOU about it now
It’s special.
Forcella, do you deliver to Connecticut?

This place is cute. From the outside it looks more like a lounge (lounge seating/​chandeliers) than a restaurant which makes it perfect for a romantic pizza date.
The wine selection was okay. Nothing to write home about, but the pizza was divine.
Tried the margarita extra and ate even the crust. EVEN THE CRUST, PEOPLE. It was that good. Just the right amount of time in the oven. Baked but not burnt to perfection.
I will definitely be back to try their fried pizza, which I’d never heard of before tonight. How has no one bothered to tell me there is such a thing as fried pizza outside the confines of my mind?
Definitely a nice weeknight date spot, or a nice place to grab pizza and catch up with friends.

I was in the area waiting for a show at a different venue. My friend and I felt this place had a different look and we wanted to give it a quick try. The place has a warm ambiance with semi dark lighting. I had a red sangria and some fried calamari. My sangria was ok but nothing super amazing. The Fried Calamari had a good flavor and presentation but was just slightly under cooked. The prices here were a little high but they seem to want to cater to a separate crowd. I would probably come here again for a quick drink but I am not going out of my way to come again. The staff was friendly but I would not say they went out of their way to be nice.

I finally got a chance to check out Forcella this past Sunday. I had an expired Groupon (that’s how long it took me to get here) that was accepted for it’s paid value ($ 35).
Determined not to go over that amount, the 2 of us shared:
1) Arancini ($ 9) — Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside, with gooey cheese melted throughout. These were good, but a bit pricey. If you do the math… that’s $ 2.25 per small rice ball!
2) Arugula Salad ($ 10) — A tasty heap of fresh and peppery arugula and button mushrooms lightly dressed with lemon vinaigrette and a bit of parmesan!
3) Tartufo Pizza ($ 17) — Forcella is best known for their pizzas that are flash fried before they’re oven-​baked… so we had to go for it! The Tartufo with smoked mozzarella, ham, mushrooms, and a drizzle of truffle oil was yummy. Flash frying makes the crust extra crispy, and if you weren’t a crust-​eater before, you will be now. (Because… fried dough.)
Overall a very enjoyable meal– I’m not even mad about my Groupon expiring. Our waiter was attentive, and the atmosphere would be just as fitting for a date or a group dinner. If I ever make it back again… I’m getting that Nutella Pizza!

My friend brought me here to try their pizza and I’m really glad she did. It was a freezing night in NYC and I was literally willing to settle for anything that I could swallow, and she insisted, wind blowing against our faces, to make it down to Forcella.
The minute we entered the door, our classes fogged up because of the warmth. I took a deep exhale as we were lead to a table in the back. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with vintage light fixtures and fantastic tables. The menu is well priced and the service is spot on.
The pizza is amazing! I literally didn’t believe it until the pan was clean. It’s not even if I come back, but when.

I remember this place being better. Now it’s full of soggy pizza! I ended up eating the non-​soggy crusts with the toppings and leaving the soggy under layers.
Got the Montanara with prosciutto… SOGGY!
Shared some regular non-​fried pizzas… ALSO SOGGY!
Only the Tartufo wasn’t soggy (no red sauce).
The arancini were not bad. Crispy, but the flavors weren’t amazing. The truffle fries were also pretty regular.
Our waitress was polite at first, but definitely had limited patience. I’m not asking for a Mother Theresa level of patience, just a normal waitress amount of patience, and she did not have it.

Real neapolitan pizza! Try the montanara or the margherita extra (with buffalo mozzarella, quite expensive, though); Also the marinara is pretty good (even if basil is not supposed to be there.)!
You can say that this is the best pizza in Manhattan (at least so far.)!

I decided to give this restaurant a second try since I had a BLEH experience in the summer time… BAD CHOICE!!!
To be fair, the food isn’t that bad. This review is largely based on their service. They were heavily understaffed and I think it was just one guy taking orders, serving and processing bills.
At the end of the meal, I tried to use an Open Dining cheque to pay for the bill and that was the biggest ordeal ever!!! He told me he didn’t know what this was and then later came back to tell me that they are no longer on contract with this company. How FUNNY since I made the reservaton through Open Table. He went to check again and came back to say it was a mistake and finally was able to deduct my check. This whole fiasco took 45 minutes, which is totally unacceptable.
Needless to say, I will not be coming back because it was a complete waste of my time.

Being a Neapolitan pizza lover, I’m a big fan of Giulio Adriani and his original Forcella location in Brooklyn. His empire has been steadily growing, since he now has three (!) Manhattan locations to add to the original Brooklyn one. This is all for the best, since the pizza that comes out of his wood-​burning Acunto oven is consistently good.
The restaurant is large and loud, both in the patrons and, most of all, in the décor: pressed tin black ceiling, large chandeliers, white subway tiles, exposed brick, marble, etc… Quite a step from the more subdued décor at their Brooklyn location. Prices are also significantly higher here, about $ 1 – 2 more on average per item[1].
The parmigiana di melanzane appetizer ($ 7) was tasty, but more than anything it told me that the tomato sauce they use is good. The Amalfi salad with radicchio, arugula, gorgonzola, pear, and walnuts ($ 10) was equally satisfying, but my suggestion would be to skip the appetizers and focus on the pizza.
Just like at its flagship Brooklyn location, the pizza here is excellent: the dough is thin and chewy, with a beautiful charring on the back and a pillow-​y rim; the tomato sauce is nicely tangy (albeit a bit watery); the mozzarella is soft and tasty.
I’ve tried the fried Montanara pizza before, and although not bad at all, I’m more of a classicist when it comes to pizza, at least for the dough.
My Margherita extra with tomato sauce, bufala mozzarella, parmesan, drizzled olive oil, and basil ($ 16) was deeply satisfying, with a nice balance that allowed the character of each ingredient to emerge.
The Fuorigrotta with burrata, lemon, arugula, and pecorino ($ 19) is worth a try, since the burrata is wonderfully creamy. The lemon slices, however, taste too bitter to me: the freshly squeezed juice would have been preferable to the lemon skin, in my opinion.
You can also play pizzaiolo and make your own pizza, by choosing the base (Margherita, Montanara, or Bianca), and then adding the ingredients (twenty one to choose from!).
I still prefer the more subdued and relaxed atmosphere at their Brooklyn location, but the pizza here is equally good. If you like Neapolitan-​style pizza, you’ll like this one too.
I also like that it’s never too busy during weekends; this is a good place to meet up with friends for brunch, and it’s kids friendly.
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[1] With no rhyme or reason, it would seem: desserts cost the same, some pizzas cost the same, other ones (like the Margerita Extra) are $ 1 more, and the Fuorigrotta is a whopping $ 5 more here!

On our recent pizza tour of the city our adventures took us to the Bowery and Forcella.
When checking out this pizzeria on my phone, I saw the Unilocal deal and jumped all over it for our visit. $ 10 will get you $ 20. You’ll want to score that sweet deal prior to your visit as well. I noticed the wood fired oven when we walked through the door and I knew we were in for a treat. Damn, was I right. This was outstanding and one of the best pizzas I’ve had in Manhattan. Here’s what we had:
AMALFI-​RADICCHIO, ARUGULA, GORGONZOLA, PEAR, WALNUTS
MARGHERITA-​TOMATO SAUCE, HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA, PARMESAN, BASIL add Mushrooms and Olives
MONTANARA-«THE ORIGINAL NEW YORK FRIED PIZZA» TOMATO SAUCE, HOMEMADE MOZZARELLA, PARMESAN, BASIL add hot salami
Two rounds of Bronx IPA and Penn Dark Lager on draft.
The salad was great and I loved the Montanara. I was a bit worried about the fried dough, but it was perfect. Check out that pic I added. Crisp, chewy and not at all greasy. The sauce was excellent and a nice balance of spicy and tangy. My wife loved her margherita and she’s a tough critic. We were pleased.
Our server was fine and helpful. With his assurance I went with their special and it was outstanding. He also was cool with cashing in my Unilocal deal on my phone with no problems. Happy pizza lovers sure to return. No complaints at all.

Really great pizzas!
So far from greasy, oily pizzas you can find everywhere. Those look like european pizzas, maybe even italian :)
I highly recommend this place.
Nice italian wine glasses as well — and that is not so common in NY.

Wanted to use my Groupon deal however there was some trouble with it so I was only able to apply the value I paid for the Groupon to the bill.
PROS:
–Lasagna — very rich and delish. We ordered the Parmesan fries as appetizers and by the time we got to our entrees we couldn’t finish our entrees.
THE OKAY:
— Parmesan fries (very flavorful) — too much Parmesan sprinkled on the fries.
— Fried Calzone — the salami was TOO SALTY however it did taste very good. It is a very big portion. It is good to share among 2 or 3 people.
CON
— food is pretty PRICEY given that I couldn’t use my Groupon. I did want to use the Unilocal deal however I though that if I did that I would have added more confusion to the waitress.
— their WATER tasted funny and it wasn’t cold. It was a very hot day and we were given lukewarm water when cold water would have been more suitable.

I have to say I was pretty disappointed by my experience.
First of all I do want to say that the staff was wonderful. Nice, polite, and professional.
We ordered a few appetizers which I thought were good. The pear salad, buffalo mozzarella and the fries. We picked these three because they were the easiest to share amongst our group. I really like the stuffed mozzarella. It’s never the same as in Italy but I thought this was pretty decent. Fries were fine but nothing special and the salad was good. It tasted like a normal pear salad. I also liked the bread as it wasn’t the usual super hard bread that you usually get at Italian places. I do wish the olive oil was served in a bottle not a little dish. It was hard to reach over everyone to get the oil.
All of the pizzas sounded really good and I had a hard time choosing. When mine arrived it look beautiful but it was incredibly soggy. Being really hard to eat, my experience was ruined. I was really looking forward to the pizza and to have it be drenched in water/​oil plus not being cooked well enough disappointed me. In hindsight, I should have sent it back to be cooked more…
Since this place is all about the pizza I can’t really give a rave review.

THIN CRUST pizza for a little more than you’re probably used to paying (hence use
for a 30% off RSVP). But they use quality ingredients compared to their sister restaurant La Montanara
The only complaint I have about the pizza is the crust gets soggy from the ingredients
—Porta Capuana pizza: super thin crust w/​slight char. topped w/​BURRATA, pecorino, arugula, & prosciutto… Super flavorful
—Margherita extra pizza: bufula mozzarella (instead of their homemade), DOP E.V. olive oil, basil, parmesan… The tomato sauce had a slight tang!
The workers were really nice as was the restaurant atmosphere BUT MY HEART STILL BELONGS TO LUZZOS

Order your own creation such as, pizza with Prosciutto and truffle oil your palate will yell out this is #1
The house margarita flash fried is delicious, add Salami (and Truffle Oil). :)

Yay! I love it when a good place is actually as good on the return visit.
But please Forcella– bring back that excellent Margarite Regine pie you had on your menu when you first opened!