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| - The previous reviewer was on the money with "This place may be small and not very elegant, but they have some of the best Italian in the valley." I was so wanting to love this place, as it reminded me of great finds in Italy, and in the Bay Area (which has lots of great Italian). The place is unpretentious - a refreshing change from the typical Scottsdale "overdone" decor. And everyone clearly knew the owner, who was working the room - so a faithful, regular crowd.
The food was good; not 'blow your socks off' good, but good.
So what's the problem? The price! The line-item price for most dishes is $24, and that does not include any vegetable or salad (and incidentally no vegetables were on offer as far as I could see, on the small, laminated menu, and none were served). That's pretty high for sitting in a square box wtih poor lighting. And the drinks are outrageously priced. $7 for a beer; $15 for a glass of house red. I overheard another table complaining about the drink prices; the owner gave a feeble excuse about having to pay 'full retail' for the alcohol ... hmmm - I can go to the grocery store and buy that same beer for under $2/bottle, and the entire bottle of wine for probably $15 ... this is just gouging in my mind.
Anyway - food is good, atmosphere is 'family', and if they could bring their prices under control this could be a great place.
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