I very rarely give a 5 star review. I reserve it for only the truly exceptional places. Alessias definitely earned it. It is one of only 2 places in Phoenix that I would give that score.
A friend suggested we try Alessias. We love Italian food but had never seen an ad for them or heard about them. After our first visit I have to wonder why no-one had ever recommended out before. Perhaps they were trying to keep it all for themselves.
The decor reminded all of us of Italy. The staff were all very friendly and made us feel like we were already regulars. The service was very good and they seemed to anticipate our requests before we made them.
I had the Florence steak with a house salad. I got a perfectly sized steak covered with an excellent sauce and cooked mushrooms. The flavor and texture were amazing.
The rest of the party ordered veal piccata, veal marsala and the gnocchi (with fresh grated parmesan). Everyone said that their dish was the best we have had in a very long time. Each was cooked just right and had flavors that caused each of us to pause to savor the flavors. The portions were very good for the price.
Despite being full we managed to choose 3 separate desserts to try: the tiramisu, the chocolate lava cake and the spumoni bomba. They are all larger than we expected so I worried we would leave a lot. That didn't happen with any of them.
I only wanted a bite of the tiramisu but I wound up eating several. Not to sound repetitive but it was amazing; I wound up eating over a quarter of it.
After that we focused in the lava cake. It was hands down the best I've ever had. My son isn't a cake fan but he loved it so much he wanted to be the one to finish it off.
The spunoni bomba was filled the bowl it came in. Once we cracked the chocolate shell we made short work of it as well.
Although we have been in that corner plaza several times we never really noticed it tucked away in the corner. Now that we have the unanimous family decision is we have found our new favorite restaurant.