March for me is like April for accountants. I barely have time to eat. But yesterday I tried Blu Pizza e Cucina — Blue Restaurant Group’s third venture — in Mary Brickell Village. I needed a break from eating at my desk.
Going into Blu from the entrance on SW 10th Street, it seemed like the place was pretty empty but once you exited on the other side through the entrance facing a plaza, the place came to life and was pretty busy. The menu, which opens to the dessert page, was more interesting than I expected and it offers a lot of options, from pizza, to pastas, to meat dishes like veal scaloppini. An artisanal cheese plate with truffle infused honey and figs — which is also offered as an appetizer — caught my eye, but I opted for sharing pizza with my colleagues.
The pizzas are divided into three categories, white, with pomodoro sauce and signature pizzas. All of them can be made with organic soy flour upon request. Three of us shared the burrata ($15) — burrata, tomato sauce and basil — from their signature pizzas and the mangiafuoco ($13) — tomato sauce, mozzarella, spicy salamino (or pepperoni), roasted peppers, black olives, hot peppers.
We were surprised by the little time it took for our pizzas to arrive. The slightly charred crust was ultra-thin. The burrata slid off the slice when I picked it up but it was good. The mangiafuoco was more interesting. Though I rarely eat pepperoni pizza, this one was pretty good. The sweet and juicy roasted peppers and olives were a nice complement to the spicy salamino.
For dessert, they offer a selection of small desserts so you can enjoy “without the guilt,” the menu says. This is aside the regular desserts, which include mango cheesecake and an apple tart. We ordered a trio of the mini desserts, which came with a scoop of chocolate mousse with almonds, a scoop of ice cream and sabaglione, all very tasty. Unfortunately, it took our desserts about twice as long as our pizza to arrive, or more. But well, Blu made a good enough first impression for me to return and explore more of their menu options and maybe some of their wines, which include organic and biodynamic wines and at quick glance seemed reasonably priced.
Blu Pizza e Cucina
900 South Miami Ave., Suite 130
Mary Brickell Village
305.381.8335
Looks like a pizza war is starting up in Brickell. Archie’s, Blu Pizza e Cucina, Tutto Pizza and Pieducks come into my mind when I think of pizza in the area (I don’t count Rustica, on SW 8th St).
Just curious, how does Blu compare with the others?
JD - Funny that you ask. When I was at Blu, I thought, if they iron out the service kinks, I could see them taking a real toll on Archie’s, which is right across the street.
I’ve personally grown tired of Archie’s, at least the Brickell location, which suffers from terrible service in my experiences. In recent visits, I’ve also noticed that they sometimes get stingy with their toppings and while sometimes their pizzas are good, you can’t count on consistency.
Price-wise the pizzas are in a similar range. At Archie’s they range from about $10 to $14. At Blu from $10 to $15, though only one is $10 and the rest are in the $13-$15 range. They seemed slightly smaller at Blu but still a personal size; the crust is ultra-thin, though, so I could see a guy eating one whole.
I’d say that on first impression, I would choose Blu over Archie’s. The ingredients on their pizzas tasted fresher and just better. We’ll see, however, if they remain consistent.
I can’t speak for Tutto Pizza (only been there once and it was years ago) or Pieducks (never been there). Can anyone else chime in?
I’ve never had Archies in Brickell, but the signs on the windows at Archie’s in the Gables say “closed for renovation.” although check this out
I will try Blu’s soon. Rosinella just south of MBV has good pizza, and you can take away.
I stink at HTML. Delete last two messages. Bottom line: try Rosinella in Brickell. Good takeaway pizza. Archie’s in Gables closed for renovation and because of problems with state health inspectors.
so excited i work in brickell now, and i don’t usually go out for pizzas… but that mangiafuoco sounds awesome, i should try it… i promised myself to eat out more at other places… thanx for the dig…:)
I’m dying to go here now! Luckily, I don’t work too far so I might swing by for lunch. How long would you say the entire visit took?
Allison - The entire visit actually took about an hour and half because our desserts took very long and so did our check. When it finally arrived, they gave us the wrong check. The pizza, though, came out very fast so I’m guessing you could have your lunch in 45 minutes.
Owenized - I rescued your HTML…
Thanks for the tidbit on Archie’s. And you’re right about Rosinella. Their prosciutto pizza is delicious. I like their food in general.
While Archie’s in the Gables is not my favorite pizzeria, I’m quite offended by owenized comment regarding restaurant inspections. I had checked every favorite restaurant of mine in Miami through that site and virtually ALL of the restaurants had violations. Having violations is meaningless and I am sure owenized would agree if he checked his favorite restaurant.
The reviewed restaurant has 3 critical violations at its last inspection in February, and that’s pretty low considering it’s a new establishment. Pieducks has 4 critical violations. Should we be screaming in panic? Wait, that’s not all.
Blu pizzeria (this place’s sister restaurant) in South Miami had 12 critical violations and 4 noncritical at its last inspection in December. That’s higher than Archie’s in the Gables.
https://www.myfloridalicense.com/inspectionDetail.asp?InspVisitID=2522211&id=2170628
Many restaurant have violations, but Archie’s in CG was ordered CLOSED by the State. I’m not sure how you can argue that is important information.
Actually I’ve been at BLU PIZZA and let me tell you that it is a very nice place, their menu is excellent and of course that their food, pizzas and postres taste really really good!! I just want 2 say I love BLU PIZZA E CUCCINA!!!
I just got done with eating takeout from there….the food is WAY overpriced, small portions and not good. I would avoid this place if you want to get a good pizza.
Tom - What did you order? The place is definitely not cheap but neither is Archie’s and I still prefer Blue. I’ve eaten there a number of times now and find that it’s a decent option for the Brickell area.