Category: Italian

ArizonaDog FriendlyItalianPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Mora Italian – Phoenix, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In the dark ages before satellite radio and podcasts, my Kim and I usually listened to books on tape to pass the time during long trips.  Mystery author Patricia Cornwell was one of my Kim’s very favorites.  The protagonist for Cornwell’s best-selling novels was medical examiner Kay Scarpetta, a perfectionist and workaholic who uses forensic technologies to solve crime.  Most of Cornwell’s novels kept us enthralled from onset to finale.  Then came that one novel, the one building up toward a slowly revealing and scintillating climax but which finished abruptly.  The bad guy did it!  The end!  That abrupt conclusion torqued…

ItalianRating: OutstandingRio Rancho

JOE’S PASTA HOUSE – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Once a year, despite my protestations and whining, I agree to take my Kim to the Olive Garden. It’s a deal we have, albeit one that makes me feel like Faust in the Christopher Marlowe play. Faust, for the non-English majors among you, was a scholar who sells his soul to the devil in exchange for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. In my case, the deal is a visit to Olive Garden once a year in exchange for all the strange and exotic restaurants I want to visit the rest of the year. I sure got the rotten end of…

New MexicoPizzaRating: ExcellentRio Rancho

Davido’s Pizza – Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:42 AM

Some might call the American Realty and Petroleum Company (AMREP for short) a pioneering visionary for its early 1960s purchase of over 50,000 acres on the dusty Sandoval County plains that are now Rio Rancho. Others use different–and not necessarily as complimentary–adjectives to describe the land speculator whose clever marketing attracted hundreds of New Yorkers (among others) to the then untamed western fringes overlooking the Rio Grande. They came because Rio Rancho was a “lucrative investment” with half acre lots going for under $800 in the 1960s. They came because Rio Rancho offered “fishing, camping, swimming and golfing in a…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyNational ChainNew MexicoPizzaRating: Very Good

California Pizza Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno6:51 PM

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you. This is Gil’s Thrilling (And Filling) Blog, champion of the mom-and-pop restaurant, defender of the independently owned eatery, supporter of the family owned and family operated diner…and this is a review of a chain restaurant. No, this blog has not been hijacked by some corporate cabal bent on corrupting the American diet with homogeneous mediocrity…and no, this review was not written under duress or the promise of free food. It was written of my own free will, sound mind and full accord. Lest you condemn this seemingly traitorous affront, hear me out. Several years…

ArizonaDog FriendlyItalianPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Pomo Pizzeria – Scottsdale, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

When you visit the Valley of the Sun, the very last thing you expect is a record-setting, all-day rain that keeps you indoors most of the day.    An all-day rain in December, however, is infinitely preferable to an all-day rain during monsoon season when the occasional deluge in 100-degree weather is exacerbated by humidity equalled only in a steam bath.  Staying indoors isn’t a bad thing.  It gave us the opportunity to study where we should enjoy dinner on Christmas Eve 2021.  My sister Anita, the only other gourmand in the family, had some recommendations which will have to…

Dog FriendlyPizzaRating: N/R (Not Rated)United StatesUtah

Nomad East – Salt Lake City, Utah

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

A-Team leader “Hannibal” Smith (George Peppard) used to say, “I love it when a plan comes together.”  We learned during our trip to Salt Lake City that sometimes baking in a little flexibility into a well thought-out plan can produce results even better than expected.  Such was the case with our trip to Salt Lake City.   Capably assisted by my dear friend Becky Mercuri,  I did a lot of research on the Salt Lake City area restaurant scene, compiling a list of dozens of prospective restaurants.  We literally didn’t even begin winnowing down that list until just before setting…

AlbuquerqueDog FriendlyKoreanNew MexicoPizzaRating: Good

Urban 360 Pizza, Grill and Tap House – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno8:09 AM

Babu: Our specials are tacos, moussaka and franks and beans. Jerry: Well, what do you recommend my good fellow? Babu:Oh, the turkey. ~”The Cafe, Seinfeld, Season 3, Episode 7 While perusing the menu at Urban 360 Pizza, Grill and Tap House, my ever-witty friend Ryan “Break the Chain” Scott commented that the menu reminded him of The Dream, the very eclectic restaurant owned and operated by Pakistan emigrant Babu Bhatt in an uproariously funny episode of Seinfeld. As Jerry Seinfeld observed about The Dream’s menu, “he’s serving Mexican, Italian, Chinese. He’s all over the place.” Urban 360’s menu is similarly…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2021Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoPizzaRating: Outstanding

Poppy’s Pizzeria & Italian Eatery – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

Chef-owner Mario D’Elia knew what he’d be in for when he named his new restaurant Poppy’s Pizzeria & Italian Eatery.  Legions of Seinfeld fans would undoubtedly joke  “Poppy’s a little sloppy,” a reference to Poppie, a restaurateur on the comedy Seinfeld who didn’t wash his hands after using the bathroom.  Sure enough,the jokes came…until the jokesters tasted the seriously outstanding authentic New York style pizza.  Poppy’s pizza is no joking matter.  So why would Mario subject himself to a spate of predictable and hackneyed jokes? Poppy, as you might know, is an affectionate nickname given to a father, grandfather or…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2017Closed in 2022Dog FriendlyGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoPizza

Rustico Italian Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

What does it say about a restaurant when it runs out of food?  Nine times out of ten, you’d probably say it’s either brand new and doesn’t yet have a feel for its traffic volume or their inventory management just isn’t very good.  Our inaugural visit to Rustico Italian Kitchen on a bright Sunday morning introduced us to another reason.  The restaurant was so busy the previous night that diners polished off everything on the menu save for pizza and salad.  For denizens of Albuquerque’s far northeast heights, that’s actually reason for celebration.  It means outstanding Italian food has finally…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2023Ghost KitchenGone But Not ForgottenItalianNew MexicoRio Rancho

Urbano Pasta Kitchen – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno11:14 AM

“To break bread together,” a phrase as old as the Bible, captures the power of a meal to forge relationships, bury anger, provoke laughter.” ~The Joy of Food From National Geographic Sharing a meal creates a unique sense of intimacy felt by all who sit together at the table.  It’s an act that can spark new friendships, solidify lifetime bonds and serve as the backdrop for new memories.   Dining together is the most communal and binding action humans can take–an act The Atlantic describes  as “a quintessential human experience.”  It’s a universal act that transcends cultures, borders and geopolitical…

ArizonaDog FriendlyItalianRating: N/R (Not Rated)United States

Fat Ox – Scottsdale, Arizona

Gil Garduno10:26 AM

In the Alpine village of Carrù in the Piedmont region of Italy stands the “Monumento al Bue Grasso” (monument to a fat ox).  Depicting two fat oxen under yoke, the monument celebrates the beast of burden so important to the region.  December’s ‘Fiera del Bue Grasso’ (festival of the fat ox) brings together tens of thousands of visitors who come to gaze at the oxen and eat copious amounts of deliciously warming tripe soup and boiled beef, washed down with a milled wine.   Farmers from throughout the region truck their oxen into town to show them off and vie…