Piazza Gavi — Restaurant in Arizona

Save your money by going to Romano's Macaroni Grill instead.

My wife and I were kicking off a Tucson stay-cation by visiting a restaruant that we'd been to before and enjoyed. We really liked the food on our last two visits, and overlooked a few bumps because of fond memories and solid dining.

However, this most recent visit was a far departure from what we experienced before. Below is the rack and stack of the events:

Minuses: The hostess didn't assign a waiter to us; we flagged one down after waiting ten minutes. Assigned waiter didn't give an apology on behalf of the restaurant, personal introduction, or walk us through the specials. We wrote it off because it was crazy busy in the restaurant. The table was missing silverware; we received appetizers before we realized we needed silverware to eat with. The waiter brought bread to the table, but it was a cold sesame loaf. (Compare to hot, fresh-baked rosemary foccacia at RMG) The antipasti dish was overloaded with vinegar--like twice the strength of Hidden Valley Italian dressing. Our Chicken Parmigianas were soggy, over-sauced. There was no crispness in the bread coating. (We both ate most of our plates though--we were very hungry! See below under the pluses) Cook used very thick layer of mozzarella on top, reminiscent of a pizza--it made the dish chewy on the plate. Sauce basically tasted like a jar of Classico with the thickness of Prego. It was mostly the flavor of stewed tomatoes, without the fresh seasoning of garlic, oregano, or basil. Pasta was thick, store-bought spaghetti; while it was cooked well and tasted fine, I realized that I missed the Angel Hair pasta that RMG uses instead. The whole dish felt heavy and cheap. All tables used dried, ground Parmesan (huge spoonfuls) rather than freshly grated. (Fresh Parmesan is more or less the industry standard among Italian restaurants like RMG, Olive Garden, etc.)

Pluses: Bruschetta caprese was amazing. This is how we remember EVERY dish from previous visits: light, refreshing, flavorful. All the ingredients were balanced on a lightly toasted baguette, with a buttery center of garlic and olive oil. (It was the highlight of the evening) BIG portions; one plate serves two. PG's has definitely moved toward providing large portions Waiter listened when he realized we had issues with the food; comped us a desert The desert was very good; a chocolate-covered twist on a Tiramisu

At $26/plate for the parmigianas, we felt like the pricing was high for the quality of food. We've paid half that at Romano's Macaroni Grill for what felt like a better experience, higher quality food, and...

A very nice looking restaurant good vibe and comfortable. The staff is very attentive and friendly. Now the food. Can only be considered in my opinion cafeteria slop on a plate. One of the appetizers was called a "calamari steak". A thick slab of calamari, I think it was calamari? Smothered in cheese which was burnt and then slathered in what was a several day old and inadvertently or mistakenly reduced red sauce. They had a wedge salad on the menu. Which anyone who has had a wedge salad upon viewing this disaster would say aloud as we did "this should never be called a wedge salad" It was basically a quarter of iceberg lettuce surrounded by slices of cucumber and carrot covered with peas and jalapenos. The blue cheese dressing did not have any chunks of blue cheese in it. The bacon what little there was was greasy not crispy as it should be. Additionally the vegetables were not fresh. The baked manicotti which basically was just pile of pasta. Slopped on your plate covered in this same old red sauce. Thick and overwhelming then smothered in cheese and burned. The pasta mixed with meatball slices and sausage. Very little and clearly left overs. If not from somebody's returned plate or right out of the garbage. Finally, another appetizer of " spicy scallops" which were beautiful scallops, but completely massacred on the plate. They were dumped on the plate in a bizarre sauce. One or two whole scallops the rest seem to be masticated or shredded. Almost as if somebody had full fresh appetizer and returned it after breaking the scallops up. Overall presentation was horrific. Whoever the chef is that's allowing this to come out of their kitchen or is coming up with these concoctions needs their certificate revoked. This restaurant would do well to reduce its portion size and focus on quality and presentation. The menu is too large and overwhelming for their...

Interesting experience tonight.

Let's start with decor. There are aspects of the decor that give a fancy upscale appeal. Then there are aspects that bring it down to a local divey joint. The coffee and gelato corner and the cheesy neon bar lights take away from atmosphere. Overall it feels comfy and mostly friendly but certainly not as upscale as it tries to be.

Let's talk service. Greeted right away with a smile as we walked in. We sat at the bar. Bar wasn't wiped down but bartender recognized and took care of it. She was newer and.not well versed on menu and drinks. Male bartender took over and he was on point. It took a bit long to get our two drinks but the drinks were good when they arrived. The team leader was the most on point with service all night. He checked on us regularly and cleared our dishes quickly.

The menu was not well put together. It was overwhelming and a bit confusing. Menu presentation needs a makeover for sure. Also the specials were not visible from our seat and having to squint at a chalk board took away from the class. The prices were way above expectations as they were priced for class but the experience didn't balance out.

The food wasn't bad. Chicken Piccatta was VERY salty but otherwise flavorful. B&B salad was also really good but once again a bit salty. The dressing had a bit too much vinegar too.

Overall nothing wowed us and as a result will likely not return. Might not be a bad place to have drinks at as entertainment was spot on tonight but that s the only thing that may...