EDINBURGH’s New York Italian inspired dining room, Civerinos, Hunter Square, the “OG” of the five-site strong brand re-opened this week, after a 10-month hiatus and, within hours, was booked up for the next two months. Scottish Italian owner, Michele Civiera has credited and thanked their “phenomenally loyal fan-base” which number over 50,000 across their social media platforms; @civerinos and @civerinos_slice for the successful re-launch and promised that there will be tables available “on the day” if customers call at 9am.
Civerinos, Hunter Square first opened in 2014, just off the legendary Royal Mile and was named the “coolest place to eat in Edinburgh” by GQ. Their classic New York style pizzas became legendary after they appeared in Phaidon’s global “Where to eat pizza” guide. Undefeated by the challenges of the past year they delivered 16,000 lockdown DIY Kits and opened two more of their neighbourhood Slice Bars in Portobello and Corstorphine (joining The High Dive bar, the original Slice Bar on Forrest Road) and started to deliver pizzas to the 19,000 households that had downloaded their app.
Hunter Square, where it all started, has been the last to re-open and has been given a stylish new look courtesy of Edinburgh design studios Hot Slice and Ja!Coco!
Described as New York club room meets subway with a punk /skate vibe and an 80’s/90’s hip/hop pop soundtrack (which has been downloaded over 22k times on Apple), the overall aesthetic is fun. It features a main restaurant, basement dining room and indoor neon garden, as well as the terrace on the Square that can safely seat up to 110 with a combination of booths and sharing tables for groups and families.
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The OG New York style pizza pie favourites are all back including the Signature “Civerinos” – Sugo, Sicilian fennel sausage, peperoni, rosemary, garlic oil, topped with burrata with some new additions including “Savage Garden”, a vegan pizza with double sugo, olives, roast peppers, mushroom, red onion, chilli, rocket and a Sicilian crumb & garlic oil. Also new, and paying homage to the convivial dining scene of NYC’s Italian family restaurants the menu now features giant sharing platters designed to be served “family style” including chicken parmigiana “The Big Parm” and the “Tagliata Platter” of steak strips, parmesan fries and truffle aioli. Small plates of authentic Italian cicchetti, bowls of traditional pasta and salads also feature, as well as the famous box of parmesan fries (to take home if you don’t finish!)
There are tables for walk-ins and bookings can be made on the day by calling the restaurant at 9am to secure a table. It is open Monday – Sunday, lunch – late.
