When I first moved to the city, a friend gave me a list of her favorite restaurants and told me I MUST go to all of them. Number 5 on her list was Rubirosa in NoLiTa, and she exclaimed, “great, not expensive Italian in NoLiTa… known for their thin crust pizza.” As you can imagine, I immediately crossed Rubirosa off the list. However, I soon heard that not only does Rubirosa have a gluten free menu, but the menu is extensive! All pizzas can be made with gluten free pizza dough, they serve GF spaghetti & rigatoni, use GF breadcrumbs to make meatballs and rice balls, and serve CHICKEN PARM! My FAVORITE foods!!…
Rubirosa is perfect at any time of day. Whether you go for dinner with your family, a date, a big group gathering before a night out, or before/after a day of shopping around in SoHo; Rubirosa has something to satisfy all occasions and cravings. To start, I HIGHLY recommend the gluten free fried calamari. This calamari, with a few zucchini bites thrown in, is coated in a gluten free batter and absolutely incredible. For mains, my table and I indulged in the famous vodka pizza and caprese pizza (pesto, mozzarella, and tomatoes); both were delicious. My brother and sister, who are NOT gluten free, loved the pizza crust and commented they wouldn’t have known they were eating gluten free. To round out our meal, we ordered the meatballs (fyi- these have cheese on top), the brussels sprouts, and the gluten free chicken parm with spaghetti. I can’t remember the last time I ate this much… everything was just SO good!
Adorable atmosphere, DELICIOUS food, and the ability to make me enjoy the gluten free versions of my favorite childhood meals; I absolutely LOVE Rubirosa! Also, the staff here is great and they are happy to answer any allergy question that you ask. I mentioned I was dairy free, too, and my waitress happily explained that the gluten free pizza crusts were safe for me to eat, and any of the pizzas could be prepared nocheese. Thank you, Rubirosa for this delicious meal and major food coma!