Stagioni - Four Seasons of Food

Another recommendation from Where Chef’s Eat (if you don’t have this book, you should def buy it. No, I don’t have any financial stake in the sale of this book - I’m just obsessed) and it was a winner. The atmosphere is casual and cozy. The kitchen is open concept, so you can see all the action while you’re warmed by the pizza oven which makes the best pizza in Charlotte (according to the local we chatted with at the bar). We started with the focaccia and the grilled romaine salad with calamari. YUM. We then ordered the pepperoni and fennel sausage pizza and it was the most flavorful pizza I’ve ever eaten. Ever. No idea how they pack that much flavor into a pizza, but it is seriously addictive. We didn’t try the pasta, but we stared longingly at every dish that passed out of the kitchen and questioned why our stomachs refused to consume more food. We ended the meal with an order of zeppole (think Italian beignets). I could bathe in that salted caramel sauce. Overall, a wonderful dining experience!

NOTE: make a reservation if you want to guarantee seating. This place is clearly a community favorite because it was packed. We were just passing through Charlotte, so we did not have a reservation, but were able to snag a seat at the pizza bar facing the kitchen. All tables were totally booked!

Oh my. This place was phenomenal. We started off with the forcaccia loaf, beef tartare, and mussels. The bread had a THIN crisp to it with a perfect soft interior. The beef tartare is my personal favorite. It's seasoned, cut, and presented in the most perfect way. The texture was not overly chewy or bland, nor was the fresh beef over flavored, basically incredibly well balanced. Mussels were plump, really well cleaned, and refreshing to the table. Next, the doppio ravioli was light and unique. It really tasted like a sunny fall day. The gnocchi was interesting. Good, but it's a bit underwhelming comparatively. The duck was a bit too chewy for my liking, and the star of the dish was the brussel sprouts. The pepperoni & sausage pizza has a perfect crust, and we loved the fennal sausage on it. Tartufi pizza, my second favorite. It had a gently sweet undernote to it and great umami flavor. Lastly, for desserts, we had the carmal apple bread pudding and ginger cake. The bread pudding had good texture, but the sweetness level would definitely suit a sweet tooth instead. The ginger cake, on the other hand, was perfectly semi sweet.
The restaurant is beautiful, clean, and service was pleasant. I would come back for the beef tartare on it's own!

I am so glad we found this place. Born and raised in Europe, we had difficulty finding a place with the same food and service standards as back home. This little place is literally what you would get in Italy. The food is so delicious, and the staff is very tentative. Thank you for a great night. I am already planning to come back to try that pizza 🍕🙌

Such an amazing night. The food was phenomenal especially the muscles and the mortadella pizza! Definitely an amazing date night spot.

Had a great experience at Stagioni in Charlotte, NC. Really pretty interior and cozy. Was dark- probably good for a date night. The food was really good. I had the ricotta trio- was 3 servings of ricotta cheese with herb, honey and truffle. It came with pizza bread. Was flavorful and delicious and the bread was perfectly salted. I had the little queen pasta- had short rib and broccoli rabe. Was probably one of the best pastas I’ve had in Charlotte but the portion was small and it was expensive ($32). For dessert I had a scoop of the brownie gelato. Was super chocolately and had great texture. My friend didn’t have the best experience. She ordered the mussels and one was bad but they took it back and refunded her. She’s also gluten intolerant and she ordered the gluten free chocolate cake. It came with biscotti but she wasn’t sure if that was gluten free (it was). I feel like the server should have mentioned that first. Still giving it 5 stars bc those things are minor. Will definitely go back and try other things. Oh- the parking is horrible- give yourself 10 mins.

We came here for our anniversary dinner, and it was just perfect. We started with the raw oysters and squash blossoms. The squash blossom dish is unique, and was one of my favorites of the evening. Then we went with two pastas and the swordfish for the next course. I can’t remember the name, but the truffle pasta with porcini was fantastic. Favorite dish. We ended with the zeppoli, which was a fairly large portion compared to the other dishes. Five dishes plus dessert was the right amount for us. Great meal and service!

Went with a party of 5 for an early dinner. We had the Stag Board, meatballs, and their appetizer special (Brussel Sprouts) to start. We added the mini focaccia loaf to go with the sauce the meatballs came in. We got a variety of pastas for our entree from gnocchi to rigatoni, the ravioli and tagliatelle. Everything from start to finish was fresh and flavorful. Great portion sizes and we still had Zepollis even though we were so full. I can't wait to go back and try more things on the menu.

I have not had every pizza in Charlotte to know for sure but this was by far the best pizza I have had in Charlotte. Pepperoni and Cheese to absolute perfection. The flavor was out of this world. The pacing of the food was great from apps, to entrees, to dessert. Enough time to sit back digest and have a drink if you so choose to. Everything else we had was great including a special app they had for just the night. Plan a date night or group dinner and enjoy yourself.

I cannot be more pleased with my first experience at Stagioni last night! Our server Tony was personable and made all the right suggestions for us, from our bottle of wine to our dessert.The food was exceptional and perfectly proportioned. We will definitely be back again soon!

Lovely place. We loved everything. The meatballs and focaccia to start with. Rigatoni and ravioli for the main, accompanied by a superb glass of Super Tuscan.
Compliments to the chef and beverage director!!

Some of these reviews of "small portions" and "crowded and loud atmosphere" are just comical. It's honestly the most Charlotte thing ever. Have y'all traveled outside the Carolinas? Scissors for pizza? Common outside of the states.

Our server was great, the food was delicious, we ordered too much because of these stupid reviews.

So I have to start off by saying that I'm not a fan of Italian food. Actually, I should phrase it this way, there are very few Italian restaurants that I've been to and actually liked.
So we were celebrating a milestone and I was looking for a place to go. This was the first Italian restaurant in a very long time that's menu was interesting enough for me to try it!
I'm glad we did because it was excellent!
As appetizers we had the bone marrow and the blistered shishito pepper appetizer special that night.
Both were just delicious! The bone marrow was EXCELLENT! I wish they had given more bread with it though! The peppers were so good! The capers and kalamato olives took the dish over the top.
I had the halibut entree and it was so different from anything I've had! It came in a little pot sitting in a delicious soup. The soup had potatoes, mushrooms , onions and other veggies. It was so so good! My husband had the ricotta cavatelli which I didn't like the first time I tried it because I took like 2 or 3 cavatelli in a mouthful so it was pretty doughy but I tried it again, just one this time, with the sauce and it was pretty good. The tomatoes in it were amazing!
As dessert I picked the fried pillows of heaven ( zepolli ) that came with a salted caramel sauce for dipping (OMG!)and hubby wanted to try their in house made gelato. We got the three flavors, cookie batter, pistachio and hazelnut. Those zepolli were the lightest, fluffiest things ever! They were so good. They tasted and had the texture of choux pastry, definitely not like the beignets that other reviewers have called them!
The gelato was also pretty good but I ofcourse enjoyed the zepolli more!
I would definitely come back here again!

We especially enjoyed the pizza and the dessert (Zeppoli I think). It tasted like an Italian beignet. Really good. The sauce with the mussel appetizer was really great as well. You’ll want to ask for extra bread to drag through it.

The food and service are impeccable worth every penny you spend. We had the onion soup, salad, charcuterie, lobster, short ribs, and pasta....
A smorgasbord of deliciousness!
The service was perfect and the wine selection a bit pricey, but you already can imagine that at a 4Star restaurant.
Get ready to have a memorable occasion when you done here.

What an elegant, cozy, and romantic atmosphere. Top notch food and service. Delicious.

There was not a single disappointing thing about this place. Perfect date night location. You know a place is good when you could go and just get bread and be completely satisfied. Focaccia loaf was the best bread I’ve ever had at any restaurant. Ricotta trio was delicious. The best part was the mortadella pizza. Tagliolini was amazing too. We even got Zeppoli to go and it was nothing short of amazing. You can go all out here and still not break the bank. My wife and I will definitely be back.

Stagioni offers an amazing dining experience. First, the mansion that it resides in gives it a great welcoming feel. The decor is upscale modern, but also cozy and personal. The waitstaff takes great care to ensure you always have water and bread. The food is hands down fantastic and completely unique. Each appetizer, pizza, and entree has great care and effort put into making it the best it can be. One of the selling points of this restaurant are that many of the ingredients are local and the menu changes based on what is available. Everything is very fresh and you can tell that you are eating is small batch. Definitely get the truffle pizza and truffle pasta as they wonderfully complement each other.

The best restaurant in charlotte. I once had a first date here and now I’m married to her. That’s not directly rated to the food. But It didn’t hurt.

Best Italian in charlotte!

Mussels, steak tartare, artichoke pizza, wonderful pasta

Exceptional service

Instant favorite!

Great little restaurant with incredible food & service.
One of the best pizzas that I have ever had. They give you scissors to cut the slices.