Ohio-based eatery Piada Italian Street Food has moved into town … twice. The fast-casual chain opened its first location outside of the Midwest in the new Park Place Memorial development (on Memorial Drive near the park) at the beginning of October, and a second location in Sugar Land has already followed.
The five-year-old concept, as the website states, “started as an idea scribbled on a napkin during a visit to Rimini, Italy.” Piada’s menu is meant to evoke those same flavors found in the food of family-owned roadside carts and corner markets dotting the streets of Rimini.
The menu is divided into four main categories: piadas (a thin crust, handmade dough baked on a stone grill, filled with specialty items and then rolled similar to a burrito), pasta bowls, chopped salads and tascas (small Italian sandwiches made with the thin crust piada dough).
The restaurant layout is reminiscent of a Chipotle, equipped with a spread of create-your-own ingredients for those who want to customize their meal, but Piada is made to look much more elegant with additions of handmade white oak furniture, Carrara marble and subway tile accents.
During our first lunch trip to Piada, we started by ordering, well, a piada. The chicken fritte ($7.99, photo above) is a safe choice for first comers. Inside the rolled thin crust you’ll find crispy chicken, mozzarella, romaine, sweet and spicy peppers and spicy Tuscan dressing. Piada’s website explains that they focus on simplistic cooking with high-quality ingredients, and that’s pretty much what you’ll get. The flavors in this piada aren’t prolific — and there certainly needs to be more heat — but you know exactly what you’re eating and the ingredients taste fresh.
We also tried the The Farm Club tasca ($8.99) with crunchy buttermilk fried chicken, pepper jack cheese, smashed avocado, arugula, sliced Roma tomatoes and pancetta. There’s not much of a difference between a piada and a tasca — the former is rolled while the latter is layered/folded. This sandwich, thanks to the crispy pancetta and peppery bite of the arugula, packed more pizzazz than its rolled counterpart.
The sandwich came with a side, and we chose the seasonal orzo pasta salad (photo above) with olive oil, almonds, sugar snap peas, sweet glazed pecans, currants and red bell peppers tossed in a lemon basil dressing. There are enough textures — and surprising bursts of flavors — to keep you going back for more.
Don’t skip ordering the hand-rolled breadsticks ($2.29, photo above), which are topped with cheese and baked until crisp and golden. There’s a cheese-only version and a version stuffed with pepperoni, each served with a parmesan dipping sauce (which if they hadn’t told us, we would have assumed was ranch dressing). A robust marinara dipping sauce was the only thing these cheesy sticks were missing.
Will Piada change your view on Italian food? No. But picking up a to-go order of the carbonara pasta bowl ($6.99, photo below) — the highlight of our lunch trip, served with grilled chicken, parmesan alfredo, pancetta, spinach, tomatoes and shaved parmesan — might just change your stressful day into a relaxing night. Add a glass of red wine and enjoy.
Piada Italian Street Food, 5801 Memorial, 832-834-6415, mypiada.com