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| - I just got back from Giuseppe's and I am absolutely amazed that people gave it the reviews they did. We went there in large part because of the Yelp reviews and learned that I need to take the reviews with a grain of salt (if I could find any salt left, since it all seemed to go into my meal). However, I did observe the owner and one of the servers greeting gastronomically-challenged regulars with hugs and kisses as the tacky Italian tourist music (some ditty with a chorus that went something like "iggedy biggedy boom") blared in the background.
Perhaps those unfamiliar with the wonderful restaurants Scottsdale has to offer were overwhelmed by the aforementioned music, the plastic red and white checkered table "cloths", the largely-abandoned strip mall, the rumble from motorcycles on Scottsdale Road (it is Cycle Week this week - yahoo!) or the roar of planes landing a few hundred yards away at Scottsdale Airport.
The menu itself is significantly less than uninspiring - something you'd expect at a Papa Gino's (though the food may be better there) versus an "authentic" Italian restaurant. My wife had a seafood "special" that smelled and tasted like it came out of a can. Perhaps it did, but if it didn't, shame on Giuseppe for turning fresh ingredients into a stomach-turning mess. Her meal was very bland, so I suppose the canned flavor gave it some distinction.
I had a chicken and pasta dish with their self-acclaimed tomato and fresco sauce. The vegetables were mushy, but that was the least of its problems.
There were a few positive points to this place that we will never go back to. The server and the owner were both very nice, so I suppose their not throwing the foot at us or uttering obscenities was worth one star. And the garlic bread and chive butter for the regular bread were pretty good, so if you want to pay $40 to just be able to talk about the bread, go knock yourself out.
Lastly, they only accept cash. I guess they do that so that you can't dispute the charge with the credit card company. Best I can tell, that's the one smart move they've made at Giuseppe's.
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