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| - I can't believe more people don't know about Vincitorio's -- it's easily the best Italian restaurant in the Valley. The great food, combined with a cool atmosphere (a lot of people are regulars who the bartenders and owners know by name) earns it five stars from me.
My husband and I found this restaurant by accident as we had some time to kill before watching a movie in the adjacent, slightly-ghetto Tempe Pollack Cinemas. We just grabbed some wine and an appetizer, but after looking at the menu, we had to come back.
That was a year ago, and this place has never disappointed us since. It's a small, cozy place with a guitar-playing singer on weekend nights. Also, one of the waiters is an opera singer and he will occasionally belt out a quick song, a Capella, in the middle of the restaurant.
When my husband and I came here Friday night, we started off with an appetizer of asparagus (cooked perfectly) with prosciutto. Then I had the eggplant parmigiana (I'm sure it's terribly fattening, but was delicious) and he had some special with seafood and a spicy marinara sauce. He said it was delicious. We finished with a huge piece of their tiramisu, which is heavenly and surprisingly light (for tiramisu, that is...).
The only thing that 'could' be a downside to this restaurant is that it's small and tight, so sometimes, even if you make reservations, you might have to wait around for 15 minutes. It's gotten even busier since Phoenix Magazine ran a feature on it, too, last year. That's not an issue for us -- just give yourself some extra time if you are in a hurry.
When we came here for Valentine's Day last year, they were running quite behind -- but the owners gave everyone who was waiting a complimentary glass of champagne, which I thought was really a nice touch.
Oh, and if you get a chance to try their butternut squash ravioli, go for it...it's great, too.
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