North Italia — Restaurant in Oro Valley

UPDATED June 21, 2025:

The fried chicken breast, italian sausage, two eggs on top, w/ deep fried potato balls was superb.

UPDATED June 8, 2025.

I increased the food rating to a 5 solely because North’s “Little Gem” is the very best Caesar salad I have ever had, amywhere. New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Provence, D.C., Virginia, Portland. It does not come with croutons, as that would likely ruin it, BUT you should get an order of their grilled bread with olive oil and basalmic vinegar (which is actually sweet). My only ‘complaint’ is that there was too much if this utterly superb “pulled” chicken for the (rather large) amount of lettuce. But North had pretty red take-home boxes, so no harm, no foul.

Wow. UPDATED May 24, 2025.

I increased North Italia’s rating from a 3 to a 4, because of the superb lunch we had there, consisting of my wife’s carpaccio, which she thought was superb, my poached eggs and polenta, and our friend’s “Little Gem Caesar with pulled chicken”, both of which were superb themselves.

We also share a Vanilla Panna Cotta, and a Toasted Coconut Cake for desert.

About the only things I thought were ‘sub-standard’ mainly because of the outrageous price, was the Coke Zero ($4.25) and the plain Coffee ($4.75). I mean, really.

Nevertheless, it’s a wonderful place to eat, nice and bright and airy, and the staff do not seem to be stressed and grumpy like many places these days, and it’s fun to watch them prepare the food (see photos).

I’d note, however, that the price is far from “$20-$30” per person. Our tab, without tax, or, tip was $120.75, and one of us only had water, and none of us had liquor, and we only got 2 deserts for three of us. So, if we has gotten one more desert, that would have made it $133.75, and one more soda, $138.00, and if we’d have had a cocktail … well.

So the average price for a meal, one non-alcoholic drink and desert, is right around $45.00 per person.

Still, if it were closer to where I live, I’d probably eat lunch there every day.

I would really LIKE to give North Italia a top rating. Especially since very nice friends paid for our (reasonably expensive ~$20.00 per person just for food) lunch.

The waiter -brand new to that establishment - was a nice and capable fellow.

The design and feeling of the restaurant was superb, bright, airy, a beautiful bar, none of the cramped sense you get at other nearby restaurants.

But the food was a decided disappointment. What was billed as the house “Specialty” — rigatoni bolognese — was (a) only lukewarm, but (b) would have been better if they had just bought a can of bolognese sauce from Trader Joe’s. It lacked any discernible flavor and the meat was tiny little pellets of something. I guess it was pork. But who could tell. And, my companion’s penne with pesto, also barely lukewarm had none of the intense basil flavor pesto should have … we took more than 1/2 home and amended it with Costco Pesto sauce (which rivals homemade pesto and is a standard preparation).

I suppose North Italia may say, ‘well, this is the way WE make these standard famous dishes’ - kind of creamy and without any distinct flavors’. But, it’s like the time some years ago when I ordered a Crème Brûlée, and what I was served was, basically, chocolate pudding with caramelized sugar and whipped cream on top. When I complained, the manager said “Well, THIS is how WE make it.” It would have been nice, then and there if the menu had stated that a centuries old recipe was being given a ‘new twist’. And it would be nice, here and now, if North Italia had offered a similar “caveat emptor”.

North Italia is probably my (new) favorite restaurant as a PLACE to be with be with friends, and maybe to drink. But as a place to eat …...

Our U of A graduate chose here to celebrate graduating and reserved a table. When we arrived they were running a few minutes late, not a big deal. It was decent outside and we were able to sit and wait, feeling the warmth from the heater.

Some of us had been here before, while it was the first time for others (party of 6). When seated, we ordered appetizers and then our dinner. The appetizers were accidentally brought to another table so we waited an exceptionally long time for them. A manager came and talked to us, comped the appetizers and even brought us a different type of appetizer, on the house, which we appreciated. I'd recommend the 'grilled bread & good olive oil' appetizer (what we originally ordered).

Getting our entrees was another thing altogether. Our reservation was for 7:30 pm, don't quite recall when we finally received the appetizers (thankfully we ordered them or I would have been one hangry customer and likely walked out). I believe we f.i.n.a.l.l.y. received our entrees around 9 pm. It was a busy evening and I'm not sure what the issue was with the ability to get our entrees out to us. Our server and a manager came over several times and acknowledged the long wait, even provided more paper and colors for our youngest, which we appreciated. However, by the time our food arrived we were pretty over entertaining ourselves with tic-tac-toe and crafting projects from the supplied paper & crayons.

The kids pizza was at a decent temp, so our kiddo could eat it right away. Most of our entrees were also at a decent temp but one member of our party's pasta was a bit on the colder side. They didn't want to provide that feedback because they were worried the wait time to have a warm entree dish.

Overall, the food was delicious. I'd also recommend the seasonal anolini (it was a mushroom based) and glazed chioggia beets.

Our server and a manager continued to check in as we were eating our dinner. We were offered dessert, on the house, but declined, as dessert wasn't in our plans, as our graduate had already chosen a different dessert to celebrate their accomplishment.

Our total bill came out to ~$140, after the kids pizza and the sides were comped. I would have also been much more appreciated the choice of further comp of either an entree or two or dessert, due to the extremely long wait time. It felt like the manager was hoping we'd take them up on the dessert offer & leave feeling like we were seen and taken care of (if it was up to our graduate they would have taken this option...because apparently, they don't think one can have too much of dessert). I would have felt more so taken care of with the options I had previously mentioned.

Our server and managers were nice and cordial. None of our party was mean, even though we were frustrated. For the first timers of our party, they were not impressed and this won't even be close to the top of their list for a next time. I've eaten here once before and my previous experience was a much much timelier process from ordering to being brought our meal.

It was a conundrum to decide if we'd leave a tip or not. It wasn't our usual tip amount but was 15%, not shabby for waiting as long as we did.

If I visit Tucson again I'll likely be a bit wary of having North Italia as an option due to this experience, especially since it felt like I was expected/managers were hoping we'd take them up on the dessert offer versus having a choice between two options. The food is good, however this particular experience...

We went to NORTH one month ago, these are the things I remember most: Atmosphere: if u prefer an auditorium urban-style forum jam-packed with tables, then you'll love it. Me, not so much, lots of reasons, it's rather noisy because there's lots of concrete and nothing divides or distinguishes any area from any other area, noise carries like the servers carrying plates, i.e. to & fro... it sort of had (for me) a stadium-feeling, if the chef &/or owners were going for the urban indoor-plaza market feel then, in my opinion, they missed that mark. (Some Roman-style rugs with sheer drapes &/or quaint dividers to break up areas & dissipate the noise would make this place inviting.) Service: was good, a little random, yet decent. We felt, for the most part, taken care of in the sea of clamoring & throng of passers-by both customers & staff. Had to ask for a few things, like refills on water & our dipping sauce, butter & bread, yet it was brought promptly, just not with any anticipatory expectation by staff, like in "real old-fashioned family Italian dinning halls." Food: ok. Seriously, I'm a former chef, (with both culinary-training & extensive restaurant experience), I can be really picky, so here it is: both my wife's and my pasta dishes had very good pasta, and the "noodles" in each dish were al dente & pleasing. The basil pesto (my wife's dish) was lacking the traditional flavors of pesto (basil, citrus, & the balance of tangy cheese Romano/Parmesan & savory or roasted nuttiness), it appeared bright green as if it contained parsley &/or arugula (though it had no arugula flavor which would have been just fine if it did) yet it just was mediocre pesto, (sorry yet I have bought pesto in a jar at the grocery store with more flavor), the chicken was in all honesty over-cooked, or it was roasted then cooled, then sliced & added in the pan, so it lacked any real dimension or depth of flavor. My strozzapreti had a very creamy texture yet again lacked dimension & depth of flavor, the mushrooms & chicken had little if any, extra flavor or texture, & the parmesan cream sauce, while creamy lacked seasoning, & that traditional combination of parm-tang & a true buttery finish. The cost was 25$ + per. I want to be impressed or at least be like, "yeah, I need to figure out how they made this" yet alas it was just ok. Thank you for all your work, front & back of the house... it is a fun atmosphere if you're young or like boisterousness, & NORTH has an...