Stopped by Nikki's Pizza today on a rainy afternoon and had one of those unexpectedly great…read moreexperiences. I walked up with my dog planning to tie him to a light post while I ran inside to order, but before I could even get to the door the manager noticed us and invited us to wait in a covered alcove so my dog could stay dry and comfortable. It immediately made me feel welcome. While waiting, I grabbed a drink ,.. they have cocktails, draft beer, and bottled options ....and the whole place had such an easygoing, friendly vibe. The pizza itself was the real deal: true New York-style and absolutely delicious. Great people, great atmosphere, and food that lives up to it. I'll definitely be coming back.

Lately, Nicky's has become our "Go to" when we're hungry for a tasty pizza, and our last visit did…read morenot disappoint. Nicky's is on Main Street and though one might be worried about parking, there are plenty of spaces available. We parked in the lot by the Ice House Amphitheater. Our friends got a spot right in front of the restaurant. Our server was pleasant and after initially being seated by the window, we requested a move closer to the fire place. We ordered our usual: Grandma's with sausage and mushrooms on one half. When the pie arrived after about 15 minutes, it looked great. The sauce at Nicky's is a bit tangy and slightly sour, which we prefer. The crust is thin and slightly crunchy with a nice chew included. The large pie is cut in eight pieces, so each is us got two nice sized slices. The restaurant is cozy and features two dining areas. There are loots of pizza places to choose from and Nicky's is too good not to check out.

Always phenomenal service, pizza- professionals in the back serving up slices of delectable…read moregoodness, and some nice classic rock jams playing in the seating area. I didn't take pictures for once, mainly bc I was too busy scarfing down phenomenal bites, but my god on tonight people.. YOU HAVE TO GET HALF DARK CHOCOLATE GELATO WITH HALF RASPBERRY ITALIAN ICE. Duhdjajdkfhakzhdkajd I literally felt like Elphaba in Wicked just ascending into the heavens. I'll be back, next time with actual pictures, promise.

We moved from NJ to SC and the hunt for pizza that is close to NJ PA NY ---- is THIS PLACE. We…read morehave tried many places at their attempts to create good pizza. ( besides what I make at home) is this place and they have GELATOSSSSS - If you know you know

Best Pizza in Lexington hands down. The service was great and the restaurant is very clean and…read moreinviting.

I was invited to Veneziano's on a Friday evening, and I couldn't believe how busy it was. Even with…read morethe crowd, we only waited about 15 minutes, which wasn't bad at all. We started with the meatballs as an appetizer. I added some freshly grated Parmesan, cut them into bite-sized pieces, covered them with the sauce, and dug in. They were flavorful and made for a great start to the meal. Since we were ordering for the table, we got a half Pepperoni & Black Olive pizza and a half Hawaiian. Left to my own devices, I probably would've ordered something different, but that's what everyone wanted. The Hawaiian came topped with ham, pineapple, and bacon, giving it a nice balance of sweet and savory flavors. It was satisfying, and after two slices I was full. To finish the meal, I ordered the gelato. It comes with two scoops, and you can mix flavors, so I chose Belgian Chocolate and Vanilla. They paired really well together, and the portion was generous--so generous that I couldn't finish it. I'd definitely come back, but next time I want to try their Margherita or plain cheese pizza. That's usually how I judge a pizzeria, and I'm curious to see how they do when the ingredients and crust are the stars of the show.

Our first time here and we enjoyed the food. The kitchen was really busy, though, and made a couple…read moremistakes on our order. However, the manager came to our table and apologized and then personally brought our corrected order. That says a lot about a business when management takes ownership without excuses and then makes sure things are right for the customer. She even refunded part of our bill. We will definitely return next time we are in town. After all, the pizza, Fried Banana Pepper Rings, and Baked Fries were delicious!

Dirty as hell kitchen floors All tables dirty so had to wait…read moreto get it cleaned and girl could have cared less, missed half of it then without cleaning others with people waiting!

I had given up hopes of finding a proper Italian restaurant in Lexington when I found this gem. My…read morefamily and I loved everything we ordered and appreciated how attentive our server was. This will be on the go-to list for us time and again.

Clara & Ray's is an amazing Italian restaurant in Lexington! Everything we ordered was delicious…read more The garlic bread was fantastic, the caprese salad was incredibly fresh and flavorful, and the pizza was absolutely perfect. Best of all, the staff was exceptionally kind and welcoming. We had a wonderful experience and will definitely be back! P.S. Forgot to take pictures so I'm only posting what we are taking home

What a great experience my little family and I had here a couple days ago! From the warm welcomes…read moreas soon as we walked in, to the wonderful service and hospitality, to the delicious and fresh food & the lovely vibe in the dining room, it was such a great dinner we had. The only issue we had while we were there was they were out of certain appetizers like the stuffed shrimp and mozzarella sticks. So, we decided that next time we come eat here, we need to come earlier to get those menu items. I ended up ordering the linguine with white wine sauce, clams and mussels. My husband ordered the carbonara with shrimp & my son had the kids spaghetti with meatball and meat sauce. My meal was perfect and everything I expected and wanted from a linguine with white wine sauce. It was light, flavorful and refreshing! I wish I had ordered extra clams because they were simply delicious. I loved it! My husband said his carbonara was very good. It was so good, he left nothing left on his plate. My son enjoyed his kids spaghetti and meatball. The meatball was very big, tender and full of flavor. The meat sauce was hearty and filling too. All of our pasta was served properly, not undercooked and not overcooked, but just right... Al dente, if you will. The atmosphere in the dining room is that of a family style Italian restaurant with beautiful murals of famous Italian architecture in Italy. The booths and tables were clean and the whole vibe in there just felt like what a nice, cozy, family friendly Italian restaurant should feel like. The bar is beautiful! I was able to see it from my seat and they have quite a selection of liquor. Our server was very helpful and attentive. The new owner took over in November and has really changed this place for the better! It was full of customers when we walked in, which is always a good sign. They are slowly incorporating more change into the restaurant, little by little and I couldn't be happier to see it happen! The food alone is just a million times better than what it was before he took over. He and his wife are from New York and from what I witnessed, they are both very hands on when it comes to running their restaurant. I saw the owner wiping down tables, the bar & conversing with his customers with a smile on his face. I also spotted him in the kitchen when we walked in, working away. I saw his wife bussing tables and seating customers too. I just admire management like that. They're not just owners, they're leaders, which says A LOT. We will be coming here way more often and not just because we want to try more meals on their menu since the food was so good and they offer so much variety, but also because it's such a great family friendly restaurant! I would love for this place to be our new go to Italian restaurant we eat at regularly as a family. It just feels like a great family runs this place there's nothing I like more than supporting a local small business run by good people.

So as I write this under Papa Gio's restaurant name, it is meant for the new Venezianlo's…read morerestaurant that's at this location. Interestingly the same thing I'm gonna describe below happened on more than one occasion when it was Papa Gio's too. I've been in Lexington, SC for a couple years now and I'm always on the hunt for the best. I've visited Papa Gio's quite a few times and Veneziano's a handful as well. The best way to describe both places is great food but inconsistent quality and presentation. Let me explain... I'm the guy who comes in, orders my food at the counter and waits in the restaurant for it. I want it hot and fresh. I don't call and order ahead because I don't want it soggy from steam rising up and dripping off the top of the container while it sits on a shelf waiting for pickup. There is a method to my (food) madness. The food at Papa Gio's and Veneziano's is absolutely incredible. Quality ingredients, everything is seasoned perfectly and clearly made with love. Incredible food, so why the lousy review you might ask? Keep reading! Inconsistency in the counter service and even in the presentation of the food. The people are always super nice but not very attentive or focused. On way too many occasions, like tonight I order, I pay and sit or stand there waiting and pfft... there I sit or stand and wait and wait and wait. Tonight was one of those nights, As I listened to the staff up front singing, laughing talking and generally having a good time. The energy there is incredible! Seems like a great crew of awesome people working together. Over the top. Again, why the lousy review? Because on way too many occasions my food comes out, someone sticks it on a shelf nobody at the counter says a word. It gets placed on a shelf and sits there getting cold and soggy from steam rising. One time not too long ago, what started off as a crispy toasted meatball parm hero became a cold, wet, soggy sponge by the time I got it. Tonight it was a pizza. I waited and waited, the counter was not very busy while I was there. The kid at the counter even commented that I came in at a good time, it just slowed down. After waiting and waiting, I walked up to the counter, there was nobody at the counter. Everyone was in the kitchen doing something else. Not too much time passed when the kid came back to the counter to help me. He realized I was the "waiting guy"! He turned and pulled my pizza off an open shelf and put the box on the counter and said it's been ready for a while. As I felt the cold box, I disappointedly commented about the pie being cold. I opened box and felt the cold pizza in the box, I mentioned to the kid that this sucks. Now one might ask how cold could the pizza actually be. Well, it's February and they had the pickup counter door front door wide open the whole time I was there with cold air streaming in. That combined with the open metal shelving and the time it sat definitely put the chill on. The kid offered to put back in the oven to heat it back up. While I appreciated the offer, if I wanted a reheated pie, I woulda bought this one yesterday and reheated it myself at home today. Many times, perfect food, perfectly cooked and placed in hand hot out of the kitchen. However, this exact same cold soggy food thing, with inattentive counter service has happened more times than I care to admit. Pretty lousy attention to customer service. Everything short of saying hey is my food ready, every couple minutes, which in my opinion should not have to be done and that is not the kinda guy I am. Many times, it is perfectly executed and they do a great job. But many other times once they get your money in the register, it seems they forget about you. On the upside, the pie tonight probably started out perfectly cooked and would have been a 10 out of 10 if it wasn't gummy and chewy from sitting in it's steamy cardboard box, needing to be reheated. I did my best to crisp it up while reheating it, Thanks for the offer to reheat my pie. Can you imagine for a second what it would have been like if I let him reheat it and what it would have been like if I had to reheat it again (that woulda been a third time) for leftovers later? Woulda had the taste of great pizza but the texture of a pool noodle. Great pizza and other great food is an art. At the same time, it's kinda simple. The chef made that pie with his hands, with quality ingredients, care and love! Letting it unnecessarily degrade, is a bit of a slap in the face to the pizza guy and to the waiting customer. Even my dogs know a good pie! They wait patiently for what we call "pizza bones", what normal people call the crust! Tasted great although the texture was not so good. Would I recommend them? Meh! Probably, but with a note of caution of the inconsistency. If you're still with me, thanks for caring enough to read this far. Happy eating!!!

Nice restaurant for pizza with friendly service. My favorite is the Supreme pizza with in-house…read moremade Italian sausage. It's difficult to find good sausage for pizza anywhere and this place has it on their menu. Their pizza crust is actual pizza dough not the cardboard pizza dough that you get at other pizza restaurants. Along with a nice Italian Peroni lager on tap, this is the perfect place for pizza.

Had lunch here today with our neighbors. It was the first time for all of us. Nice quaint place…read morewith good atmosphere. We got there about 20 minutes after opening and sat in one of the booths. The waiter took our orders quickly and brought out our drinks. We ordered 3 personal pizzas and a steak and cheese sub. We had one plain cheese pizza, a Supreme personal pizza and a build your own personal pizza with pepperoni, onions and mushrooms. We also ordered one small Garden salad. 1 sweet tea, 2 waters and a diet coke. The salad was excellent. Crispy cold lettuce with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, two types of cheese and good croutons with ranch dressing. The steak and cheese sub came out and we were surprised when wee saw the bread. We were expecting a regular style hoagie bun or baguette type bun, but looked almost like a pita bread from the top. I asked the waiter what type of bread it was and he said they make their own bread. It was excellent. Looked like a naan bread almost. She ordered jalapeno's on it and it was excellent. Said she'd order it again. The pizzas were good. I had the supreme and the sausage was real good. We all agreed that the crust and cheese were very good. Two of us thought the sauce was different and must've had something it it, as they didn't rave over the sauce. I had the supreme and there were so many toppings that I didn't pay much attention to the sauce. Mine was very good. We were surprised that they only offer two sizes of pizzas...personal and large. Large is $24.95 and personals are around $14.95. They have a good selection of pizzas. Our one complaint was the pricing. They charge $2.00 for toppings and $3.00 got premier toppings. It's the same charge for either the personal or large pizzas. Our personal Cheese pizza (with no toppings) was $9.50. My personal Supreme pizza was $14.95 (which contained mushrooms, onions, pepperoni, bacon, black olives and green pepper) while my wife ordered just a personal pepperoni with onions ($2) and mushrooms ($3), totaling $15. Seems like they'd charge less for toppings on a personal size than on a large! My bill as $43.97 before the tip. Our neighbors bill for their pizza, sandwich and drink was $32.59 before tip. They were charged $4 for jalapeno's on the side and slices of tomato.

Food was great! We grabbed a seat at the bar and ordered a few items. Proportional, filling and…read morefresh. Pricey but worth it. My only complaint is it's an hour+ away from us. Keep up the good work!

They're pizza is best when eaten there. It does not travel well. The crust tends to get hard on the…read moreride home, in my humble opinion. Nice atmospher though, quaint.