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| - This is one of those reviews where I wish Yelp had 1/2 star options but nevertheless I'll give them the nod in the right direction because they get most of the important parts right and the place is worth a visit.
If you've been to Cafe Porta Alba in Hilldale Mall then this restaurant should be pretty familiar. It's from the same people, the food is very similar, but this is basically the express version. The pizzas on average are 10" instead of 12", but the bonus to this is that they are virtually the same size, they cost less ($8-9~ for a pie) and they have the same level of tasty quality.
That's really what's best about Novanta. For those not familiar, Novanta and Cafe Porta Alba have a specialty oven that cooks their pizzas at 900 degrees and which was imported from Italy. They have a rare Italian certification that only some 50 places in the U.S. have for being allowed to serve this Neopolitan Pizza. It allows them to make your pizza in roughly 90 seconds, so wait times are fairly low for dinner (about 10-15 minutes after you order). They use fantastic fresh ingredients with just enough choices on the menu to wet your pallet and a burnt, crispy, kneaded crust that is delicious. It's a great portion size in my opinion; usually most people order one pizza for themselves, which gives you 4 reasonably big slices. But since the dough is thin except at the point of the crust you will be comfortably full, not wondering why you ordered a whole pie for yourself.
As for selection, they have a few different routes you can go, the ones I described above have about 9-10 menu choices followed by another group with alternative styles (no sauce/4-cheese, deluxe salads, gelato, etc). The Salccicia (sp) with Mushrooms, Olive Oil, Basil, Crumbled Sausage, and Garlic is incredibly good as is their plainer Margherita pizza with Bufala Mozzarella. And if you don't like their options they do allow you to build your own. The taste of all of the ones I've tried is light, full of flavor, with an appetizing amount of oil and crispiness that help you savor the last few bites.
The only bad marks are the location and lack of atmosphere. While I'm appreciative that they opened this near my apartment, the bigger restaurant in Hilldale has a slightly more intimate feel and actual restaurant service as opposed to ordering at a counter. The strip mall that Novanta is at is growing increasingly popular and has a really bad parking lot, so on occassion there's too many impatient drivers and swarms of little kids. The decor inside is also bland, there's a few stock photos on the wall from Italy but otherwise it's very much the same as the Chipotle and Chins next door. I'll give them time to improve this though, as they literally just opened and the cheaper price over Porta de Alba makes this a very agreeable place to frequent. My wife and I had drinks and pizza for roughly $20 and tipped a few bucks at the counter jar as opposed to an actual waiter/waitress 20%+.
I recently had Pizza Bruta too, but both my wife and I liked Novanta and Porta Alba much better. Not that Bruta is bad, it was decent, but it has the same atmosphere as Novanta with sub-par taste.
The pizza is definitely worth a stop for at Novanta. Stop by ad give it a try and if you have room there's ice cream to wash it down with. They even have a Nutella-Stuffed pizza that I'm really tempted to get next time I'm there.
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