Move Over Pasta And Pizza: Piadi Brings Italian Fast-Casual Food To The US
Summary: Piadi by La Piadineria, Italy’s largest fast-casual restaurant chain, is now bringing the piadina (the traditional flatbread from Emilia Romagna) to New York. After opening in Manhattan’s Flatiron District in February 2026, the brand added a second location near Bryant Park. Founded in Brescia in 1994, La Piadineria runs more than 550 restaurants in Italy, where lunch habits are shifting toward quicker, high-quality meals.
Piadi by La Piadineria, Italy’s largest fast-casual restaurant chain, recently opened its second New York location at 1040 Sixth Avenue near Bryant Park in midtown. This follows the February 2026 opening at 18 East 23rd Street in Manhattan’s Flatiron District.
The company is a leader in Italy, offering fast-casual food made with fresh, high-quality ingredients. Lunch habits in Italy are evolving, particularly among younger consumers and urban workers in northern Italian cities, creating growing demand for quicker, high-quality meal options..
This shift reflects changing work routines, increasingly fast-paced urban lifestyles, and generational preferences for meals that are quicker, lighter and more flexible without sacrificing quality..
Enter the Fast-Casual Alternative
Established in 1994, La Piadineria was founded by two young entrepreneurs from Brescia (Lombardy), Pierantonio Milani and Franco Beccaria. The company was later acquired by CVC Capital Partners in 2024, and Roberto Longo became CEO in 2025.
La Piadineria’s foray into the New York market mirrors its rapid growth in Italy, where it currently operates more than 550 restaurants. By the end of 2026, the chain will have opened 80 new locations, with plans for an additional 50 by the end of this year. Expansion plans include airport and train station locations.
Piadi has successfully introduced piadine to new audiences in New York. Beyond the restaurants, the brand is available on all major delivery platforms, and the company operates a corporate catering program. Central to its journey, the brand has developed a dedicated laboratory enabling it to produce the dough in New York.
What is a Piadina?
The piadina is a large circular flatbread from north-central Italy that is considered the king of Emilia-Romagna street food. Although its roots are said to trace back to Greece, some trace them back to the Etruscans. The cities of Ravenna, Forlì and Cesena are considered the epicenter of piadina in Italy, although each city has its own version, usually varying in thickness.
The flatbread is made with soft wheat flour, water, salt, and fat (lard or olive oil); sometimes raising agents like baking soda or yeast are added. It is traditionally baked on a griddle (testo) or hot plate.
Years ago, I made a pilgrimage to Casa Artusi, a cooking school and living museum of Italian home cooking in Forlimpopoli (a town in the province of Forli-Cesena), to learn how to make a piadina (also called a piada).
There, they made the dough with lard rather than olive oil. After the class, the warm, soft bread was paired with a creamy local cheese called squacquerone, salame di Mora Romagnola (a tasty salami made from black pigs), and a glass of Lambrusco sparkling red wine. It was a delicious and satisfying meal in itself.
Although Piadi customers don’t get to roll out the dough, they do get to watch the chef cook in an open kitchen. The menu includes 17 variations, from mozzarella and prosciutto crudo to porchetta and stracchino (a buttery, creamy cow’s milk cheese), and more.
Once considered peasants’ food, piadine are a staple in many Italian homes, serving as a substitute for other breads. Workers bring a stuffed piadina to their office or workplace for lunch. They are sold on the streets and at food festivals and are considered a quick, relatively inexpensive snack. Some shops sell them as dessert, cut into wedges stuffed with Nutella or fruit.
Piadi follows the original recipe developed in Italy and makes two varieties of dough: Traditional with extra virgin olive oil and Whole Wheat. Each piadina is freshly rolled, baked and filled, and served hot.
The Next Best Thing
While nothing truly replaces enjoying a piadina in its “terroir,” Piadi by La Piadineria offers a unique opportunity to savor authentic ingredients in recipes inspired by Emilia-Romagna. The iconic flatbread sandwiches cost around $13-15. The company hopes to add three or four more locations and expand along the East Coast beginning in 2027.
This is an updated version of an article previously written for Forbes.
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