Piada

Piadina or Piada is a thin Italian flatbread, simply made of flour, lard (or olive oil), salt and water. I am not a huge fan of this kind of bread, since it tends to be dry and chewy[1]. A piadina is served with a savory filling of ham, cheese, and the likes, like a light sandwich. It is something that is often served in street carts in Italy, particularly in the Summer, so for old times’ sake, on a frigid Thursday in December I decided to give this place a try for lunch.
Piadina comes from the Romagna region in Italy. that’s where Rimini is and where Federico Fellini was from. In fact, the entire menu is a homage to Federico Fellini: each different piadina is named after one of his movies. I like the idea, but if you’re not Italian, or if you don’t know Fellini’s filmography that well, you’ll find yourself a bit puzzled, if not lost.
I got a Dolce Vita: bresaola[2], parmigiano, arugula ($ 8.55 with taxes). The ingredients are fresh and flavorful, and I liked the fact that the piadina is served over a wooden chop board. If you prefer, they also serve half a piadina and a soup.
The place doesn’t have much to offer in terms of ambiance. The walls are bare; there is a large tv, and a few tables that allow seating for 12 people. Not particularly memorable.
Would I be back? I doubt it: the piadina is good, but too expensive. And the total lack of character doesn’t make up for the steep prices.
2.5 stars.
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[1] Piadina may look like panini or pita, but it’s actually totally different in flavor and texture.
[2] Air-​cured salted beef, mildly aged. It usually comes from Valtellina in the Alps.

I have yet to visit Italy, so chatting up with the Italian owner from Piada about growing up in Italy and life in NYC was an excellent side dish to my oh so tasty Italian cappuccino and my made to order sandwich served on a wooden block/​board.
This place is tiny, but cozy, bright but comfy, and all the extra European fixings a café should have. It has character and personality. There is an ample selection of small bites and sandwiches, but their specialty is definitely warm beverages.
I can’t wait to check out the Lexington location, I heard the daily pasta creation was really good too.

This joint across the street from the Clinton St. bakery serves up some real delicious sandwiches.
Prosciutto, lettuce, fresh moz, and in between two slices of thin bread. What more could you ask for?
Not around the area much but this place is worth coming back to.

Oh, I love Piada, its true.
They have, hands down, the best, cheapest coffee in the ‘hood. Clinton St’s has NOTHING on Piada’s coffee. Yum.
Yum. Yum. Yum. Italians really do coffee well, its true.

Very friendly & helpful staff.
Amazing chicken and corn soup.
Cozy place to chat with a friend or two.

Came here with Hungry Boy for lunch. We stood outside staring at the menu for a quite bit deciding on what to eat. There were a lot of Italian words we were not familiar with, but luckily their menus define what most things were. The rest we whipped out the iPhone and googled haha. This cute little place is good enough to fit about 6 – 8 people. The staff were really friendly and helpful too.
So I’ve gotten Speck, Fontina, Mushrooms, Mayo, Mustard Piada. I actually wanted ciabatta, but they ran out so they gave me piada instead. I also gotten an Iced Mocaccino. My lunch looked pretty small and flat, but it was pretty filling. It was simple and pretty good I must say. the mocaccino was pretty good, but since I’m not a coffee drinker I like my drinks sweeter.
Hungry Boy gotten a piada too, which was also pretty good. He also gotten a homemade chicken noodle soup and WOW that soup was amazing! It was really light and good! I felt kind of bad because I kept stealing his soup, hence I am «Food Bandit» for a reason =)

Tasty sandwiches, decent prices, great ingredients.
My favorites are the roma, the tuna ciabatta, and the giuletta. Def one of the best in the area to get a sandwich

Small place with great coffee and super friendly staff. I ordered a small iced coffee and a chocolate chip cookie. After doing so, I realized there was a breakfast special. For the same $ 5, I could have an iced coffee and egg & cheese sandwich.
The coffee was strong and flavorful. Was a bit bummed that there was so much ice. But nice guy behind counter was super cool about giving me a free refill. The cookie was delicious. It just crumbles and melt in your mouth. A tad bit pricey here but you get good quality food for the money.

Piada feels like a chain.
They have a very clean and generic logo design and that sensibility carries into the décor aesthetic.
This is all just fine, after all, it’s just a quickie sandwich shop. My roommate and I got the spicy grilled chicken paninis and they were good, but it didn’t make me moan yummy noises, mostly because the sandwich felt too dry.
A good panini sound feel like eating a glorious fault line. The bread are the crunchy tectonic plates barely holding out against movement as they float a-​top the mercy of the gooey, lava filling.
These paninis just didn’t feel like paninis— I felt l could’ve gotten it anywhere. The prices warrant for a little more care.

Piada uses fresh, tasty ingredients to create small, simple Italian sandwiches. Admittedly, I would prefer if the sandwiches were a bit larger for ~$ 7… but as a whole, Americans are fat. Perhaps if we all ate like Italians, we’d be less fat.
I do appreciate that the staff is always remarkably efficient every time I come in. One time I called in my order (two sandwiches), and the guy told me it’d be ready in six minutes. Not five. Not ten. Six minutes. And it was.
Piada also happens to be located across the street from Clinton Street Baking Company. If you’re a disgusting, gluttonous mess, you could eat a piada as you wait two hours for your brunch table to be ready.
I suppose you could just get coffee, too. You don’t look like you eat five meals a day. Are you Italian?

Decent flavor, questionable value.
Overall, the piada bread itself is what is special about these sandwiches. The egg piada was a passable breakfast, but it didn’t blow my mind. I found the portion too small, especially for 3 bucks, and I have a suspicion that the egg was microwaved. The iced coffee was pretty good, but I wouldn’t stop in just for the coffee.
The Federico (aka #7) was also fine. The roasted red peppers really brought the flavor, as the zucchini and eggplant were a bit bland. Again, the piada bread is what I enjoyed the flavor of the most.
I wish I would’ve liked it more because I must say the vibe of this place is terrific. Nice modern décor, and they have a selection of the day’s papers available to read while you sip your coffee at a table inside or on a bench out on the sidewalk.
Everyone seemed like a regular, and the staff could not have been more welcoming. They even offered to make my second (to-​go) sandwich right before I was ready to leave.
I just wasn’t blown away enough by the food and the price to make this a regular stop.

Decided to check this place out w/​a pal the other day and was not disappointed! I tried the «Heather,» which is pecorino cheese, salame, and … strawberry jam. Weird combo, yes, but strangely hit the spot on a Saturday morning. It was like a bagel from the other side. I liked it.
Good iced coffee, and I hate to be redundant, but it was kind of funny watching the brunch-​fest carnival madness that is Clinton St. Baking Company directly across the street.
Oh and did I mention it was cheap too? $ 10 for a piada and an iced coffee. Done and done!

Oh OK I can waste all morning waiting in line at Clinton St. Baking company or have a fantastic mozzarella, basil, tomato piada at this charming little establishment that’s playing… Aphex Twin? Awesome.
Their food is disciplined. Their prices are fair. They are quick. They have an appreciation for glitchy electronic music. There is nothing not to love.

Espresso $ 1.75. Prosciutto sandwich $ 7.35. Watching all these people waiting in the rain for a table across the street at the Clinton St Baking Co for brunch — priceless.
Now serious… I liked the Amarcord — prosciutto, mozzarella, and arugula on flatbread, and the espresso was good too.

I love this place. It’s a perfect light dinner. They’re super friendly too.
I second the amarcord recommendation, actually. It’s my favorite. Prosciutto is wonderful! So is Speck. I’d never actually eaten it before I ate here but it’s delicious. I am now a fan.

Lovely sandwiches, friendly service, what’s not good about that?
recommended: the amarcord… anything w/​prosciutto can hardly go wrong.

So I just started eating meat again (okay its been almost a year now but it still feels like «just» after being a veggie for most of my life) and I’m still hesitant to try new kinds of animal. I went into Piada on my way home from work after a long day and the descriptions of their cured beef (the name of it is escaping me) sounded good, but still a bit scary to this recovering vegetarian. The guys behind the counter saw my hesitation and offered me a taste! of course it was delish, and I quickly ordered the sandwich with the meat, fontina, arugula and balsamic. As another reviewed said, it was like a party in my mouth. So good!!!
I dont have any complaints at all, so I should probably just give it 5 stars, but I’ll reserve the extra star until I’ve tried more items on their menu.

I ran over here while waiting to go to Clinton St. Baking Co. My skim latte was decent, and the price was good ($ 3 total for a 16 oz.). The food options looked good — a nice variety and a lot faster than CSBC.
One thing I was annoyed with was how long it took to give my order. Two people were working on sandwiches — even though no one had ordered one — and the other person was manning the register and the espresso machine. Maybe I was just hungry, but this division of labor didn’t make a lot of sense.
There are four tables inside if you plan to eat there.

Fan-​freaking-​tastic!
I was absolutely starving, and was split in my decision between piada and clinton st. baking co. across the street. prior to my trip to NY, i had done my food research and was looking forward to both. However, after 9 hours of waiting for my next meal, piada won my heart, with no wait and cheaper menu options.
i ordered the piada with fontina, prosciutto, and basil.
brian ordered the pecorino, salame, and strawberry jam. We also took bites of our friends piada with nutella and banana.
All were fantastic, but I have to say that I had a dance party on my tongue after a bite of brian’s piada. That was the best mixture of flavors ever!
wow. wow. wow.
Any of my trips back to the east coast will definitely include a visit back here!

Great Piada! Stopped in this small place not expecting too much and came away with a really great wrap. I got the Clowns (Chicken, Fontina, Lettuce, Mushrooms & Mayo) for $ 7 and it was outstanding. The bread was soft, but crunchy and everything tasted just right. Would go here again tomorrow.
Great for a quick sandwich or wrap, very nice menu with a lot of interesting options as well. Place is small inside, 4 tables and a bench outside. I don’t drink coffee, but saw someone get something to go that looked like it was a coffee lovers dream.