La Gondola Pizzeria & Restaurant

I tried this place out for lunch and it was an alright place. Having heard it was some of the best pizza downtown I was excited going in. When I came in I snagged a seat quickly, the waitress was extremely friendly and pleasant, having gotten me a drink and a smile in short order. I had ordered 2 slices of pizza, a choice in retrospect might have been a bit much for lunch as they have a generous slice size. My pizza came quickly and was good… notice good, not the greatest. Still I give this place high praise for the service that I received and pretty decent pizza. I’ll be back again in the future to dig deeper into their menu.

Excellent pizza and admirable service during what was a very busy Friday evening at Market Place in Pittsburgh during the Christmas holiday season. We had the 4 cheese and white pizzas (the real names are more Italian but memory does not serve). The mozzarella covered baked fries are out of this world! Highly recommend.

This place is AWESOME!!! THE BEST PIZZA IN PGH… You have to try the sicilian… Great prices… Great Family Buisness… Same Brothers. in the Same Place for Over 36 years! Their Obviously Doing Things Right… Check this place out when you go Downtown… Very Family Friendly.. EVERYONE Loves This Pizza… 5 Stars !

Great food! Chef salad, garlic bread and pizza was amazing. Dinner for two for less than $ 15 in downtown Pittsburgh. House Italian dressing (homemade) was delicious! We will definitely be back!

My friend turned me on to this jewel of Market Square. I’m so happy she did because it is great to satiate that pizza need.
It looks a bit like a hole in the wall but the looks are decieving as it is amazing. You pick your own table and the waitress will wait on you — pretty quickly as well even during lunch hour. I have gotten the small spinach white pizza twice now. It is my regular order now and delicious twice in a row. I also got the small chef salad this time. Mainly cheese and I probably won’t be getting that again, but the homemade dressing is very tasty.
They have a very large menu including desserts. Not sure if I want to stray away from my spinach and white pizza but those mozzarella covered fries are looking pretty tasty.

I stopped by La Gondola for a quick dinner about two weeks ago before seeing a show in the Cultural District. I was curious as to how it would compare to the other nearby slice shop, Café Milano, which left me underwhelmed. Ultimately, my assessment of La Gondola ended up being similar, but at least the owner was friendly and didn’t aggressively upsell me.
To get an idea of what their pizza is like, I ordered two slices – one of the thick crust Sicilian, and one of the thin crust regular ($ 2.50 each, I believe). Additionally, I ordered a small side salad ($ 3.50). The salad, while not anything too special, was enjoyable, esp. given the price – I especially enjoyed the generous topping of pizza cheese. As for the slices, I could tell they were made fresh, based on the amount of time that they took to come out and seeing the owner ladling sauce on them before they went into the oven. I have to agree with Chip’s assessment here – they struck me as fairly average in quality. While there was nothing wrong with them, per se, they just weren’t very memorable. I can’t speak for the toppings, since both of my slices were plain (the thought of ordering a topping occurred to me too late), but a good pizza stands on its own. While I guess $ 2.50 is relatively inexpensive downtown (esp. in Market Square, where the rent must be sky high), it’s more than I’m used to paying for slices.
On a positive note, the owner was very friendly, as I mentioned – there’s always something to be said for service with a smile. On the flip side, however, the furniture is looking pretty run down, with large visible tears in the upholstery, and could definitely use an overhaul. Overall, not bad, but also probably not good enough to make me seek it out again, given the competitive downtown dining scene. 3.5 stars.

Great, simple food and reasonable prices. The staff is super friendly, too. Outdoor seating is great and you have a good view of the square. One of the best slices you’ll find downtown.

I love it– some of the best slices in Pgh! Large New York size slices– killer wedding soup!

Almost missed this place. Cruising in circles looking for something affordable to eat yet with outdoor seating, but alas closing time is 8 pm and we were there at 7:55 pm… Prize would have been OK, menu too, so we went in and asked if they could give us slices to go. But instead they asked us where we would like to sit and so it turned out they didn’t realize they had the mini time on their sign, sending people to the next door place, allegedly closed.
We were so glad!
I checked some other reviews of this place, and as of the food, here is the thing: if you know North Italian home cooking, this is it. Like that. It is not like in hipster three Michelin star restaurants, and, by the way, if it was and then the same location, the every-​day-​Joe-​Yelp-​crowd would not be sitting there, way too expensive. But what do I know who is really sitting where?
What I am saying is: if you want food that was cooked by a human being with an Italian taste this is an excellent place to go to.
And the staff is wonderful, yes, VERY personable, and I am someone I rather sit some nice place eat some good food and talk to a real human being than get served some elegant painting of a dish by a robot or a person who learned a chique greeting phrase by heart.
But that is me and you need to think if that is what you’re after.
By the way, besides the delicious and well-​sized pizza, the homemade Tiramisu is to die for.
And: apparently you can bring your own booze, please confirm if that is a constant offer.
(Another tip: if you love soccer, talk to Sergio! You will make a friend. Cool, lovely people!)

I wanted pizza but there was nowhere particular I wanted to go. I have eaten at every pizza place in downtown and none of them has really wowed me. I happened to stumble across them walking through Market Square when I saw a customer looking excited to go in we nearly bumped into each other. The staff were super friendly & personable. We chatted about other restaurants in the area. The owner actually takes pride in his food. When he said this will be the best seafood pizza I’ve ever had I laughed, turns out he was right! The prices are on par with the other pizzeria’s but their dough is homemade, the ingredients are fresh & you can taste the difference. I got my order to go & actually had to call him back to let him know how delicious my pizza was. They now have a lifetime customer. After more than 30 years in business it shows. They seriously are the hidden treasure of Market Square.

OMG… The most understated Italian restaurant in Pittsburgh. The owner of the restaurant, Sergio is also the chef. He makes everything from scratch except the pasta. But he buys only imported Italian pasta. He makes his own mozzarella cheese and grates it fresh for each order He has a secret menu of low carb, carb free and gluten free items. The eggplant parmesan was amazing! this guy needs to market his culinary quality and creativity better! He doesn’t even post reviews about his restaurant on his window or inside anywhere.

I’ve eaten here at La Gondola’s before and I can attest that the baked sandwiches are da bomb. I wasn’t all too hungry for lunch today but felt that I needed to get out and have something so I decided on a slice of pizza.
The atmosphere is what you would expect from a Pittsburgh Italian family owned pizzeria. Clean yet a little cramped; friendly but not overly so; service not exactly slow but for a simple slice of pizza it wasn’t «freakishly fast» either. The two waitresses and the two behind the counter doing the cooking seem to be having a good time.
My slice of pizza came and it looked so yummy. The crust was perfectly done and it had cheese artfully oozing over the pepperoni. Esthetically beautiful. Unfortunately when I bit into it, the taste was just average. It wasn’t bad, the crust held up just fine but the sauce was lacking «oomph»… that zest that you look for when eating pizza (at least it’s what I look for).
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad slice of pizza, just average. Average in taste, average in size, even average in temperature. I wouldn’t go out of my way for a slice of pizza here. But I wouldn’t put up a fuss if I was with a group and they wanted to go. But I’d probably opt for one of their tasty sandwiches or maybe try one of the pasta dishes over the pizza.

Came here two days before Christmas. Looking for a place the family could get a quick slice. Wow! We were surprised. Not only was the pizza phenomenal, it was cheap! I had the Sicilian and my kids had thin crust. Four pieces total, 3 drinks, came to $ 17.10. Can’t beat that. If I’m ever in the area again, I’ll be back.

Not the best ever, but pretty decent stuff. A slice for $ 2.50 in downtown? I’ll be back.

I really, really, want to rate this place higher. Maybe after another visit I will be able to, but the food simply wasn’t great.
I ordered the rigatoni al dente, and got it chewy. The garlic bread was slightly burned and had way too much butter. The sauce was uninspiring.
For all that, it was that plus a salad for $ 11, which isn’t a bad price. I suppose I should try the pizza, but the pasta wasn’t up to par. Edible, approaching acceptable, but not quite getting there.

Delicious home made authentic italian classics. Low prices. Extremely generous portions. For the same price as a Jimmy John’s sandwich or Moe’s Burrito, you can have a expertly prepared Italian feast with all fresh ingredients.
Why not a 5? The service can be slow during the lunch rush, and the interior is a bit run down. If you aren’t in a crazy rush, your money won’t go farther for better food anywhere in Market Square.

I love mushroom pizza. I called to ask if they use canned or fresh mushrooms and the guy on the phone responded, «nothing in our restaurant is canned.» I LOVED his response. I truly enjoyed my pizza and I’ll be back for more. My only disappointment was that they were out of their tiramisu but I am excited to try it soon.

The Sicilian Pizza is huge, tasty, crusty on the outside, soft in the middle. The regular thin crust pizza was loaded with toppings.
My only complaint is that the Pizza was served luke warm. I want my pizza piping hot, almost burning the roof of my mouth!
The overall taste made up for the temperature difference, and I was happy with the overall experience. Both the cooks and the waitress were friendly.

For 35 years, La Gondola has sat in an obscure corner of Market Square, unaffected by the upheaval and renewal this area of Downtown Pittsburgh has experienced, looking on quietly as trendy restaurants and fast food franchises have sprouted and withered away. The other night, prior to the Alice In Chains concert at The Benedum, I made it a point to visit, to become acquainted with what I had been missing for far too many sunsets.
What I was missing was an amply filled half-​hoagie that stung with a piquant Italian dressing, refreshed with crisp, juicy vegetables, and comforted with toasty bread and molten cheese.
What I was missing was a pizza that possesses a paradox of a crust that is luxuriously soft yet sturdy and somewhat crunchy. Rounding it out is a scrumptious, unctuous cheese that partially coats the toppings (mine was pepperoni) like white lace, and a savory, carefully prepared sauce crafted by a master.
That master is La Gondola’s soft-​spoken, middle-​aged owner Sergio who happened to have a Fleetwood Mac concert on the television when I arrived. With him I had a wonderful conversation that touched on the subjects of pizza, food in general, classic rock, Pittsburgh, and life itself. I’d been missing that also.
«You know,» he told me, pointing his finger at the lights above, «People get leery of comin’ in. We have people peek in, the same people, day in day out, but they won’t come in. But when they finally do, they end up lovin’ our food. All of it’s homemade, from scratch. When you make stuff from scratch or anything from the bottom up, you’re givin’ your heart and soul as well.»
«Like that guy, he’s pretty damn good, I’ll tell you what,» Sergio proclaimed while halfway air-​guitaring as Lindsey Buckingham performed a solo.
La Gondola is miles and miles more than pretty good, its staying power fueled by a sense of tradition and economy. Ignore the hype of their next door neighbor Winghart’s and give the old-​school a chance to charm your jaded palate.

Looks shady, tastes great. Lunch for under $ 5 a person and you walk out stuffed. What a deal!
Service is fast and friendly. Prices are fair for pizza anywhere, let alone downtown.
When we walked in the door, we were the only customers. Combined with the dated décor, we weren’t sure that we had made the right decision. We sat down, ordered a pizza and it was served within 15 minutes. By the time we left, the place was packed with only a few open seats left so it would appear that the secret is out.