Nicky V’s Neighborhood Pizzeria & Patio

This is our favorite Date night and spot! We love to share the fried ravioli, the New Mexican Pizza (the green chili is fresh and D) and Salad wedge with blue cheese crumbles. Nicole runs a fabulous business.

Calamari was rubbery and salty but the worst was the «manager» talking badly about her staff in front of customers.

One star, for the beer. This place is now called PI brewery. Same kitchen though, because I asked. Went with a large group of people mid-​day on a saturday, and we gave them plenty of notice; still, service was incredibly terrible, and the food was even worse. But, to say something positive, the beer was good. I had a robust Porter made by pi brewery, and enjoyed it. Two, in fact… A decent roast-​y quality with nice vanilla undertones, and a medium body. However, the kitchen was a disaster. I ordered their $ 11 special Nikki V’s burger and, no lie, the bun, top and bottom, was nearly hard as rock, and barely penetrable. The burger, ordered to be medium, which should show some pink– was well done, with a nice crust of bitter black carbon all around it. The fries, well, they were fried to perfection, if perfection means you can’t taste it and it’s just a waste of calories to chew them up. People on either side of me, one of whom ordered a salad, and the fried ravioli, and the other ordered lasagna, both said of their lunches– as they methodically munched through them, that the food was «meh». More stories like this abound, but just one more: one person at the table ordered a pizza. Because it came approximately two hours after we arrived, most people were leaving or had left already. She had a slice, and then prepared to leave. When asked if she wanted the rest boxed up, she said «absolutely not», and left virtually a whole pizza there on her plate. The place was a disaster.

Been here a few times now and the food has been great. The problem with this place is the service, they seem to be lost and definitely overwhelmed even when the place is not full. I just witnessed a couple get up and served themselves as their food was sitting on the counter for some time. The guy that appears to be the owner is absolutely unfazed by this. Will be back because the food is good, but have to wear my patience pants.

Use to love this place, it’s totally gone down hill. Ordered a Greek Salad, it literally had some lettuce, maybe 2 olives and an ¹⁄₈ of a tomato. for $ 8. The pizza had hardly any toppings what so ever. Pretty sad considering we moved from LA and were happy we had found a decent place, but no longer.

The food is great. Unfortunately they didn’t have enough plates or silverware so we had to share. There was also only one beer, kind of disappointing for a brewery.

So I guess «Nicky V’s» is no more as we know it. They announced via Facebook that they have rebranded the restaurant as Pi Brewing Company. They claim to have the same great menu, but it’s not the same great menu as when they used to have excellent pizza (as per my previous review, the pizza has been terrible the last two times).
Like I said in my previous review, the beer was pretty decent, so I wouldn’t mind coming back for that, but as long as they’re rebranding their restaurant, I suggest they consider overhauling the menu to focus on their strengths and do away with their weaknesses. This is no longer the pizzeria it once was.

Heating up my own stove?! Waited 45 min for a to-​go order. It’s one thing to wait for a product due to a lack of staffing or training and it’s another thing for a business to have NO REGARD or CONSIDERATION for their patron. I guess it’s all in the brand. There’s a reason why you haven’t been voted the best since 2010.
PS management if you’re training someone continue to staff accordingly until your new hires are trained. Be willing to make the investment in your own company. It’s business 101.

Really bad service … I went to the restaurant and ordered take out. It took them an hour to make a salad and a pizza on a Thursday. Then I get home to find the salad is all iceberg lettuce with 4 olives. The pizza was topped with tomato paste and soggy onions. Are you kidding me? Never going back… Ever.

Mixed feelings… We’ve been to Nicky V’s many times, usually good. But, this time it took well over 1hour to get our food. Not sure, could have been a bad night for the staff but the place was not fully packed… yet the owner was there the whole time. showed no concern about the customers… Walked right past us and didn’t even acknowledge our group of 6 on her way out!!! A 6 top! Seriously! To sum it up– darn good pizza, great server «Kimo» he was great. That’s it…

I love this place. I can’t say enough about it. The pizza is amazing and the calamari is wonderful. The Caesar salad has a perfect flavor. Most Caesar salads I have tried are smothered in dressing. Not here. We always order the Luca pizza and they never disappoint. The ingredients are fresh and you can tell they know how to do pizza right. The atmosphere is perfect.

A bit of a wait to be seated but a Friday night not terrible. Excellent food and drinks! I had the creole pasta and my husband had the Albu turkey. Even my finicky 9 year old gave it 2 thumbs up! We will be frequenting this place often!

It was my first time here and I’m left between 3 and 4 stars.
The really good things… the house salad was one of the best I’ve had. It was a good amount for a half-​size and the house dressing was really good. The menu had a nice variety of salads, pizza, pasta and sandwiches, the ambiance was nice and patio looked like a great place to spend a nice summer dinner and drinks.
The food was mixed. Among everyone in our party we had a chicken sandwich, meatball subs, salads and a pizza. There was nothing to the chicken sandwich — a thin, dry, crunchy breaded piece of chicken (normally you at least get a good sized tender or breast), lettuce and tomato with fries. The subs were slightly better than one you’d find at other major sandwich shops maybe and served with fries. The pizza was the favorite, very good and larger than we expected. I’d like to go back and maybe try something else, maybe it was just an off-​night.

Pizza and pasta is terrible. Sauce is very sweet and comes from a can. I’d expect a local place to make their pizza sauce. It’s worse than chains. Service was ok but not very accommodating. Also learned that know own Fat Squirrel which explains what quality there has tanked as well. Avoid both places if you like good food.

This restaurant has good pizza and fresh ingredients. The beer is even better. They are among the best brewers in Albuquerque, they being Pi Brewery. Pi Brewery is limited to less than 100 gallon batches. So this limits the beer on hand. The beers on tap however are really good. The Tropical IPA has a mango taste that is crisp. This one is not a hoppy IPA but still quite tasty. The English IPA was better. My husband says the hoppier the better and this one has HOPS.
You seat yourself so you can sit where ever you like. On our visit it was between lunch and dinner so the restaurant was not crowded. We were greeted right away and menus were brought over as soon as we sat down. We started out with the Fried Ravioli which was «fried» but did not appear fried. I think we can bring our daughter here and pass this appetizer off as baked. The marina is good. The ricotta and spice inside were delicious.
We could not decide which pizza to get. We were torn between the Lobo and the New Mexican. We decided on the Lobo, which despite the name was really good.
The toppings were generous and the sausage had the perfect spice and was not chunky which I don’t like. The green chile could have been hotter, but that is just me. The roasted red peppers were cooked perfectly and added to the overall taste of the pizza. I am a sucker for peppers. We will be back, of course for the beer and the food.
On a side note there were MANY families in this restaurant. Which tells me the food is good and priced well for families. The staff is very good with the children as well. The wait staff on this day had a family with a baby who was beyond a mess, but they kept the floors swept and clean while the family enjoyed their meal.
We will be back next time for the New Mexican pizza. Oh and the Mac and Cheese which looked really good!
If you like regular beers this place for beer is not for you, but if you are into high quality craft beers give Nicky V’s and Pi Brewers a taste.

I had chicken parmigan which was pretty good, but my wife had the margharita pizza and it was terrible! They skimped terribly on the mozzerella and basil and it was mostly just tomato sauce on a pizza round. The beer from Pi Brewing was pretty good. We sat at the bar since the place was full and the wait was about 30 minutes (Friday night). We were served promptly and the bar tender was friendly and attentative.

I had wanted to try Nicky V’s for quite some time now, and finally got there today. I was generally pleased overall, but don’t have any plans to go back. The beer selection was somewhat limited and the one I chose off the special beer menu wasn’t available – if it’s seasonal then have a seasonal beer menu too. We split a Fuji salad and a New Mexican pizza. The salad was good, but over dressed, which overpowered the greens. The pizza should have been good – nice thin and crispy crust, NM green chile, pepperoni and garlic — but the garlic was far too overpowering. After the first bite, garlic is all you really taste. In the end, Nicky V’s is a decent neighborhood restaurant in this part of town, but I find the pizza and craft beer far better at other places.

We got to sit outside and the weather was very nice so it made the ambience Great!
I had the wedge salad and was fresh & crisp w good tasting blue cheese
Green chili chicken Alfredo pizza was the wife’s meal, Said it was very yummy
Kids had cheese pizza and kids spaghetti, sauce was Very sweet and it was gone fast.
Staff very attentive but not buggy!
Tiramisu was for dessert.
Thank you Oliver for a pleasant evening

Since opening, I’ve been to Nicky V’s numerous times… probably less than a dozen however.
It seems to just be going more and more downhill. I’m sad to say they have not changed their menu since opening…3 years ago? I only like a handful of things on the menu to begin with, so this makes it difficult.
I like the Umbria pizza which is a white pizza. Previously when I’ve had it, there was a wonderful flavor of the truffle oil, pancetta, white cheese, onion, etc. but this time it was just blah with an overcooked crust. Like just ricotta flavor, which isn’t much of a flavor at all. No amount of ‘hot shake em’ outs’ could fix it. Nicky V was there in the beginning of the business opening, but she wasn’t to be found when we went. It wasn’t very busy and the service was good, but the food is very much lacking. Like they bought cheaper ingredients, trained a guy who shouldn’t and wasn’t cooking before and just didn’t care anymore. The spark of Nicky V’s has died. The drink menu had several items that changed and once again, it was like they didn’t care to update it. We also got the Orviette. Which is my husbands favorite there. It was very much lacking flavor as well. I could taste olive oil. that’s it. The mushrooms were abundant, which I loved that. But the bite of flavor this dish used to have was gone. It was so greasy. the peas were scant and the pine nuts (um the most expensive thing) was WAY too much abundant. It was unnecessary. All for $ 14 each. No thanks. Not worth it. They need to redirect and focus. I was very saddened. d
My friend’s Fuji salad looked okay. Our other friends’ Chicken Parm looked alright as well, but I didn’t try. Maybe it looked good like ours, but just lacked flavor as well. I’ll save my $ 14 and keep wondering.

Great service… very friendly waitstaff and the bartender/​manager Skyler looks like Mac from Always Sunny in Philadelphia!
That aside, I would say stick with the pizza and wings, don’t let the Frito Misto tempt you. It was so strange, the breading all fell off and the calamari was super undercooked but tough… and the zucchini was basically raw. You end up with just greasy, undercooked veggies and calamari.
I’m a fan that they’re carrying Bosque Brews and I’ll definitely return for the great service and pizza!