Last weekend I went to eat at a pizza joint on Miami Beach, right off of Lincoln Road by the movie theatre, called Piola. Pizza is one of my favorite foods and a good, gourmet pizza place seems as though it is one-in-a-million in Miami. Piola is one of those few treasures.
I tried three pizzas, all of which had distinct flavors and were extremely different. The first was a white pie that had Ricotta, basil, fresh tomato, and Prosciutto De Parma. Unlike most places that don’t use a good prosciutto, Piolas was fantastic. The meat was thin and not too salty and you could see the marbling of fat. It was disticntively prosciutto as opposed to salty chunks of ham I so often find at pizza restaurants being passed off as prosciutto.
The second pie had Carpaccio, basil, and brie, my favorite cheese. For those of you who eat meat and have never had Carpaccio I seriously beg you to try it. It’s simply raw, thinly sliced meat. And it was so good on top of a hot pizza with oozing melted brie.
The third pie was just a simple Margherita pie with tomato sauce, mozzarella, and basil. But it too was delicious. In fact, I ate more pieces of that than anything. I like simplicity.
The pizzas are thin and the crust was a little blackened and pretty crispy, just the way I like it. One of our pies was burnt half way around the crust.
The wait was not long, about 30 minutes in total from sitting down and receiving our food. The staff was friendly and the waiter suggested that we get the Carpaccio pizza, a great choice.
We ordered 3 pies which I think is enough for about three or four people. (We were four and it served us perfectly.)
Each pie is an average of $12.
1625 Alton Road, between Lincoln and 16th st.
(305) 674-1660
Dinner is from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.
It is casual and a very down-to-earth atmosphere. No reservations needed.