Restaurant review: Nizza Hell’s Kitchen

Nizza is a cozy space located in NYC Hell’s Kitchen on Ninth Avenue.  The night I was there Nizza had a young crowd and nice energy that reminded me of some of my favorite brasseries – except Nizza’s menu is 100% Italian.  It probably didn’t hurt that bartender, Tom, was easy on the eyes, friendly and made excellent dinner suggestions.

Nizza’s menu is very approachable with pizzas, pastas and main dishes ranging from $13-$23.  I started dinner with Tom’s suggestion, eggplant involtini ($11.25). The dish comes with four thinly sliced roasted eggplant that are stuffed with ricotta and herbs.  It is shown above with focaccia bread and olive oil served with a generous dollop of ricotta. The eggplant was cooked perfectly and is something I would regularly order if I lived in the neighborhood.

I love spicy pizza so Tom suggested I try the “Piccante” ($14.75).  This pizza didn’t disappoint and the heat gave me an excuse to order a second glass of wine.  The pizza comes with tomato, spicy Italian sausage, roasted hot peppers, smoked mozzarella and fresh basil.   It was the roasted hot peppers that really added the heat so have them hold the peppers if you’d prefer something less spicy. A sure sign that I enjoyed the dinner was the self-induced food coma that followed from me over eating.

If out in Hell’s Kitchen and looking for a nice place to grab a bite that has good energy and is reasonably priced, I’d definitely suggest trying Nizza at 630 Ninth Avenue.