Barbuzzo

My man and I had a most enjoyable dinner here recently. At first I was slightly miffed because someone was at the hostess stand for what seemed like forever arguing her bill, and thus preventing me from being seated. But all’s well that ends well, because once I started noshing on this deliciousness all was right with the world again.
We started with the mushroom crostini which was a delight. My boyfriend, who is not the most adventurous eater, loved it too. The bean purée, fabulous olive oil, and rosemary are perfect flavors brought together and it’s just lovely.
Since the dishes are meant to be shared, we did just that. Once receiving confirmation that it did not have a head attached, we ordered the Bronzino and the gnocchi. Both were just phenomenal. I especially loved the gnocchi. I’d be remiss to mention that all of this was washed down by some delightful sangria. We ordered tiramisu for dessert and loved that as well.
We both agreed we will be coming back to work our way through this menu-​especially for some of those delicious looking pizzas I saw the kitchen turning out. Highly recommended my friends!

I had the meatballs… and they might be the best I’ve ever had and the beet salad was yummy! Great menu of small plates to fit any budget.

Everything here is delicious. I’ve never been disappointed with a single dish. Highly highly recommend the ricotta. Even cheese haters have been known to love this ricotta. (Though jury’s still out on whether someone who hates cheese actually has a soul.)
If you want to actually speak to whoever you’re dining with, I’d recommend a table outside as it can be a bit noisy at peak times inside.

I went in at lunch today. I was really feeling like eating a nice pizza. Let me tell you that I wasn’t disappointed! I’ve live one year in Italy so I can be very picky about pizza.
The one I ordered («Pear»: pear, gorgonzola, walnut, ruccola, prosciutto) was delicious! The fact that they are cooked in a wood oven was part of it. The dough and the crust were very tasty, too.
The waitresses were very nice and attentive, yet not too much present.
The only reason why I am not giving it a 5^th star is because I would maybe drop the price a little bit: $ 16 can be quite pricey.

Accidentally stumbled upon Barbuzzo when walking around Philly with the fiancé — who is basically engaged to both me AND the other love of her life, pizza.
We walked in around 7−8pm and it had already been booked until midnight or so. If you’re planning on going, I’d highly recommend a reservation. We got lucky and took the last 2 open seats at the bar.
We ordered pizza and pumpkin ravioli. The pizza was probably the best I’ve had in Philly and the ravioli were equally delicious. Beer selection was limited but impressive for a small Italian /​pizza place. Service was quick and friendly as well. Will definitely be coming back!

This is by far one of my favorite restaurants in the city. Really cool atmosphere and food that will make you question everything you’ve ever eaten in your life. The arancini balls are insanely good as is the sheeps milk ricotta! Of course the salted caramel budino lives up to its rep as well. Everything on that damn menu is unreal. JUST GO!
Such as a good spot, just be sure to make a reservation very far in advance.

My review is based on carry out.
I ordered a margarita pizza, burrata and salted caramel budino. Ordering over the phone was easy and I was told 15−20minutes. I got there in a little over 15 and waited by the bar for my food. It might have already been ready but I didn’t get it for another 10−15minutes. I could tell the pizza was already cold since the bottom of the pizza box was cold.
I’m sure the pizza tastes much better when hot, but cold it’s meh. The burrata and veggies were very tasty with a good amount of salt the way I like it. And the salted caramel budino was the best part of my meal. Simply amazeballs. The texture and flavor were perfection. I only wish I had more. Hahaha.
I’d give this place another try but to eat in.

Barbuzzo, I love you, and let me count thee ways.
Although we did not have a reservation, we had a reasonable wait time on a Sunday night. Zipped over next door to Zavino for a couple glasses of Cava to pass the time. I’ll confess the hostess was a little snarky because of our spontaneity («You DON’T have reservations?») Still, I was in a good mood to share dinner with the love of my life, and let it pass.
Seated at the Chef’s Table aka right in front of the kitchen, we were able to spectate several preparations, which will come in handy for my next visit. We ordered a bottle of Cava (Let the bubbles flow!), and started with the beet and kale salad. This salad was the perfect start to the evening. Light, healthy, with grapefruit and a little goat cheese to warm up the palate. I’ll confess I already love the beet and goat cheese combo, but the finely chopped kale kept the dish earthy and a little a more humble.
The Aspargo pizza was a no brainer for us (truffles, FTW), and this white pizza offered shaved asparagus, cheese and a truffled farm egg. It was reminiscent of a pizza we enjoyed at Las Vegas’s Due Forni called the Tartufo. I could have benefited from having it sliced into more than four gigantic pieces, but it was so creamy, rich, and truffley I didn’t care.
After a few glasses of bubbly, we came to dessert. The man loves salted caramel, one of the reasons we came to Barbuzzo in the first place were the several pictures from our fellow Unilocalers of the Salted Caramel Budino. This dessert was the perfect mix of caramel, salt, and creamy sweetness. He said it might have even been the best thing he has ever eaten. Suffice it to say, dessert went quickly, and we finished the meal completely and utterly satisfied.
Barbuzzo is easy on my Top 3 in Philadelphia now, and I plan on returning several more times. Thank you for the wonderful meal!

The beautiful young lady next to me on the plane recommended this restaurant. I searched on Unilocal,Google, and other sites, highly recommended. I was in a Hotel nearby, so I went there in anticipation of a great meal.
The restaurant was dark, and when handed the menu, in faded yellow paper, the offerings were illegible. I held a candle up to the page, and it appeared that the menu was written in 8 pt font.
I tried to use my iPhone’s camera as a magnifier, but the light was too low. I asked the server if they had a legible menu, and his response was «no, we like to make it challenging». I told him that I really could not make it out, and he offered me some used reading glasses from behind the bar — obviously, I am not the only one to have raised this issue.
After 10 minutes of trying to decipher the menu, I surrendered in frustration. This may be the best restaurant in Philly, but I will never know. If trendiness and «atmosphere» require illegibility to the menu and no option for those who cannot see it, I will pass.
Wholly unimpressed…

I’ve heard amazing things about the food here, and they did not disappoint! I highly recommend making a reservation because they can get very crowded for dinner. The ambiance was dark and romantic, and the service was very good. Their cocktails are delicious and very well made. Now onto the food! We started with the ricotta appetizer, and had the Tufoli and Papperdelle for our entrees. All were amazingly tasty. For dessert, the salted caramel budino was a little too salty for our taste but still very good. Overall, an amazing dinner and I will definetly be back in the future!

I highly recommend he parsnip and ricotta cannelloni and the steamed muscles. Both were packed with flavor and cooked to perfection! The stuffed meatballs were also very good, but a little over cooked! The cocktails were average and the restaurant itself is VERY SMALL. If you’re going here on a date expect to be very close to another couple.
Make a reservation, especially if you have a group larger than 4. This is a very popular restaurant in philly!

I’ve been wanting to try Barbuzzo for a while, and I got the chance when I went to the city with my friend for lunch today. We sat outside since it was such a nice day outside, and I highly recommend that if the weather is nice. The inside is cool but a little too crowded to have a good conversation. My friend and I split the sheep milk ricotta which was a very light, whipped texture of a cheese that was rich but had a nice sweet flavor to it. It was drizzled with olive oil, balsamic and some dried herbs. They gave us some toasted baguettes to eat it with. I loved every bite. This appetizer definitely outshined my entrée. I chose the Tufoli, rigatoni with pork ragu and some greens. It had a light red sauce and some mozzarella and bread crumbs. I honestly was underwhelmed by this dish. The noodles were definitely al dente, almost too chewy. The pork was a little dry.
I would try one of the sandwiches next time. They looked a lot better than my dish and my friend’s orecchiette (though his was better than mine).
I’m still giving it four stars because the service was great, and they had some good beers on tap. I was just surprised at how lame the Tufoli ended up being.

I visited Philadelphia all the way from Bay area, to celebrate a friend’s birthday! And it was totally worth it as expected. In fact it was a little reunion, people came down from Pittsburgh, Boston, New York City. The hosts were brilliant and helped us choose our wine, the pinot noir was brilliant!
The sheep’s milk ricotta is absolutely the best! I wouldn’t mind traveling across the states to have just this. I even tried to explore other places and grocery stores near home, but damn nothing comes even close! The texture and bread just go together so well you could hardly put it in words.
We ordered a ton of other things of course, highlights were the oven baked pizzas. Lunch at its best. If you are in Philadelphia, you must visit this place.

Barbuzzo certainly lives up to its reputation. The vibe is great, with a dimly lit restaurant offset by an open kitchen mere feet away. We were told there would be an hour wait, but within 5 minutes they offered a seat at the «bar» in front of the kitchen. It was very cool to be able to see the chefs in action, although it did get quite hot with the open flames very closeby.
The food is tapas style. The majority of the dishes we ordered were amazing.
–Pan seared gnocchi: My favorite dish. The gnocchi was wonderfully soft and chewy. The guanciale (a cured Italian meat), chanterelles (similar to mushrooms), and kohlrabi (like cabbage) blended well with the gnocchi, all topped with thyme and truffle butter.
–Grilled mediterranean octopus: Amazing. The balance of salty soppressata and taggiasca olives, buttery white beans, and crispy fingerling potatos complemented the perfectly cooked octopus quite well.
–Buratta: Good. I generally love buratta so I enjoyed the dish, but there was nothing particular special about their rendition.
–Margarita pizza: Pretty standard. I thought it was average
I will absolutely be back as soon as possible

I’ve been here a couple of times now and yes, all the other reviews are right. This place is yummy. It’s by no means a «omg this is the best meal I’ve ever had» place, but more of a «yum! The food here is great.»
With that said, I suggest the ever-​so-​famous sheep’s milk ricotta, the uovo pizza, beastie pizza, cheese board, wild mushroom salad, pan seared gnocchi (not amazing, but pretty good), and basically all of the desserts. From this list, I have to definitely highlight the sheep’s milk ricotta. It is super rich and creamy with a hint of citrus and olive oil flavor. The bread it comes with is perfectly crunchy as well. One time I went my bread came out slightly burnt, which I was obviously not happy about. This is a very heavy and filling appetizer though, so definitely order it to share.
Fair warning: This place is always pretty packed. Make sure you have reservations before walking in on a Friday or Saturday evening.
Note: The have a late night special! I do love good and cheap food!

Good golly miss Molly! What a great time and meal. Perfect little corner spot at the back of this cozy restaurant. Crowded but no lack of good service. Waiter was very knowledgeable and had nice suggestions.
Ok now to the food:
We started off with their infamous «sheep’s milk ricotta» a must. Also had the «Roasted bone marrow».
Not only have I had this dish before but I also have cooked them. These were a little over roasted and could have been of better quality. Don’t get me wrong they were very good but I will save my money and spend it on more dessert next time.
For our entrees we had «Grilled Octopus» man was this awesome I mean really awesome. We also had the «Bronzino Fish» this too was equally good. Nice small portions to share so don’t be afraid to order a couple of dishes.
Ended it all with their infamous «Salted Carmel Budino… WOW what a treat.
All and all a great meal at a wonderful restaurant with awesome service. If there is a down side it’s how you get packed in but… que… sera …sera.

Finally was able to try Barbuzzo, thanks to open table for having one open reservation for 6:30 on a Saturday night. The wait times on weekend nights are crazy so definitely get a reservation if possible.
Barbuzzo is tapas so the waiter recommends two dishes per person. A pizza counts as two dishes. Ordered the sheep milk ricotta it was rich, creamy, and tasted so heavenly. The balsamic vinaigrette complimented the richness of the ricotta so well. Next, was the pan seared gnocchi which was good, but not to die for. We also ordered the Uovo pizza which is the pizza that were most know for. It had an egg in it and some truffle oil so can’t go wrong with that! Pizza is cut into quarters so order accordingly. Lastly, was the salted caramel budino, OMG this dessert is so salty! I couldn’t eat more than two bites without making a face due to how salty it truly is. I was attempted to mix the dessert to try to cut some of the saltiness with the crème. Overall, everything but the budino was good, nothing was super extraordinary, maybe the ricotta.

Living in the city for almost 3 years i’m shocked i had waited this long to have a fabulous meal from Barbuzzo. I’ve OF COURSE had their famous Budino ice cream, but i finally get to write a wonderful review on their food.
The service/​staff here is great. Very well attentive and courteous with everyone. My friend and I sat up at the kitchen bar area. Its fascinating to see the chef’s make everyone’s dishes right in front of you. I loved sitting up there. the size of Barbuzzo isn’t so big, but i like that because it doesn’t get too crowded and the décor isn’t distracting.
between the both of us we got a few dishes to share.
— STEAK TARTARE (11) quail yolk, crostini, fingerling chips
— CAMPANELLE (13) toasted walnut preserved lemon pesto, mixed mushrooms, arugula and whipped ricotta
— PAN SEARED BRUSSEL SPROUTS (7) barbuzzo pancetta, garlic, calabrian chile, lemon, caciocavallo, olive oil bread crumbs
— CACIOCAVALLO STUFFED MEATBALLS (11) house ground shortrib, pork, oregano and calabrian chile
while i personally didn’t have any of the steak tartare the rest of the dishes we ordered and had were amazing! the meatballs were cooked to perfection. not dry, filled with cheese, and just the right amount of sauce and a cute baguette piece on the side. brussel sprouts are a new vegetable that as i’ve gotten older i’ve learned to love. they weren’t soggy and just the right amount of pancetta on top. the pasta (made fresh to order — not that boxed crap) was the perfect portion.
its nice to go to a place that’s so unique and full of fresh good ingredients. good service, great food. its really that simple. can’t wait to be back!

Make no mistake, many dishes here are at least a ⁵⁄₅. In agreement with many before me, the Sheeps Milk Ricotta is a must order. I would do terrible things for that ricotta. The bread that accompanies it is also particularly tasty. The pan seared gnocchi is also something that no one should skip when visiting. Despite being stuffed several dishes ago, my party managed to finish every bite. So why just four stars?
A number of dishes were, for lack of a better term, ordinary. We had about 4 – 5 dishes that my group agreed we probably wouldn’t order again next time, not because any of them were bad, but because they lacked pizzazz. Two dishes we thought had a little too much salt, which was surprising and unecessary. One of those included the salted caramel bundino (yes I know salted is part of the title), but it could’ve been closer to life-​changing if the salt was toned down. The pizza’s were pretty good, but given how flatbreads have overtaken the restaurant market, I feel that I’ve had better elsewhere. The pera was my favorite pizza and the red bartlett pears were what particularly made this pizza good.
Please note that if you do go to eat here, you will likely be here for several hours. They spend time crafting each dish, which takes time. They also do a great job of spacing dishes out. I think we spent about 3+ hours on dinner. We got one of the cheapest bottles of wine and thought it was of great qualiaty, likely a testament to a wine list with few to no duds.

I’ve only been to Barbuzzo twice, but I’d say it’s probably one of my favorite restaurants in the city.
I went once last year, and then again a few days ago on a date, and both times I was really pleased with everything from the atmosphere in the restaurant (which is very intimate) to the food. I last came this past Tuesday, and though the place was fairly busy, our server was very attentive and gave great recommendations. We ended up ordering four dishes for two people (more than enough), and overall I was really happy with everything.
Sheep’s milk ricotta: I had gotten the sheep’s milk ricotta when I came the last time, and it was just as good this time. The cheese is extremely creamy and rich, but cut nicely with a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. The grilled bread is a bit salty but perfectly browned and really crispy! I’d highly recommend getting this as a starter.
Mushroom arancini: !!! I really liked this, and so did my date. The inside is sort of like a balled mushroom risotto, and then the entire thing is fried and topped with arugula pesto. It sounded extremely heavy but it was actually quite light, and the mushroom was definitely there but not overwhelmingly so. Really yummy!
Sage ravioli: A very interesting dish, but one that we both ended up enjoying a lot. The dish itself doesn’t look very appetizing (it’s green), but somehow the sweetness of the butternut squash, the crunch and astringency of the sage, and the mildness of the gorgonzola, went really well together. Plus the brown butter sauce it’s laying in is delicious and pairs very nicely. It took a few bites for me to figure out how I felt, but then I started to really like it. I’d recommend it for a unique flavor pairing!
Grilled Mediterranean Octopus: This was the only dish that I was disappointed with. The plate comes with a mix of vegetables, herbs, and octopi, it feels very much like a salad, and everything was pretty good… except for the octopus. It had a really odd consistency, sort of dry and crumbly, and wasn’t very appetizing. We kept questioning whether we were just octopi noobs or if it was not fresh/​well prepared/​they were just having an off night. I’m still not entirely sure, but I do know that I wasn’t a fan of the dish, and that I won’t get it again. (*I’ve had really tender octopus before, and I don’t think that’s what I was getting)
The gnocchi is also really great! (Got it last time).