New York knows its Italian food. Red sauce, white tablecloths and regional menus—we’ve got it all. What we haven’t really had, until now, though, is piadina, a brilliant flatbread that’s been lunch across Italy’s Emilia-Romagna region for decades. That’s about to change with the arrival of Piadi by La Piadineria, which will open later this month in the Flatiron District.
Piadi is the U.S. debut of La Piadineria, Italy’s largest fast-casual restaurant chain, with more than 530 locations back home and a fast-growing footprint in France. The first New York outpost at 18 East 23rd Street is the first step in a planned American expansion through 2026.
Piadina is essentially Italy’s answer to the wrap, but better. Traditionally, it’s a thin flatbread cooked hot on a griddle, folded and filled with combinations like prosciutto di Parma and soft cheeses. At Piadi, each one is rolled, baked and filled to order in an open kitchen you can watch in real time. Nothing’s sitting around under sad heat lamps; this is made-to-order street food, Italian-style.
The menu emphasizes customization, but there are plenty of signature combinations for the indecisive. Expect classics like prosciutto crudo with stracchino and arugula, richer options with mortadella and burrata, chicken-based builds and vegetarian choices with grilled vegetables, artichoke sauce or truffle paté. Sweet piadinas come filled with Nutella or pistachio cream.
Prices generally range from $11 to $17, making it an easy lunch or casual dinner option and the space itself will be compact but lively, with roughly 30 seats and room for about 70 guests total. There will also be espresso, Italian sodas and salads.
In a city that loves discovering “new” foods, piadina feels right on time. Simple, fast, customizable—it’s the kind of everyday staple New Yorkers tend to adopt quickly. Consider this your heads-up before the lunch line starts forming.