Piada Italian Street Food

Reviews 4

JU

Justin Hendren

The build-your-own meal is pretty popular, and this place seems to copy the tried-and-true format pretty well. However, there are some issues I had during my first visit here that turned me off a little. First, the main entrance that gets you to the order line is not marked clearly. The door closest to the road is labeled pickup order entry, whereas the door set back from the other corner is not labeled at all, except for Seasonal in bold letters. Not even a listing of operational hours, which is the gold standard of marking your front entrance. Awkwardly, I walked around the building as I wasnt sure if any of these doors were partitioned separately from the main area (Spoiler: they arent). I ended up just walking into the nearest door because it was a hassle at this point. Upon entering the restaurant, the very first thing I noticed was the lack of a menu-board above the order counter. I was a little off-put by this and scanned around the restaurant looking for some information on what was on offer and the price. The only thing I could find was a large one above their espresso machine, for the coffee menu. Weird. I didnt know until the employee at the serving area pointed out the menus that were placed on the half-wall next to the order line. Very odd. I had discounted these menus as usually I associate this type of display with limited seasonal items or some in-house advertisement, not the actual menu I would order from. The menus were attractive, if a bit weird to deal with. This isnt a sit-down-and-order type of place that would, in my mind, necessitate them. I was the only person in the restaurant at the time, so it wasnt that big of a deal. However, when it would be busy I could see this becoming a slight issue. There are only two places to pick these menus up from. One at the start of the order line and another at the end. Eventually, I can imagine the menus migrating from the start to the end. Then someone would have to move them. At this point, its no better than just ordering from a menu board anyway, since you are right there staring at your slightly impatient food server. A better option would be to put a menu on the wall right next to the order line. It would be literally inches from your face. Instead there is this generic picture of some taxi thing with the logo of the establishment. Thats a great and wonderful use there. We dont want to mess up those clean lines with unnecessary information after all. Sarcasm. Lets continue. Ordering was straight forward, as long as you have a menu in your hand. Without one, you are blowing about freely in the the breeze as to cost, and the name of the predetermined combos. Like any other build-your-own-whatever, you basically order a base and add whatever protein you want with it, and additional topping as needed. Additional cost, always. In my case I had the "Summer Avocado Piada" with steak. I left it as-is topping-wise. The service was fast, friendly, and it was made accurately. No complaints there. So once again, here is where a menu-board would nice to have. I wanted something to drink. I saw soda cups, a Peroni beer, some mineral water, and wine. I ordered a soda. What I did not know, until I looked again at the menu (online no less), is that they offered Italian sodas. I would like to have had an Italian soda, not an American soda. This really irked me. For fast casual dining there is a serious shortcoming here. What is on the menu, and where can a person find it? This should be the very first thing to get right. For the food itself, it was pretty Meh. I do like that they use Arugula lettuce in the wraps, much better taste-wise. The 1/4 avocado they added for my "Summer Avocado Piada" got quite a bit lost in the jumble, and wasnt the highlight of the wrap at all. The corn was however, and could have been better as an optional ingredient. The steak was a little bland. Overall I was not impressed, mainly due to the hassle for mediocre food. The atmosphere is trendy, open, and a bit noisy. Its OK. Not great though.

KA

Kayla Garrabrant

Great food and for the most part, decent service. I found it appaling that they knowingly sold soda drink cups when they knew their soda machine didnt work. My friend loved the food as it was her first time at a Piada. Unfortunately, i had to go get her a water out of the car to drink(even though she paid for a soft drink which is almost $3) because the machine was broke. I noticed people being frustrated with the machine before we bought ours and I guess this just goes to show how terrible this location and its staff are. People were ripped off and no one did anything about it until i again, after several customers told them the machine needed fixed. Ripping off people knowingly is low especially when there wasnt even working water on the machine. If i didnt order a peach bellini we would have had nothing to drink. Ive always been so happy with Piada and been an advocate for how great they are and the food but today has tainted how I feel about Piada. The guy at the counter kept acknowledging the machine was broke and did nothing but continuall charging people for drinks without telling them the machine didnt work. I expect better Piada. Also when people order online and go to the pickup line they should be told well in advance that there is no access to drinks. There wasnt water and when one particular guest told the man at the register, the employee grabbed him a bottle of water but nothing was offered to anyone else. This location is a joke, I wont be back.

PA

Paul Mason Ranck

Ever since Piada hit the scene, it has been one of my favorite places to eat. Me being a fan of Chipotle, its a great alternative to it. Piada stays within the same price range for the most part and thats key for a young person like me who wants something that offers healthy balanced meal options for the consumer and quality flavors associated with their food. There are a variety of choices to incorporate within your Piada, and its half the fun in regards to eating here. While I like the other locations as well, I do frequent this one the most because it is the one closest to Westerville Ohio my home, and because of the very chic black and white architecture that really gives the place a great vibe. The staff is always polite to me, the food is always fresh since I get there early, and like I said its a great alternative to Chipotle for another reason of it opens earlier than 11AM. Us young people know that feeling of being mad hungry and waiting for food places to open. But anyway, if you havent tried Piada yet, definitely give it a try, you wont be disappointed.

NA

Natalie Ardner

Had to change my rating. We brought out of towners here for the first time and the service and food were awful. Didnt mind the 20m wait as its usually crowded on a Saturday night, but it was simply not worth the wait. The floor of the store was sticky and there was garbage and food everywhere in the dining area. The pasta was not even close to being cooked all the way and the steak was like leftover dog food. The toppings were all intermingled in their containers and the kid shoveling them into bowls couldnt have cared less about portion sizing any of them. We have been to this location several times as it is the closest one to us and Ive noticed that the overall quality has gone down over time. It was especially disappointing as our guests were led to believe that this is standard quality from the chain, which its not. We will make a point to drive to the Easton location from now on.