Nello's Ahwatukee — Restaurant in Phoenix

This was a case of first impression gone terribly wrong. About arrival, I waited for 5 minutes for someone to come to the counter and take my order. They did not have a menu available. They just had writing on the chalkboard above the register. I ordered a gluten-free pizza with two items cost me $22 and it was absolutely terrible. For half the price you can get a delicious cauliflower crust, pizza at fired pie. Just go straight to fired pie. Get twice as much for the same price and it's delicious!. I placed my order to go. It was the pizza and a chicken sandwich again. Didn't see the menu. Would have never guessed the chicken sandwich was $16. He asked me what I wanted for the included side, named three items told him I wanted the salad. Never told me it was an upcharge $2 up charge for salad. Thank God he did not provide a dressing because he would have charged from two to $5 for a specialty item, now I know and the reason I know is the pizza crust was $10. Gluten-free was another $2. The sauce was $5. Pizza sauce is considered a specialty item and it's an additional $5 plus $2 for every additional item. I ordered a draft beer because I ordered my food to go and I thought I could have a nice beer while I waited. They have a pretty good system. Somehow the machine over by the tap spit out a piece of paper. Some very kind young server came along, poured my beer and brought it to me. Very kind. Atmosphere was good. The girl was very good. Then they brought up the sandwich in a paper bag and eventually the pizza came out and they brought it out on a giant ceramic plate. It took quite a few minutes but I asked one of the servers, did they want me to take this plate home? My order is to go as you can see by the bag. Why didn't you guys bring the pizza out in the box? There was a moment of sudden realization that didn't make sense and they did bring me a box. The entire endeavor was about 36 minutes from the time I ordered until the time I received my food ready to go. I'm sorry guys but you cannot do business this way. This is unacceptable that you would charge so much money and there was nothing exceptional about your food. A $16 sandwich is an absolute joke. I would say $10 tops for that sandwich. It was not bad but it was small and it was $16. It's way too much money. All potential customers just go to fired pie, atmosphere at Nello's just isn't worth the...

7/21/23 Just a heads up, we were about to eat here, but I am not a fan of folks who lie, so we left. Nothing against the wait staff or cooks. This comment is strictly for the manager and how they run the front.

Here's what I usually do: I'll call the places from their very own parking lot and ask, "Do I need a reservation, or can I just walk in? If it's a walk-in, how long is the wait?"

Here's what happened here: I called and asked, "Hello, do I need a reservation, or can I walk in?" They replied, "You can walk in, sir." I said, "Awesome, may I know the wait?" They asked, "How large is your party?" I replied, "2." They said, "There isn't a wait; we can seat you right away."

Then, I got out of the car and walked from the parking lot to the door (mind you, I called from their parking lot) and met my wife, who was already inside watching.

It took less than 15 seconds from my car to the door. I asked the hostess, "Hi young lady, what's the wait for 2?" she said, "30 minutes."

Isn't that interesting? Just 10 seconds ago on the phone, they said there was no wait and could seat us immediately. But when I arrived, suddenly it became a 30-minute wait. I then jokingly asked my wife if a rush of diners suddenly ran in within that 20-second call, and she said, "Nope."

The next day, I called and spoke to the manager; the answers they gave were a joke.

Nello, why is it so hard to be honest? I guess lies are okay with this place. I wonder what else they lie about?

Here are some honest places with good people; there are more, but these are my favorite spots: Spinatos, Grimaldi, Uncle Sals.

Note: I corrected a few punctuation errors and made minor adjustments to enhance the clarity and flow...

Listen!!! I am really disappointed in my dining experience because I was so excited to eat here. We got here around 5 pm on a Monday.

We were seated immediately. They have happy hour from 3-6 pm. I will say very limited options on happy hour. We ordered the calamari/shrimp platter and the crust with white sauce and cheese starter. For entree we had an “award winning pizza”. The Funghi and Formaggio pizza.

I really don’t understand because I was met with underwhelming food, however this place has such high reviews. For the calamari/shrimp. It came I it like warm and soggy. The breading on the both calamari and shrimp was soft and falling off. There was nothing crunchy in that appetizer. The cheese crust with the marinara sauce wasn’t bad. That was average although I think we could have used a little bit more of the Italian seasoning on it.

The Fungi and formaggio pizza was the most disappointing pizza I have had in a long time. My partner and I felt it was very bland. No depth flavor or any flavor for that matter. You can taste bread, cheese, bland mushrooms and tons of greasy oil flavor. The pizza was also so oily. Like it was dripping oil. We sprinkled tons of salt and chili flakes to give our slices some oomph to no success. We both only ate one slice and called it a day.

My biggest annoyance when I am so hungry and I met with such unfulfilling bland food. It’s a terrible feeling to leave hungry still and sad. But our WAITRESS was AWESOME! Polite, welcoming and attentive!!

I would recommend other options like Picazzo’s Healthy kitchen down the road. Their menus are similar, however you will leave satisfied and a smile on your face...