The foodie blog SeriousEats has posed an interesting question: “Does Morningside Heights Finally Have A Good Contemporary Italian Restaurant?” It’s referring to Campo, which took the place of Pertutti, the now-defunct Parents Weekend hotspot with a reputation for sucking.
Anyway, SeriousEats calls the pizza crust “cardboard” and the service “sloppy but well-meaning,” which seems to answer the question posed by the post’s title. “The Columbia community is still in need of a really solid Italian restaurant. I actually think Campo has good intentions,” the blog concludes.
But Bwog’s own informal polling of students seems to indicate otherwise. The consensus was that yes, of course it’s too expensive, but still, the “outdoor seating is nice” and it’s “better than Pertutti” — which, well, it would almost have to be.
There was even an impassioned defense of the cardboard-y pizza! Still, one CC senior probably best summarized the Campo condition in saying, “Overpriced. Mediocre food. Perfect for Columbia students.”
15 Comments
@Per tutti What was everyone’s problem with Pertutti? I thought it was quite a good neighborhood Italian restaurant, and no more expensive, lest you be curious, than the cafes in Lerner. No, the menu didn’t have anything particularly exotic- to get risotto with shavings of white truffle you would have had to go elsewhere- but that’s how most Italian restaurants go. Since I haven’t eaten at Campo’s, I can’t speak to the 40 minute wait time that #9 mentioned, but that certainly never happened at Pertutti.
@Dental! I love that dental sign. Praise the Lord.
@Anonymous Pisticci and Max’s are pretty good. Pisticci’s is worth the visit just for the “Praise The Lord Dental” sign across the street.
@seriously There are many great Italian places around here (a few have already been mentioned). I guess the fact that you have to leave Broadway to get to them means they don’t count since no one knows where Amsterdam is.
@weekends The weekend brunch is $14 for an entree and unlimited mimosas. For our neighborhood, that’s good. I thought the pizza was delicious, and I’m not generally a big fan of pizza. However, I prefer to go there only for brunch
@waiting 40 mins... …for you food — not the fault of the waitstaff. Perhaps the kitchen is slow, but the waitstaff is friendly, they do take care of regulars, and the drinks are the best in the neighborhood. Best happy hour around here.
@um... Campo’s waitstaff is terrible. You have to wait AT LEAST 40 minutes for your food.
@foodie Pisticci has far and away the best food in this place called “morningside heights.”
Good thing everyone at Columbia is too stupid to find it.
@CML ditto sezz medi. but pisticci really is the best.
@i heart max max soha max soha! it’s really just the best
@skip pisticci! delicious-and carbon neutral
@umm what about Pesticci and Max Soha
@Pisticci's nigga…
i saw michael j. fox there, biotch
@Lindsey Campo is committed to being a neighborhood place—they’ve given me free dessert on two different occasions because they recognized me and wanted to say “thanks for coming in.” The pizza is different, it’s a very thin crust but the food is, for the most part, pretty yummy
@nice classy cocktails, not that expensive during happy hour. Plus the pizza is pretty good, especially for drunken munchies.