The restaurant was easy to find and there was plenty of parking and it looked really nice. I had…read moregreat expectations. The young lady who served me was very friendly. But the spaghetti was overcooked almost to the point of being inedible. And the meat sauce just didn't have much flavor. In fact, it tasted a little bit sour. I gave up after a few bites. The salad, though, was very good.

Located in a beautifully designed building, with a majestic stone accent entrance and both cement…read moretall stairs and side ramp leading to two impressive large black doors with glass and ornamental iron rod details, on Riverview Drive, in Salem, Virginia, Lydia's Italian Kitchen's was named after the owner's young daughter. The interior design of this exquisite Italian restaurant is very simple and contemporary with stone accents in the host station and bar. The furniture is also light wood contemporary with light wood and black chairs. And the decor is some paintings on the walls and some framed photographs. As soon as my friend and I entered the restaurant, the host, a young lady with a big smile welcomed us and took us to one of the tables in the main dining room and gave us copies of the menu. The room had large windows all around which let the light in, as well as plain builtin ceiling lights. It also had some contemporary ceiling fans. While we were reviewing the menus, our server, Hannah, arrived and gave us a warm welcome and took our order. We both had glasses of Iced water to drink, and Chicken Parmigiana as our main entrée. This included a house salad with poppyseed dressing and a basket of garlic bread. The salad ingredients were very fresh and the homemade salad dressing was amazing. The garlic bread was soft and very tasty. And the Chicken Parmigiana was cooked to perfection with a marinara sauce and melted mozzarella cheese that were delicious, as well as the accompanied spaghetti and sauce. Our server came by at the appropriate times to check on us and fill our glasses with Iced water. For dessert my friend had the Salted Caramel Cheesecake and I had the Tiramisu. Both were made in house and amazingly delicious. I highly recommend this Italian restaurant. The ambiance was very elegant and comfortable at the same time, the food was amazing, and the service was excellent.

At first glance, it looks like any pizza place in a small shopping center. BUT, do not let that…read morestop you from having a slice or two! The young lady that took my order, was fantastic, courteous and very nice. The place was absolutely clean and cute. Confession time... I'm a full-blown pizza addict, and I'm perfectly okay with that. Wile visiting the VA medical center in Salem, I just had pizza from Tivoli Pizza in Salem, and wow... absolutely fantastic! Great crust, great flavor, and every bite reminds me why pizza is my favorite food. Will I ever apologize for my love of pizza? Not a chance. Life's too short to skip great pizza. If you're anywhere near Salem and haven't tried Tivoli yet, you're missing out. #PizzaAddict #NoApologies #SupportLocal #TivoliPizza

Located off the road less traveled and housed in a cute little place, in Salem, Virginia, Tivoli…read morePizza prides itself in having the best Halal Pizza around. And rightly so. After being awarded the Triad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Tivoli Pizza, in Salem, Virginia, is the perfect example. As soon as I entered this Pizza Shop, I was very impressed by its cleanliness and cute interior design of the place, as well as by the flow of satisfied customers eating inside the restaurant, and others making Take Out orders. A friendly young lady greeted and welcomed me at the counter and explained to me a little about the restaurant, its owner, and its menu. It was a family-owned restaurant and the owner was Egyptian. They have a variety of excellent items on the menu but they are best known for their pizzas. I ordered a House Salad and a small Supreme Pizza. And for dessert I ordered a Tiramisu. They were all delicious. The salad had fresh ingredients. The pizza crust was very good and the ingredients, especially the cheese were amazing. You could tell the owner/chef took pride in his cooking. This was actually the second time I've eaten from an Egyptian and both times they have far exceeded my expectations. I highly recommend this place for its relaxing ambiance, amazingly delicious food, friendly staff, and excellent customer service.

This was not a good experience. We had thought work would provide lunch today, but it had been…read morechanged. So we tried to call a pizza place we had been to several times before. Every time we called the number a machine answered.

The weather around here has been unpredictable lately. Today as I was driving to dine at a…read morerelatively new restaurant the clouds in the sky began to turn gray and a strong wind began to blow. So I decided to turn around and dine at home from a restaurant in DoorDash. I picked Leonore Restaurant, a Venezuelan imigrant-owned restaurant founded in 2012 by Miguel Liendo in Roanoke, and that now is located on Apperson Drive in Salem, Virginia. It was created to bring people together through food, and features a unique fusion of Italian and Venezuelan cuisine. I've had the privilege of dining at the restaurant when it was located on Campbell Ave in the heart of downtown Roanoke, and of ordering delivery via DoorDash several times before. Today, I ordered one of Venezuelan most popular dishes as well as one of my favorites: The Pabellon Criollo. It is a traditional Venezuelan dish made of shredded beef, black beans, white rice, avocado, a fried egg, and ripe, sweet plantains. I invite you to view my photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the high-quality and variety of the food this special dish contains. This time when I made my order on the DoorDash app it allowed me to have my order delivered via their expedited service for free, while normally it's an extra charge. The DoorDasher Elliott delivered the order on time and brought it inside a special DoorDash bag made to keep your food hot. He opened the bag at my door and handed a simple black plastic bag with my order to me. The food arrived well packaged and organized in a strong, Hefty plastic container with a see-through cover, inside a shining black plastic bag. The flavor of all the items contain in this dish amazingly stood out. The avocado was nice and ripe, thus bringing out its flavor best. Same with the ripe plantains, which when fried brought out their sweetness. The savory shredded beef was a great combination with the simple white rice and the egg to top it off. I enjoyed every bit of everything this dish contained, and highly recommend this restaurant for its masterpiece cuisine, and am looking forward to dine at its Salem location next time to also enjoy its friendly environment and satisfying customer service.

Sometimes it is in the least expected places where we find the most amazing food. So today I set…read morecourse to 7th Street, Salem, Virginia, in search of that little restaurant in an alleyway producing some very unique quality pizzas. After being awarded the Triad Yelper of the Year 2024 Award at the Yelpies Award Ceremony last year, an event that honored the highest-performing Yelp Elites, I decided that this year, as an All-Star Yelp Elite, I not only wanted to be the first to discover new restaurants and bring them to the attention of the public, but also to uncover those found in hidden paths that for one reason or another have not reached the public in its totality. And Gusto's Pizza in Salem, Virginia, is the perfect example. I arrived at their parking lot first. It was located on the left side of the restaurant's building and had a mural of a caricature of a pizza with a slice coming off of the pizza. On the left side of the colorful mural was painted the Salem baseball field and scoreboard and on the fence of the field the words "EAT LOCAL" were printed with white paint on it. As I parked my car and walked around toward the front of the restaurant's building, I noticed that it had a patio with outdoor seating up front surrounded by a natural color wooden fence with the letters of the name Gusto's in black glued onto the fence. I reach to an open area of the fence that lead to the entrance of the restaurant after passing by the outdoor dining patio with outdoor tables and chairs. Inside I discovered a newly remodeled, clean and cozy restaurant with a small bar. It had the main dining room and then another small open one a couple of stairs up in the back with booths and tables and chairs. The restaurant had a very pleasant and relaxed environment and you could tell that most of the customers eating there were locals enjoying a Friday night out. The hostess/server young lady, Marisa greeted me with a friendly smile and gave me a warm welcome, and walked me to my table and handed me a copy of the menu which contained a nice variety of items. I was undecided whether to have the Meat Lasagna or a Deluxe/Supreme Small Pizza. After consulting with her, she recommended that I have their New York-style pizza because they make their own pizza dough from scratch, fresh ingredients, and cooked in a stone oven. It did not take long to convince me. I also ordered a small house salad.with their very own made Ranch salad dressing. I invite you to view my photographs and video clips accompanying my review to get a better sense of the place and the freshness of the food. As I waited for my pizza, I ate my salad which was fresh and delicious, and observed how the restaurant was filling up, and many customers were stopping by to pick up their To Go orders. When the pizza arrived, it was like no other I've ever had before. Their in-house made dough made the crust taste very special and very gourmet and all the ingredients tasted fresh and top quality, including the cheese. I enjoyed it so much that I ate it all. My server came by at the appropriate times and brought me a refill of my Cherry Coke which she had made at my request with Coke and a cherry syrup. In conclusion, I highly recommend this place for an amazingly unique and delicious pizza and other good food, an excellent customer service, and an extraordinary dining experience. I definitely plan to return.

Great ambience Great food and portions…read more Wine and cider options Gluten free options Friendly staff

I was really looking forward to dining at this pizza place, especially because I was led to believe…read morethey had the best New York Pizza in the area. But what I discovered was it was nothing like a New York style pizza, and not at all the best pizza around. The fact is I lived for over 25 years in Boston, Massachusetts, and frequented the Italian neighborhood of Boston which is called the North End, that it is also widely known as Boston's Little Italy, due to its rich Italian-American heritage and abundance of Italian restaurants and bakeries. There, at the pizza place next to the Little Italy Market, I've had the best genuine New York style pizza ever. And I also visited New York frequently, and have actually eaten a New York style pizza in New York City often, so I guess you can say I know first hand the look and taste of a New York Style pizza. I arrived at Franks Pizza on East Main Street, Salem on a Saturday early evening, and parked at the City of Salem Farmer's Market Parking lot, conveniently located across the street, and where you get 2 hours of free parking, Monday - Saturday, 6AM-6PM. As I entered the place I saw an open window on the wall with one of the cooks making a pizza, I stopped there on the way to the main counter to ask to be seated. The person making the pizza was kind of rude and asked me to move on, not allowing me to see how he was making the pizza. When I arrived to the main counter, the server, who was a very nice gentleman, greeted and welcomed me and asked me to sit in any booth available. Practically all the booths were empty except one where two older ladies were dining at. I found this a bit odd, on a Saturday early evening, when good restaurant are already beginning to get full. The gentleman treated me well, handed me the menu, got me my softdrink, and took my order. I ordered a House Salad with Balsamic vinaigrette dressing, and a Special 12" hand tossed NY Style Pizza. As I was waiting I noticed there was no music in the background to make for a relaxing ambiance. Instead you could here the cooks back in the kitchen talking loud in Spanish, which I guess they didn't know I was understanding all the nonsense they were saying. That loudness coming out of the kitchen didn't create a relaxing ambiance. The salad arrived shortly, inside a plastic black bowl, and it was the highlight of the meal. I invite you to watch and listen to my video clip and photographs accompanying this review to get a better sense of the place and its food. Then the pizza arrived. My servered delivered it by placing it on a stand. At first it looked good, but a bit too white on top. It hardly had any sauce at all, and thus hardly any flavor from the lack of sauce and quality meats. The Italian sausage and pepperoni lacked flavor probably due to the low quality. It was full of cheese, that's for sure, but also lacking flavor. The dough of the crust was bland and burnt, not at all tasty. Some customers, for whatever reason, might like their pizza this way, and might not mind the loud noise coming from the kitchen, and the lack of music creating a relaxed environment, and I respect that. But in my opinion, with so many other good pizza places around, even in the least expected alleyways, I would not waste my time and money here.

I ordered pizza from Frank's Place while spending night in Salem VA…read more Asked the hotel clerk if she could recommend some local pizza options other than chains and she said hands down Franks! So I called and ordered a large Pepperoni and went to pick it up! They deliver for free but I needed to stretch my legs The guy at counter was friendly It was easy to locate and parking simple. Restaurant inside is very lovely, wish we ate in!! Next time! Yes there will be a next time when in the area! Highly recommend! Food was delicious everyone was pleased!

Want to know why the pizza is so good at Mama Maria's? Because the owner/chef is from South Jersey!…read moreAnd Jersey knows it's pizza! Mama Maria's is the pinnacle of Italian food in Roanoke County. The pizza is great. The bakery is great. The service is great. Anytime I find myself driving down I-81. I always stop at Mama Maria's. And you should too.

Dinner one night while we were in town. We were greeted walking in and seated within the same…read moreinteraction. An old school eatery, pretty basic on the inside, nothing fancy just good food and kind service. We started with the Burschetta Napoletana appetizer. It was a traditional style serving. With a slice of toasted bread, fresh diced tomato, onion and chopped basil, with a little evoo drizzle. Very simple and good. Refreshing and tasty a good start. They had Oysters Rockerfeller on the special menu the night of our visit, so we had to give them a try. They were again very traditional, well made and flavorful. For my entree I went for the Salmon Portofino. A beautiful portion, vibrant and full of flavor. A large bowl, with a nice piece of salmon cooked in a wonderful broth. Line caught fish, pan seared and cooked with cherry tomatoes, capers and artichoke hearts. It was a very good meal. 3.5 Stars rounded up for the kind staff. 01266

A good friend of mine invited me to dinner for pizza at Highlander Pizza. Located in a strip mall…read morein Cave Spring, Roanoke, Virginia, the restaurant is small and cozy, very clean, with hardwood floors and wth very cute artworks of animals decorating it's wall. The menu is a colorful one sheet of laminated paper They specialize in Halal specialty pizzas, salads, subs, strombols, and calzones. When we arrived the owner greeted us with a warm welcome, took us to our table, and handed us the menu. We ordered a 14 in Steak BBQ pizza to eat and Iced water to drink. When the pizza arrived the pie was fresh and soft, the cheese very cheesy, the BBQ sause just right, and the steak cut in little pieces. After we finished eating it we felt full but not too stuffy. We then each ordered a slice of Strawberry Cheesecake. It was soft and creamy and the strategy sauce on top was very sweet and tasty. The owner was very friendly and came by to check on us at the right times and to fill our glasses with water. This is a wonderful place for when you want to have a very special, one of a kind pizza, or other items, in a relaxed environment, with excellent customer service.

In an attempt to "support local" I settled on Highlander Pizza for the evening. Immediately upon…read moreentering, I realized I should have left as there was no air conditioning and the heat was unbearable given the 90 degree day outside. Strike one, but again, local, so I decided to overlook the extreme heat and hope for the best with the food and service. The server/counter person was not very personable, but not outright rude...indifferent might be a good term...but I contributed it to the heat. Strike two, because a welcoming environment is important. Upon ordering, the server brought out plates, utensils and drinks. Two of the three plates were dirty and there was something floating in my drink. Strike three without question, but the final never again came when there was no care or concern from the staff at all that their dishes were not clean and there were foreign objects in the drinks. Lastly, after a very long wait, the food arrived. It was just ok, not worth the heat, the filthy environment, the dirty dishes, the excessive wait, or the foreign objects floating in the drinks. I generally love to shop and eat local, but it will not here.

My steak and cheese was delicious and my husband's pizza was good too…read more Always get good service. Take out gives us quiet ambiance.

Stopped by for a bite during a drive from DC to NC... what a great find (thanks, Yelp!). Incredible…read morestuffed crust pizza for sale by the slice... and warmed in their pizza oven very quickly. No wait... wonderful staff... clean restroom. The sauce is simply out of this world... wanted to drink the side sauce! Yummmmmm. Thank you for the wonderful service. Bon appetite!