Varuni Napoli

We came here last night since we were craving pizza. It was SO GOOD. I like that they come with fresh red peppers instead of red cracked chili peppers for the pizza toppings as well as fresh garlic and parmesan. The salad we ordered was perfect on top of excellent service. Overall, a fantastic night. I would say this could borderline by one of my top pizza places to go to.

My wife is a pizza-​holic. She insisted we come here despite my Devotion to Antico.
These pies are very close to those Antico pies. But the variety/​selection is better. Additional menu items, such as salads. Full bar. Much better décor. Quaint outdoor eating area.
It is a shorter walk to Varuni than to Antico. This will likely get more of our pizza dollars than Antico.

This was some of the best pizza I have had in the city of Atlanta. I ordered the special of the day which was pepperoni, Italian sausage, mozzarella and herbs. This was not the type of pizza I would typically order, but it was absolutely awesome. The thin crust is very unique and lighter than any I have ever tried. The interior of the restaurant is very contemporary and has a great vibe. I highly recommend giving this place a try. You won’t be disappointed.

We came here because our original plan for the night got cancelled. After a bit of searching on Unilocal we settled for pizza. The concept of ordering and then sitting down with a number seems to work for some restaurants but not this one. Here on a Saturday night, the line was long but the wait to get our pie was short once we ordered. We came in through the back on a rainy night and figured out what to do on our own. A hostess or a couple of waiters would do this place much better than have signs all over to go stand in line. We eventually gave up on the line and sat down at the bar. The bartender was running ragged between diners at the bar, making drinks for the floor and taking orders over the phone in the loud bar area. He didn’t seem to have enough space in his area considering he broke a water glass over an ice bucket and just kept on cruising. I just drank my soda from the can at that point. We ordered a Margherita pizza to share and managed to finish it just fine. I’m glad we got one and not two or we’d be taking it to go.

Wonderful mix of comfy and exotic that’ll fill you up with real deal flavors.
The space is great, two giant pizza ovens the focus. But don’t overlook the tiny bar tucked into the left front corner. Nice wine selections, but the great draft options of Orpheus IPA and a sharp Peroni lager won the day.
Wanted to try several things but knew two pies were out of the question for a party of two, so we went with a caprese salad (fresh buffalo mozzarella, campari tomatoes, fresh basil, basalmic reduction, $ 10) and a Varuni salad (wild arugula, local spring mix, roasted pecans, mixed tomatoes, Prosciutto di Parma, Luca’s homemade balsalmic vinaigrette, $ 9) along with a Oro Bianco pizza (fresh buffalo mozzarella, buffalo ricotta, Taleggio cheese, pancetta, Pecorino Romano, basil, black truffle oil, $ 21).
After finding seat in the mod-​on-​mod dining area, a few sips of our beers and the salads appeared. The mozz in the caprese was indeed crazy fresh, not too cold, but kinda let down by tomatoes which weren’t at peak of season form. A really good caprese particularly if you are skipping mozz on your pie, but not one of the best ever. The house concoction of arugula and such was neat, tidy, and simple, with a nice balance of tart and sweet and salty. This would probably be my go-​to salad for some greens for the night.
The main event certainly SOUNDED like it had the potential to be too cheese-​heavy, but was not. All the cheeses had a slightly different flavor profile and were applied in little dollops and dabs, so as not to overwhelm the crust. And the crust itself was magical — light and dense and crispy and chewy all at once. Thank those ovens. The overall effect was the richest, deepest, most decadent grilled cheese you’ve ever had. White Gold is a fitting name, don’t you think?
This was a very filling pie, as you might expect, but not grotesquely so. Still, we had to say no to dessert even though there were amazing looking cannoli rolling by. Maybe next time.

Oh my goodness, thinking about the pizza here is making my mouth water! My relationship with Varuni Napoli began while the restaurant was under construction but almost open. I was walking by with a friend and peeking in to the recently renovated space. Luca (the owner) saw us against the windows and invited us in for a tour of the space and invited us back for the opening. How lovely!
Varuni Napoli is the most authentic Italian pizza in Atlanta. Considering all their ingredients are from Italy (including the flour for the dough!), you know this is the real deal! The service matches the quality of the food, they treat you like family. I recommend sitting at the bar, the alcohol bar or the pizza bar for the full view while dining. Note: they have prosecco on tap, FTW!
There area lounge areas near the back, great to chill with a group. The décor and atmosphere is wonderful. It can be a little loud sometimes but not unbearable.
I’ve tried several different pizzas and they are all delicious. I’m ready to go back!

Oh man, this is a 4.8 star rating.
I am a regular at Varuni Napoli and live just up the street.
Checks off nearly everything you want in a craft pizza joint; atmosphere (creative seating, Italian soccer on TV, all Italian equipment and ingredients lined throughout, friendly staff and an Italian owner), a quality menu (diverse pizzas, staff know them well, gooey dough), drinks (decent wines and cocktails), and service.
A pleasant place to be for sure — the 0.2 star that is missing for me is the price.
Really wish it was a little more affordable than it’s prices reflect.

I work down the street and did not know this fancy pants pizza place was here! A friend of mind was like, duh it’s been here and took me to try it for the first time.
Really good pizza here folks if you like really think, stone oven baked, fresh minimal ingredients in a hipster environment. I had the calzone and they also put cheese and toppings on top, melted down. Omg… so good.
Great place, expect to pay at least 20 bucks for a dish but its meant to be shared. I had plenty to take home!
Drinks and dessert also available. Will be back again.

What, out of 234 reviews, no love for the Friariello pizza? Well, I’m here to show my appreciation for this particular pie.
Our group came here on a weeknight to find Varuni Napoli bustling and busier than we’d expected. Positive signs right off the bat, and we hadn’t even eaten anything yet. Parking was a cinch in the lot behind the restaurant. We were lucky to nab a table; it’s first come first served regarding the seating situation. It took me forever to decide but after making up my mind that I wanted a white pie, I chose the Friariello ($ 20) since it sounded pretty delightful.
Description from the Varuni Napoli website: «Fresh buffalo mozzarella, rapini, Italian sausage, diced prosciutto di Parma, EVOO and Pecorino Romano»
I like how the pizzaiolos (a word I learned from reading the Unilocal reviews for Varuni Napoli) don’t skim on the sausage and cheese. Maybe more rapini would be nice, but I can deal. The crust was great with a bit of chew and not too burnt. The slices were not too floppy too, awesome. I’ll admit I had some pizza envy when admiring the pies of the others, but once I chomped into my Friariello, all that went out of the window. The other folks were all jazzed about their pizzas as well.
What added to the enjoyment of the pizza was the warm and friendly service. Despite no official table service, there was a smiling manager-​type guy who checked on us periodically and made sure we had what we needed (more water, to-​go boxes). The fellow taking our orders up front was super nice too.
The main dining room was toasty, likely due to the open kitchen and pizza ovens basically being right there. And it was kind of loud for the same reasons, so keep that in mind. It was a little too chilly to sit out on the deck, but I’d like to do that in the future. It seemed like a charming space, with a tree and fountain. I’ll be back!

Love their pizza! They are so great. Awesome ingredients. Perfect crust.
Started with the meatballs and arugula salad. Love the freshness and lemon! We ordered Amore mia, Mamma, and Porreca Piccante pizzas. I love the Piccante the most but they are so good.
The staff are so friendly. We ordered and were picking up… they were so nice. Chatting at the bar. Great place!

The pizza here is terrific but everything else is mediocre at best (i.e. appetizers, desserts, etc.).
The soft, thin crust is awesome, and the cheese and sauce are simply delicious. This is one of the best pizzas I’ve ever had, anywhere in North America — no joke. And the orders come out very quickly as an added plus. My only gripe is that they are a tad stingy with the toppings (there is no reason for that when you are paying this much for the pizza).
Apart from the pizza though, you can pass on everything else.

We ordered rice balls as an appetizer. Crispy but moist on the inside. Very tasty. They came out at the same time as the pizza. We ordered a «create your own» pizza with sausage and pepperoni. Marinara was flavorful. I do love italian style pizzas but my crust was a bit doughy. Fast service which is probably why my crust was doughy. The pizza also got cold entirely too quicky. The pizza is a bit pricey for it to not be great imo. cute establishment.

Unique concept. Fun vibe. Friendly staff. Creative cocktails. Homemade limoncello. Eclectic design. And most importantly, EXCELLENT PIZZA! I am trying to think of reasons we need to visit Atlanta again. Outstanding pizza places are few and far between. This is one of the best! I would travel hundreds of miles to visit this pizza restaurant — of course it would be a road trip weekend!
The ricotta cheesecake and negroni cocktail alone had me sitting on a palazzo in Rome…

If you like Antico Pizza’s thin crust, slightly wet, very authentic tasting Italian pizza but you dislike the ever present hoards of people, community-​style eating arrangement and BYOB policy, you’ll really like Varuni-​Napoli.
Varuni-​Napoli was opened by one of the former owners of Antico Pizza and it brings all the good stuff without all of the bad stuff. There’s still thin crust, quickly made, specialty pizzas but without the hype, the pretense and the madness that accompanies it.
My co-​worker told me about it a few weeks ago and when my fiancé and I were going to town one night to see a show at the Fox, we decided to stop here for dinner beforehand.
We arrived about 6:30 and even though there was a short line leading up to the counter where you order (like AP), it was calm inside and there were a few empty seats at the bar right in the front where we could sit and order as well (yes, they have their own alcohol!).
We sat down and perused the menu of pizzas, calzones, starters, etc. and ordered two glasses of wine and a bastardo pizza to split. The wine was tasty, the pizza came out quickly and tasted almost identical to AP (in my uncultured opinion), and the whole experience was delightful.
The whole dinner was relaxed and I didn’t feel squashed or weirded out at all by random people moving into my personal space or table (like other places), and the people watching was pretty good too. This place had all sorts coming in to dine or taking out as well.
Varuni was excellent in every sense of the word, and we’ll definitely be back in the future — especially since we don’t have to drive across town to the West side where parking is virtually nonexistent. Bravo Varuni-​Napoli!

This place can be a little tough to find, in the corner of the shopping center up some stairs. There is plenty of parking in the huge lot. There is a pleasant water landscaping outside the restaurant and nice outdoor seating for warmer months.
You order at the the front, you take a seat, and they will bring out your food. You can get parmesan, olive oil, garlic, peppers, and chili oil on the side near the register.
Beer — selection was average, and a bit expensive, $ 6 – 8 for pint and $ 10 – 12 for 22oz.
They had some interesting cocktails that I would like to try, but with pizza nothing beats a cold beer or glass of wine.
Porreca Piccante — ⁵⁄₅ — I very much enjoyed this spicy pizza, similar to the diavoli at Antico, although less meat (and therefore less salty). It is about the same size, with a more eatable crust. It’s a thin pizza, with random distribution of cheese, meat, peppers, and a spicy sauce. The pizza can get spicy, but just just as easy to avoid the spicy bites! Would order again.
Scugnizzo Calzone (baked) — ³⁄₅ — bigger portion than I expected, comes in a half moon that is longer than the diameter of the pizza and thinner than the radius. The flavored were good, not too salty, well balanced. Cooked well, nice and hot when it came out. Good balance of cheese and meat, with scattered mushrooms ontop, and some basil. It was precut into 6 prices which made it easy to eat. My complaint is that it was too juicy (?), so when tried to eat it at first I had to kinda turn it a little to drain and by the end of the meal the remaining prices were a little soggy in the bottom. The marinara sauce was standard.
Cannoli — ⁴⁄₅ — they have a few different flavored, with pistachio and Nutella what we narrowed it down to, ended up with the pistachio. Very similar in flavor to Antico, a nice hard crust and a soft sweet cream filling. I enjoyed how the pistachios were through the interior of the cannoli as well, instead of just stuck to the sides. Also, the presentation on the plate was enjoyable.

Being allergic to Hazelnuts mean I’ve never had the pleasre of trying Nutella. But of course anything with chocolate I’m always drawn to. the fact that they have got tubs of it around here is amazing. I wish I’d run into this place when I first got here for this temporary work assignment but would have come much more often. I liked the off-​beat and quirky fast-​paced friendly vib of the place. Not to mention, it smells great when you walk in. In a way only open wood fired kitchens can be. The pizzas have nice crust and flavor all the way around. The antipasto plate was a nice suprise find on the menu. I like the fact that they try unusual combinations, so overall definitely a fun place to go from date night to boys (or gals) night out.

I had wanted to try this for a little over a year after friends told me that chef-​and-​owner Giancarlo Pirrone from the infamous Antico’s had left and started his own joint in Midtown. My weekend in Midtown ATL proved to be fruitful eating as two friends were also willing to join me for more than just pizza at Varuni Napoli. A mere 10-​minute drive from where I was located, we feasted and feasted well on the following:
–cuoppo: combination of arrancini and panzerotti
–porecca picante pizza
–pappa gone pizza
–pistachio cannoli
–nutella cannoli
–tiramisu
— — -
Cuoppo:
PROS
–very filling, perfect to share for three since there are three of each appetizer
–came out hot and fresh instead of sitting under a heat lamp: so hot that my friend burned his mouth on an arrancini ball
–not overwhelming in sauce regarding the arrancini, good balance of flavors
CONS
–too much fried things overall. The dipping sauce (marinara I believe) helped a lot to take off that edge, but I ended up drinking a lot of water because of it and that filled me up really early on.
— — —
Porecca Picante Pizza: spicy! spicy salami, spicy sausage, with fresh buffalo mozarella. This is definitely one dish for you heat lovers out there. I can’t say that this was a favorite of mine. There was a bit too much meat for my liking, but it wasn’t a bad pizza.
PROS
–really good, not that spicy! For all the hype about the spice, it’s actually got a good amount of heat
CONS
–ingredients not evenly dispersed: some slices barely had any toppings
–not enough cheese
— — –
Pappa Gone: I ordered this pizza because it was the closest to the pizza that I absolutely adore at Antico’s. I can’t even remember the name, but I know the one ingredient that keeps me going back there, and those are the peppadew peppers. These peppers have a moderate amount of heat, but more importantly, they are sweet. This goes well with the heat and also helps break up the saltiness of the cheese and sausage. In addition, it helps cut a bit of the acidity that comes from tomato sauce. Ingredients include: Fresh smoked mozzarella, buffalo mozzarella, caramelized onions, peppadew peppers, Prosciutto di Parma, Pecorino Romano, basil (as taken from the Varuni Napoli menu).
PROS
–peppadew peppers!
–ingredients are more dispersed than the porecca picante
–less salty in general compared to the Antico version and the porecca picante (this is big for me because salt means more water intake)
CONS
–not as much cheese
–came out LATE: I believe they had forgotten about this order, and we had to remind them.
— — –
Pistachio Cannoli: I really had high hopes for this dessert as I love pistachio. It came filled to the brim too!
PROS
–definitely shareable: this thing is bigger and longer than two churros put together.
CONS
–way too sweet: even with the amount of cream that was stuffed in there, the filling was just ridiculously sweet. You can taste the pistachio for sure, but at this point, I don’t know if it’s flavoring or essence because it is SO sweet.
— — –
Nutella Cannoli: mmm hazelnut! If you’re a chocolate lover, please take this section of the review with a grain of salt because I am not a dessert lover. In fact, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth despite random cravings from time to time. If I do have a dessert, it has to be small, and it’s usually fruity in some form or another.
PROS
–very chocolatey: decadence is definitely a great word to describe this cannoli. They didn’t skimp out on the chocolate.
–less sweet in terms of intensity compared to the pistachio cannoli: maybe it’s got a little less sugar content, or maybe it’s the bitterness of the cocoa, but this sweetness was a little more tolerable.
CONS
–not really any if you like creamy chocolatey goodness.
— — –
Tiramisu: this was actually recommended by a friend who had eaten here before. I would have to say that this dessert, while full of cream, is more up my alley because it is less sweet than the other two desserts. In addition, there is coffee. I like coffee… a lot.
PROS
–generous with their coffee liqueur: some places skimp out, and some are a little too heavy handed with the booze. Not here!
–definitely like the dark cocoa powder dusting: that bitterness really helps cut into the already mild-​sweetness of the whipped cream.
CONS
–none!
Wow, so excited that I could finally eat here, but I have to admit that it wasn’t the best experience. Maybe it was the hype which led to overly high expectations, or maybe it was an off-​night. Doesn’t mean I won’t eat here again, it wasn’t bad pizza. It just wasn’t as great as everyone made it out to be. I did have one complaint though: there isn’t too much of a break between the door and the rest of the room and so any cold air that comes in cools the pizza significantly. Also, we didn’t have the greatest service: at one point we took two water jugs from adjacent tables because nobody stopped by. Maybe better next time?

This place is really cool inside. It reminds me of an upscale deli. There are long bench picnic table, some high top tables it seems like a great place to get a casual drink and split a pie with friends. I really like places with an open kitchen.
First — arancini are a must order. They are perfectly fried and crisp on the outside and moist and creamy on the inside. There marinara sauce is also off the chain. I would maybe just drink a bowl of that stuff.
Second — their pizzas are so fresh. You can watch them toss the dough by hand and they slice the meat that they put on it right in front of you. I prefer the red sauced pizzas to the white sauce. Their red sauce is on point. The white sauce just doesn’t really contribute much and overpowered by their really flavorful toppings. Get the Bastardo. You won’t be disappointed.
Their online ordering system doesn’t tell you how long it’ll take so maybe call if you are concerned about the timing.

Pizzeria at its best!
My test in food is if they do the simplest items properly, then their probability of delivering complex items is much greater.
So we had Neapolitan signature, Margarita. It had perfect dough, fresh basil fragrance, enough but not over whelming tomato sauce with fresh buffala. I literally inhaled the slices!!! So so good.
Also tried their tiramisu and Nutella cannoli. Their tiramisu is outsourced but it’s about authentic Tuscan recipe as it gets. I didn’t post pictures of the dessert b/​c we ate them faster than the pizza.
Luca, the owner is friendly and charming.
Ordering is fast casual and besides pizza, they offer a few appetizers, salads, gelato, desserts and wine. Gelato is quite good with the chocolate being the best.
Ambiance is bright and open dining room with a full view into the kitchen. It’s a welcome change to Antico with sufficient climate control (AC) and they have a bus boy who comes often to clear the dishes away. Another positive is that there’s an ample parking in the back .
I want edible pizzas less all the headaches of Antico. Varuni is now my go to pizzeria!

So, I’ve returned to Varuni Napoli for more visits and must say, the experience was spectacular. Over the course of the year, you can tell that the restaurant matured into being much more than an improved Antico and developed its own style.
Let’s go through this point by point:
— COOL VIBES. First and foremost, the ambiance is very cool. You can see everything being made, the cleanliness was impressive given the number of things going on. Italian music playing in the background at a great volume that allows for conversation without shouting. The patio is like a little oasis of its own, with couches and tables.
— CASUAL, BUT CLASSY. From the outfits of the servers to the knowledgeable folks working here, the atmosphere is a great mix of casual and classy. You can easily wear shorts here or whatever you prefer, at the same time the staff is knowledgeable and nice. For example, the employee at the bar gave us a description of all the cocktail infusions they have, such as house made limoncello, arugula infusion and others.
— SPACCA NAPOLI IS A MUST. My favorite pizza on the menu that I’ve tried so far, loaded with mushrooms, Tellagio and caramelized onions. The crust was excellent, I have to say much tastier than it was a year ago when I visited.
PROSECCO ON TAP. Enough said, get it.
TIRAMISU was great. Not over-​sweetened at all, which was nice. Much heavier on coffee than Tiramisu, so don’t plan to go to sleep anytime soon.
PISTACHIO CANNOLI is a must if you are picking out a desert, along with PASTIERA. The cream used in both was excellent. Pastiera had very interesting flowery aroma and it was my first time trying this Italian easter delicacy.