A Modo Mio Cucina Italiana — Restaurant in Mesa

Brought my favorite lady to this restaurant Thursday evening. We sat in a booth and right off the bat felt like little kids at the table. The tables are nice live edge tables but they are to high, granted we are both 5'9" and have made things in our home taller during renovations. Second we ordered a Cesar salad, a margarhitta pizza and a side of sausage. The Caesar salad was good but it was not chopped, it was served in large leaf which is not so bad. The bad part of the salad was trying to get the servers attention after the salad was served to get some cracked pepper, could not accomplish that the salad was done before she came by. Not going to mention a name, very sweet girl very chatty but does not check on customers after there meal is served and goes off somewhere else after talking with or taking orders from other customers. The side of sausage was outstanding, very good sausage. The pizza came and it only had four pieces of basil on it, they cut the pieces very large into four sections and put one piece of basil on each slice. Then they charge you for extra basil, but good luck getting the waitress attention to get some extra basil and more water. We were almost done with the pizza before we could get her attention to get more and no glass should sit empty on the table for as long as mine did, not sure how long it took to get more water but it was a long time and had to ask twice. The pizza was very good the crust was a little chewy as described as it would be. But the basil situation I don't get it, that is the reason for me to have the margarhitta pizza it's about the basil. There is a local source right near by that sells it organicly at a decent price. We finished off with tiramisu which was very good. So the tables are tall, the basil is scarce ,the service was poor, the sausage and the tiramisu were fabulous. I still tipped our waitress 22 percent because I am just that guy. I don't however believe I will be coming back here, I will stick with twisted pies margarhitta pizza the how ever are not shy...

We had high hopes being within minutes of the location. After being in the hospitality industry and opening several restaurants myself there are a few things that need addressed ASAP...this is not a bash, but a fix these things so your business makes it, this area of Mesa is underserved and the ability of generating local business is too valuable. 1.) Get a manager on the floor talking to guests to hear about their experience, everything is not okay and ownership/ management needs to hear things that are not easy to address to make this place great. (luke warm food, under educated staff, timing of the meal/ ordering, food quality (we had undercooked pizza and bland food with little ingredients that were suppose to be the star of the pasta) 2.) Get the front door/ hostess stand under control, its great to have people say "hi" but when there is a line at the front and people have to ask each other if they have been helped it is not a good start, get at least one person at the host stand and make their feet glued during the peak times, use support staff to do the line level work needed to seat the restaurant. 3.) The restaurant had lots of staff, but unfortunately staff in the wrong spots to enhance an experience of a newly opened operation. Things are going to happen and lots of things are wrong in the opening process, but mitigate and at least show you are addressing, just "letting" things happen and assuming all is good is a death sentence in this industry. People work hard for their money, restaurant need to be aware its a choice of patrons to visit, too many other well seasoned Italian establishments in the vicinity. Also, get a kids menu dont be so pretentious that you expect 2 year olds to order adult sized entrees. If you have high chairs, do the right thing and offer a menu for those customers - the business serves pizza...

Update : owner never responded to review.

I have completely removed less than 5 star reviews if an owner tried to respond to issues raised. Regarding the tin dish the meal was served in, I should have just refused it.

Original review: My wife and I are retired. I stopped into this restaurant about 4 months ago since it was new to the strip center I’ve shopped in for over 30 years. It’s a Basha center with Ace Hardware store. This center is located in Mesa Arizona. It’s not as affluent as Scottsdale. We tried it because the owner finally decided to send out marketing coupons in the monthly mailing. Prices were very high for the location. Ambience limited by view of Taco Bell and the empty store that’s slated to be a goodwill. The serving dish, after a glass or two of wine was more a joke than offense. I told my server I couldn’t even buy one as beat up at the goodwill. He said it was imported from Italy! There must be a name for this type of dish. In comparison my wife had a beautiful large flower decorated dish to present her $28.00 Meal. I think the waiter should give you the option of choosing a nice dish. I had fun however when a young lady came to collect the empty tin pan. “I hope you’re not going to charge me for chewing up and denting your dish!” I Joked, my wife getting a good laugh at my witticism.

The food in the dish was good, but I never had an Italian marinara sauce with pork ribs in it. Also there was a large chunk of fatty pork that was uneatable. I discarded it assuming it was missed and left in by accident. In conclusion, there are many restaurants available, with the selection limitless. Any restaurant needs to make themselves unique. This one has certainly done that. $$$ expensive...