StuCazzo's Profile
Henderson Italian
Going to be staying in Henderson for the weekend. Any good mom/pop Italian places?
Best Biscotti and Pizzelle
Went to web site. It claims Italian this and that but makes no mention of who they are......
Would be nice to know some history about who exactly I am expected to buy from.
Does anyone know where to buy good cannoli shells?
On the east side, try Gilbert Pizza. Sal has some good ones.
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Gilbert Pizza
1150 S Gilbert Rd Ste 106, Gilbert, AZ 85296
Kartchner Caverns area
Any good recommendations (or avoids) for this area? Nothing in particular, just looking for some good places.
Kid-friendly 30th Bday Restaurant suggestions? (Chandler, AZ)
Gilbert Pizza (Warner/Gilbert)
Great pizza and very good Italian too. Kids are plentiful.
PHX - Gilbert - La Calabria Ristorante
Please, please, please do not consider/take this in the wrong way. I am just curious. What Italian restaurants do you think are better? Just wondering.
Phx Baccala
Just thought of 2 other places that might be closer to you. I have bought it there also in the past:
Romanelli's Italian Deli
3437 W. Dunlap Phx, AZ 85051
602-249-9030
Belfiore Italian Deli
15842 N Cave Creek Rd # 2
Phoenix, AZ 85032
(602) 493-1793
Phx Baccala
Sorry, East Side also. We usually get ours at:
Andreoli's Italian Grocer
8880 E. Via Linda
Scottsdale, Az.
PHX - Gilbert - La Calabria Ristorante
La Calabria just got a nice write up in the East Valley Tribune. Below is link:
http://thedish.freedomblogging.com/2008/12/09/review-la-calabria-brings-authentic-italian-to-gilbert/2488/
We ate there again tonight and the food was excellent.
Liberty Market (Gilbert, AZ)
We went with another family to the Liberty Market for lunch.
We started out with a hummus plate. Hummus is made from mashed chickpeas, tahini, lemon juice and garlic. From the taste of our plate, Joe's is made just from chickpeas. No taste WHATSOEVER. Not even a hint of garlic or lemon. Is this the Gilbertized version :) And to further add insult, they served it with some type of toasted bread that had no taste either. Where’s the pita bread that should be served with the hummus? If they are going to serve it with this toasted bread, they need to, at least, brush it with olive oil and garlic.
Next up we ordered lunch. My wife had the caprese sandwich. The caprese is a traditional Italian sandwich made out of mozzarella, tomato, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. My wife really enjoyed her sandwich. I tried the side of potato salad that came with it and was impressed with the taste.
Our friend ordered the Liberty Bowl. This bowl included roasted meatballs, marinara sauce, pecorino romano, and a side of grilled bread. She let my wife and I try a bite and we really liked the taste of the meatballs.
The kids all ordered the wood-fired pizzas. My son ordered the pepperoni and the others got cheese pizzas. They were pretty good size for an individual order. I’m guessing they are getting used to their oven or they have a new, inexperienced pizzaiolo back in the kitchen. The outer crust of one of the cheese pizzas was burned black. I had to do some fancy talking to get my kid to eat the non-burned parts. The other 2 kids liked their cheese pizza. The pepperoni pizza ordered by my other son was NOT pepperoni, but salami. To me, it was good, but to an 8 year old kid it tasted terrible. He did manage to pick off the salami (complaining the entire time about how bad it tasted). If you advertise it as pepperoni, serve it with pepperoni, not salami!
I ordered a margherita pizza and was very disappointed. Where do I start? The crust was soggy. Their margherita pizza is made from mozzarella, tomato sauce, and basil. My eyes saw basil on the pizza, but my taste buds did not taste ANY basil flavor. They definitely did not use fresh basil on this pizza. The best thing I could say about the sauce was that it was red. No taste to it. The cheese was there (in abundance), but by the taste of it they don’t use a good quality mozzarella. I’m guessing Kraft? I basically had a cheese pizza for lunch. Gilbert Pizza down the road has nothing to worry about!
I had heard about their espresso bar so I went up and ordered a single espresso shot. The girl at the bar got good marks for pronouncing espresso correctly (no “ex” in espresso) and serving it in a proper cup. That’s about it. Either she did not use enough coffee to make the shot or they use cheap coffee, but I had a watered down shot of espresso.
All in all, it was not too bad. We would rate the food so-so. The sandwich and meatball bowl plate got good marks. The pizzas and espresso bar need work though. They just opened for business, so I might give them one more shot. On the plus side, their service was top notch. The wait staff was very attentive.
PHX - Gilbert - La Calabria Ristorante
My wife had heard that this new Italian restaurant was open in the Gilbert area so we decided to try it out. The owner Giovanni is very friendly. He grew up in the Calabria region of Italy.
We are so glad that we tried it out. The food is excellent!
The pasta is actually cooked and served al dente!!!
The restaurant details are below:
La Calabria Ristorante
1534 E Ray Road, Gilbert, AZ 85296
Phone: (480) 726-3537
PHX - Does anybody carry la Molisana pasta
Any ideas? I don't think Romanelli's or Andreoli's carries it.
Follow-up: Roy's in Chandler, AZ (Phoenix)
Well they listed it as a Polynesian (sp) specialty......
Your Best Tomato Salad
Simple.
Tomatos cut up in pieces. Not too small.
Good Extra Virgin Italian Olive Oil - don't use any other kind
Fresh Basil
Some garlic
Salt
Crusty and dense Italian bread.
1. Mix tomatos, oil, basil, salt and garlic until the mixture tastes like heaven.
2. Dish out into a bowl - don't forget some of the juice/liquid at the bottom.
3. Dip bread into juice/liquid.
4. Eat bread.
Follow-up: Roy's in Chandler, AZ (Phoenix)
My wife and I ate at the Roy's in Chandler once. Once was enough. I don't have very good memories of it. I had the meatloaf. It made me nauseous after 4-5 bites. It had this sickly sweet taste.
Phoenix East Valley - Sports Bars with good food
The Euro2008 soccer tournament kicks off today.
Does anybody know of any good bars/restaurants in the East Valley area
that would be a good place to watch soccer and also enjoy a nice lunch?
I know I can probably go to most any sports bar to see it, but I was hoping
to find a place that has good food too.
Starbucks Improvement???
Wow. I never knew they served "Expresso". I always order an Espresso :)
Your opinion on these Phoenix restaurants?
Unless I am mistaken, Cafe Roma might be a bit of a walk for your group.
The Cafe Roma that I know of is in Mesa, not downtown. About 30 miles
to walk. Might wait for cooler weather for that walk :)
Easter brunch (PHX)
Hi All,
Need some recommendations for where we can go for Easter brunch. Kid friendly is preferred (e.g. egg hunt, etc...) and East Valley would be even better.
Gluten-Free Bagels ... in Phoenix/Scottsdale?
You might want to reconsider Whole Foods. From their web site:
"We are pioneers in gluten-free baking, with a bakehouse dedicated exclusively to the creation and baking of an ever-growing number of gluten-free products, from sandwich bread and pizza crust to cookies and extraordinary desserts."
How do you make flat pasta? (lasagna)
No pasta maker? Use a rolling pin. That will get your dough flat.
First Trip: Fresh & Easy, Mesa AZ
Cathy,
Actually, Wal-Mart is the largest retailer in the world by a huge margin.
Tesco is 15th.
See http://www.siamfuture.com/RetailBusCenter/RetailIndus/Top100.asp
PHX: Raw Olives
Does anybody know where I might be able to find raw, unprocessed olives in the Phoenix area? I tried the Queen Creek olive mill, but they indicated that they use all of their olives. I would be willing to pick them myself.
