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Nina's Restaurant & Pizzeria
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: East Williamsburg
635 Meeker Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-8854
635 Meeker Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-8854
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
17 reviews for Nina's Restaurant & Pizzeria
I'm a traveler - not a native, so you must understand what I'm comparing against.
Places like this are the reason why ex-New Yorkers in Seattle, San Francisco, and Los Angeles complain about the quality of the pizza. Nina's is pleasant-looking, but unassuming in appearance. It has none of the hubbub or the hype of Grimaldi's.
But the pizza is simply delicious. They serve it hot, it has tons of cheese, and the crust is well flavored, firm and perfectly (slightly) charred from the brick oven.
We also shared an order of delicious pumpkin ravioli in vodka sauce, which they graciously split for us. I imagine that they pick up their pastas (and possibly the sauces) from a nearby deli. Both the pasta and the sauce were flavorful and fresh.
The servers at the restaurant were welcoming, kind, and friendly.
And best of all, this place is inexpensive - $2.25 for a large slice of cheese and $2.75 for a bottle of Stella. And their new restaurant section features a TV for watching sports.
Note: Nina's is broken up into two parts. In the front closest to Meeker you have the pizzeria, where you can order pizza and other favorites to go. They have an eggplant parm sandwich that's literally the size of a newborn. It's ridiculous, but SO yummy.
If you're looking for a nicer, sit-down experience, take a few steps down Kingsland and you'll get to the entrance of the dining room. Finally went and tried it last night, and I was surprised by the quality of the food and the service. This is Meeker and Kingsland, not Graham Ave. And certainly not Bedford or Greenpoint. We don't do fine dining around here. We're lucky we have a McDonalds across the street!
Free bruschetta provided with the dinner rolls. Tomato mozzarella was fresh. Baked clams had too much breading. Main dishes were all good. To be fair, though, we stuck to simple pasta entrees. Fettucini alfredo, penne w/ broccoli, and something else.
No A/C, which is fine for an evening meal at this time of year. Just know, you might have a gnat or two trying to take a bite of your pasta. Not much the restaurant can always do about this without A/C, but it's still gross.
That said, I believe chardonnay was $5 by the glass, and you can get draft beers for $3, bottled for $3.75.
After a first time, I would give the restaurant two stars, but I have to add on a third star for that eggplant parm from the pizzeria. Yum. It's nice to know we have a place like this within walking distance, even if the food isn't the most exciting.
This place is my favorite pizza place in the area.
The portions are amazing, the food is consistently good, and although the service slows down a bit during lunchtime, overall the guys who work there are friendly and do a good job. By the way, the house salad here is incredible! The delivery service is slow, thus only 4 stars.
OMG the worst place I ever been to. Service was disqusting. The food was moldy I cant believe what people will serve.
We were recently invited to a family event at Nina's. Although the main room did not have any air conditioning. The food and service was impeccable.
The Veal Parmesan and potato croquettes were just divine. Flavorful and perfectly cooked.
Haven't had their pizza but I am sure it will be as delicious as their restaurant is.
Go there... get the $4 personal pizza... it's HUGE, very tasty, enough to eat for two or take some home. Not that fast service but they make it on the spot. Great neighborhood place
Nina's is my local Italian joint. I am more of a carry-out/ delivery customer. I frequent the place whenever I am in the mood for Italian and don't want to walk to Williamsburg.
My experience's have always been standard. It's not the best Italian but in a pinch it will do. The Spaghetti is flavorful but the meatballs are lacking. As other reviewers have said the house salad is GREAT! They also give you a ton of bread so you can slope up the dressing.
It takes me five minutes to walk there so take-out generally works best. Un-like other reviewers, I have had long waits for delivery. So that is a no go for me.
All and all it's a cool little place. Don't forget to tip, even for take-out.
Ok I work in this neighborhood and Nina's is THE only pizzeria around. Their Pizza is Great! I wish they would stick to that! The first time I had their food I ordered a Chicken cutlet sandwich with lettuce, tomato and fresh mozzarella. My chicken was burnt! 2nd & 3rd time I ordered pizza, no complaints.... Today I tried my luck at a chicken cutlet parm on a hero, mozzarella sticks and french fries to share with a co-worker and they bombed! The chicken was once again burnt, the mozzarella cheese in the sticks was cold and the breading was burnt and the fries were soggy! Go to Nina's for pizza, not for anything else!
This place is fine, which is quite a step up from where it used to be. They renovated it fairly recently -- within the past 2 years anyway. It used to be dreadful now it's fine.
Nice big portions, pizza slices are a lot better than they used to be, but I think there's better stuff in the area. The entrees are huge, and they give you all the bread you can handle, but there's nothing I've had there that I can't get anywhere else.
It's completely acceptable, utilitarian Italian food.
(As far as delivery I couldn't say. I could crawl home from there)
i have given up on picking my food up from here, even though i live literally 1 block away. and why? because you will stand there for 1/2 hour waiting for your food. so we started asking them to deliver. it takes forrrrrevevevever. last night, i called them an hour after my order was placed, they told me they'd "send it right out" (so wait, it's just sitting there? great.) and they did. but the food was frigid. unacceptable!
the time issue is really unfortunate, because they make a great chicken cutlet hero, and their salad dressing is wonderful. their pasta entrees are pretty good too, and the prices are good. they should really pull themselves together and learn about how to quickly prepare food for pickup, and/or find a way to deliver in a reasonable amount of time.
I went here on the recommendation of the son in law of my landlord.
This restaurant is awesome.
At one entrance, it looks like your run-of-the-mill pizzeria, with standard fare. But if you walk around the corner to the side entrance, you enter an old-school, Italian family restaurant.
While I haven't seen the banquet rooms Allison mentioned, I have heard that there used to be a dancehall here, so I'm not surprised. The main dining room, which isn't part of the banquet facilities, are decorated and designed like they used to be part of a Chinese restaurant. But the Italian menu is solid.
Any pasta dish will please, and the bread and oil is to die for. (The house wines are fine, but nothing great.) I took my parents here when they visited from the Midwest, and they were thrilled.
A hidden hotspot in the Greenpoint/Williamsburg area, and a great surprise date location if you're looking to take someone special to somewhere special -- but not pretentious, artificial, or already known. Long-time locals make this a must go.
Don't ruin it.
People usually missed the restaurant because its hidden behind the Pizzeria, you have to walk into the street and the entrance will be there, tiny, but exists. I personally enjoy the restaurant more then pizzeria, their rolls and pizzas are not that bad for their price, but better places are just couple blocks away.
Restaurant has pretty decent choices, but i would recommend pork dishes, since its affordable and enjoyable.
However, their house salad is amazing good. The dressing is just yum.
The decor is pretty good in the restaurant, not always busy, but once a while people would have birthday parties or some sort.
A friend of mine is having her bridal shower here and they've got 3 banquet rooms to accommodate for large parties. I went in and ate at their pizzeria next door. They serve the full menu and they even have free delivery if you're in the area.
There are these gigantic baseball sized rice balls filled with meat but I though the fried potato "crookettes" were even better. They definitely stick to the sides of your stomach. Pizza by the slice is $1.50 for the triangular kind and $1.95 for the square kind. Reasonable, eh?
The woman working the counter must be part of the family who owns this place because she has photos of her kids propped up on the soda refrigerators behind the counter. She was very friendly and made small talk to the regulars and waved out the window at the neighbors walking by with their dogs. She slipped in an extra rice ball and potato croquette for me and said, "Gotta take care of the pregnant girl!" I thought it was cute that I heard her say, "fuggeddaboudit" at least 3 times while I waited for my food to be prepared.
I ordered the BAKED STUFFED SHELLS and LOBSTER RAVIOLI to go. The lobster ravioli was fantastic. Rich, creamy tomato sauce with leaves of spinach sprinkled in.... the ravioli is made in house and you get about 7 to an order. I was stuffed with just that! The stuffed shells were full of ricotta and mozarella cheese with plenty of tomato sauce. Uh! It was such a belly bomb but tasty!
The TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA salad was a bit disappointing. It wasn't fresh buffalo mozzarella but a hard mozzarella that came with a vinaigrette dressing on the side. I wouldn't get this again.
I'm sitting here looking at the cheese cake trying to find room for it. I'll eat it in a little bit and edit my review.
But... the cool, cool thing about this local eatery.... is that it's 2 for 1 entrees every Monday in the dining room! Yahoooo! I am SO going to bring my big guy friends here to eat!
Oh and... besides pasta and pizza, the restaurant offers veal, scallops, fish, shrimp, chicken.... and they have a ton of sandwiches available to go too.
The pizza is good though greasy. The main dishes are mediocre. Fast delivery.
Pretty good pies, nice strombolis but a little too much grease. A good lunch stop never too busy nice clean place, I dig it for a quick slice. Would get 4 stars but the grease levels kills it for me.
maybe the worst cheese slice I ever had. Pinwheels, chicken rolls, and pastas are good.
UPDATE: Not ordering from here again. My pizza took over an hour and a half to arrive, and I live about two blocks away. I called them two times after ordering to find out where it was and was assured it's 'next out the door'. The pizza arrived cold, with incorrect toppings. The management should have given me an honest status on my pizza, instead of blowing me off for 45 minutes, telling me it was on its way. Next time, I'll order from Carmine's.
Old review--
They're open fairly late compared to most places around here (till 11 or 12), and they deliver. Quick, too. The pizza-- the fresher it is, the better it'll taste. If you get one of the last couple slices before closing time it might not look or taste all that good. The pasta dishes are tasty, pretty standard. Not mind-blowing, but good. The garlic bread is spicy and also pretty tasty. I wouldn't go out of my way to go here, but since it's jut a few blocks from me I dig it. Pretty decent neighborhood italian.
