Visited Aiellos for the first time this week after tasting them at the Best of Phoenix event. Everything from food to service to atmosphere was top notch.
We'll start with atmosphere. Very clean, comfortable and the design was very reminiscent of the traditional "old country" Italian restaurants that I enjoy complete with Sinatra tunes throughout dinner service.
Service was excellent from the time we walked in to the closing of our check. My wife and I were blown away by the friendliness of the owners. They made their way through the dining room interacting with guests and showing a true passion for their place. Certainly not a chain, nor an absent owner establishment.
The food was best of all. The free bread appetizer was a great way to start as we were starving when we walked in and it was immediately brought to our table. The peppers & oil had just enough spice and their garlic butter was a nice twist. The wife and I split a Caesar salad to start which was very good with an excellent homemade anchovy Caesar dressing with sliced anchovies. The wife had the bolognese and was very pleased with the flavor. I ordered the meatloaf with a side of Joe's famous meatballs as they were what I remembered most from the New Times tasting. The lasagna was gigantic and could have been for two if I wasn't insane and finished it myself. The meatballs were extremely soft and definitely have veal in the recipe. Somehow we managed to find room for coffee and dessert. We sampled the Tiramisu and the Cream custard & strawberry concoction. Both were amazing.
Aiello's will definitely be on our new dinner rotation and will be my first choice for authentic Italian.