Fiamma Pizza e Vino

We ventured to the west side to finally dine here since their newer city location is still tough to get into. Earlier in the day we made a reservation through Open Table - plenty available even for a Friday night . When we arrived the place was hopping but there were still a few tables open.

Our server was friendly and efficient throughout our meal even though it did get quite busy.

Since this place is known for its pizza that is what we tried... plus I wanted to see what baking a pizza at 1000 degrees for 60 seconds gets you. I ordered the Diavola which was loaded with soppressata. I have never seen so much meat on a pizza before - heaven! The sausage itself was not that spicy but the oil was - nice! Our second pizza was loaded with prosciutto and arugula - the San Daniele, a white pizza. Both were very good but I enjoyed my "meat lovers" pizza a bit more. We commented that the taste and texture of the crust was different than any other place in town - it was softer, almost bread-like though it was very thin. Delicious.

A bonus is watching the action in the open kitchen especially the towering flames. At times the place got pretty smoky from the pizza oven. We were waiting for the smoke alarms to go off - they must have their's set at a different level than our home ones!

Nice place, great happy hour. The Regina margarita is my favorite pizza. Half price bottles of wine during happy hour! And half off pizzas! 4 dollar beers. Their happy hour is from 4 to 7. I love 4 to 7 happy hours! My gripe with the place is that they won't let you add anything to their pizzas, you can only get on the side. This is silly to me as most restaurants will cater to their guest within reason. I was only asking to add garlic.
You also need to try the chicken cutlets! They are huge and come on a bed of arugula. The perfect balance of mozzarella, tomatoes and balsamic vinegarette give these perfectly cooked pieces of chicken some pizazz!
Oh, and they only accept CASH at happy hour

Sat at the bar. Liked the happy hour.
$4 beers
$4 house wine
$5 glaas wine
$10 pizzas
Server and bartenders (Gianna and Samantha) were knowledgeable... And answered all of my questions.

Downside:
The owner will not allow you to add/subtract toppings to his pizzas.... He is a stickler, and will not allow it, period!

Also no real outdoor seating. It has a few tables and chairs outside, but it's not exciting or spacious.

I ordered the Diavola pizza:
tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy italian soppressata, basil, spicy olive oil...... It was not spicy at all. Found myself adding lots of red pepper flakes to make up for what I expected.

Crust is usually not a good thing, except when it comes to pizza and boy, the crust here is mindblowing! Soft. Fluffy. Scrumptious. It's tasty by itself.

The bf ordered the Diavola which was mostly spicy Italian salami, basil with additional sprinkles of red pepper flakes in a red sauce. I skipped part of my meal, the rigatoni al forne, to munch on the crust of the pizza alone. I couldn't stop!

The rigatoni al forne was okay, a little hard for my liking, but it's baked in the pizza oven. Because of this, not only was the extra large rigatoni hard, it was also dry. It just wasn't my kind of dish, that's why I was picking on my bf's pizza.

I definitely want to go back for pizza! They had a stack of pizza boxes near the oven so I believe they have pizza takeout.

P.S. They have a pizza crust/Nutella dessert. There's HUGE Nutella jars near the oven.

Fiamma has been a nice addition to the West Side, especially for those who need a non-chain dinner spot, or like to do a nice dinner and a movie. If there isn't parking, we just park next door and walk over the little guard rail. Rebels.

Fiamma has a solid beer and wine list, a small bar, and a little window side perch if you need to wait for a table. The ambiance is nice on the inside, especially at night with the low lighting and candles.

The wood fired pizza is put in the oven for approximately 60 seconds, and normally it is fine, but check your pizza over before biting into it to make sure it isn't under done. It has happened to me, and the staff was great about it.

My favorite is the Diavola, with the spicy sobresatta. If you are not sure about how it is going to come out, check some yelp photos, or ask the server. For example, if you order a Napoleatano, it traditionally does not have cheese (rather than some parmigiana) mixed into the sauce. The San Daniele with prosciutto and balsamic glaze is another winner.

I don't like to order pasta out, but my other half does because he's white bread ;) The tubettini pasta he ordered was very good, and he was pleasantly surprised with little bits of potato thrown into it for a heartier meal.

I love wood fired pizza! I thought Fiamma pizza was great, my dining partner was less enthused, but it's not his style...very thin crust, etc. However, we definitely agreed that the eggplant/zucchini appetizer was phenomenal (get this!) and the tiramisu was luscious. I do wish they had some espresso on the menu-Coffee with dessert is my favorite!
Very cozy atmosphere, dark dramatic lighting. Great service.

Good little place hidden in a random plaza.

I ordered the Diavola pizza, and I could have eaten that whole thing had it been a little less spicy - which is on me, not the restaurant. I clearly ordered the wrong beer to go with it. lol. It was pretty tasty!

Was drawn here today by the great Yelp reviews. This ended up being one of the most disappointing places that I have been to.

To start with, the place was littered with flies. The constant buzzing of the flies around our table and food was distracting and annoying.

Oh, and the door to the entrance is on backwards, btw.

Secondly, the hounding employees - it was aggravating that at any time 5 different employees were watching our every move.

Thirdly, the place is overpriced. The quality of the food was lacking in comparison to the cost. The pasta was overcooked, and my calzone was all bread with little filling. For these prices, the place could've at least had some ambiance, but there was none. Our table was sticky, and there were mismatched chairs everywhere.

Sorry, but for these prices, there are tons of better places. Same goes for the food. $55 for 2 dishes and a soup? Sorry bruh!

Fiamma's is a small Italian restaurant located on Buffalo Rd in Gates that specializes in wood fired pizzas. In my opinion, they're one of the best pizza establishments in the Rochester area.

The pizzas are prepared quickly, and damn do they taste amazing. The dough has a unique toasty flavor that you don't find anywhere else in the area, even among other wood fire pizzerias. Fiamma generously applies their tasty tomato sauce. Mmm it's so good. My favorite varieties are the margherita, napoletana, capricciosa, and diavola. They have a number of exotic offerings too, such as a butternut squash pizza. Sounds weird to me, but every review I've read of it has been positive.

My one and only quibble is that they won't allow you to phone in a takeout order. They offer takeout, yes, but you must come in, order at the bar, and wait 5-8 minutes for your pizzas. When the bell goes DING, your pizza is ready. I wish you could call in ahead (if someone from Fiamma is reading this, please make it happen!!! You'll see me phone in orders all the time). Regardless, I love their pizza and highly recommend Fiamma to any pizza aficionado.

Seriously, go there now.

This is a gem, been here multiple times. The food was great! The drinks were good. The only issues I have here is that it's so dimmed I could barely see the menu and it's a tad loud. I had to raise my voice feels like I'm screaming when I have a conversation. Other than that this place is worth you're money. Prolly smart to have a reservation on Friday night.