Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana — Restaurant in Scottsdale

After being told this is a must try, I decided to take the plunge with my wife and some friends after a day of tanning during a stay-cation in the Gainey area. We arrived at around 8pm without reservations (I have read that they may be required) but we did not want a firm schedule, so we took the risk, and it played out strangely.

We walk in all looking a little worse for wear after having been in the sun for the better part of 8 hours, as we were staying at a nearby resort enjoying the weather. Perhaps this was the reason for the service we received, which included being told there weren't any tables ready, which we were fine with, but then being greeted by no less than three groups being seated before us even though they to admitted to the hostess that they did not have reservations! We were a party of 4 and the groups seated before us, but after we put our name in, were all parties consisting of 2x4 & 1x2. Not a big deal, but I am certain this had more to do with the fact we were in board shorts, and our wives were in sun dresses with there hair up, than a lack of tables. My wife being a little put off approaches the hostess again to find out that luckily a table has just opened up! Hmmmm...

We are seated and greeted by an exceptionally nice waiter who offers water for the table, and asks if we would like any additional beverages. I ask what his wine suggestions would be, as this is an Italian restaurant whom people tout as having excellent regional food, to which I get a reply of "I have no idea, I haven't been to Italy" .. Granted, We have been all over Italy, but even without having done that I would expect a waiter to have at minimum of 4 go to bottles to suggest for a guest who may not know what to expect from the wine selection. Since he cannot help me out, I decide to go with a bottle of bubbly since it was a hot evening, and we were on the patio with friends, I felt it was an easier choice then trying to go through the motions of getting everyone's opinion and trying to please the crowd.

The waiter brings the bottle, without a chiller: hot night - chiller = gross champagne

Conversation ensues.... Chiller finally brought out.. Another bottle never offered.. Flutes never touched up..

We order Food:

PRINCIPE: (Pizza) Prosciutto Crudo di Parma DOP, Fresh Arugula, Shaved Parmigiano Reggiano

This very same pizza can be had at Hanny's, but there it is made with some sense of care for the patrons eating it (toppings not just thrown on top and fired) The flavors were a little bland, the crust was still doughy, and the Parmiganiano was barely present.. I find that it is almost impossible to abort a pizza of this simplicity, but this completely missed the mark. I wish I had something good to say about it, but it just was not good, and more than half was left untouched.

LASAGNE AL FORNO: Layers of Lasagne Pasta with Homemade Meat Sauce, Besciamella Cream & Parmigiano Reggiano

Best way to describe it: Chef Boyardee canned lasagna - Watery, little meat, flat notes throughout, about the size of a small napkin and an inch tall. That is it. $15

At this point we decided dinner was over, as we were going to keep ordering dishes to share, but after two misses it just was no longer worth it.

Bad service, subpar food, and price points about $5 over what this food should be sold at. Also, This is not real Italian, unless you have never traveled through Italy, which is the point of view I assume most of the reviews are written from. Again, I really wanted to like this place after all I had read about it, but I cannot help but wonder if this is a case of people liking it simply to not be the guy who doesn't (Like the Pizzeria...

Very disappointing. This was our second time to this Scottsdale restaurant. We were celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary. We had a 7pm reservation. When we arrived they tried to seat us on their covered patio. It was over 90 degrees that evening. Having sat there before we know it's humid and smells very musty out there due to the overuse of misters and some oversaturated artificial grass. We told the hostess we would prefer to sit inside. She quickly informed us that it would be a 30 min wait for an inside table. We reminded her that we had a reservation. She explained we would have had to request an inside table in our reservation. We reserved through OpenTable and were not given that option. We waited the additional 30 min and finally got a table. The meal did not improve our evening. Our bread was dry and tasteless. My husband's Old Fashioned was good. We shared the Mediterranean Salad. It would have been ok except it was over drenched in the lemon dressing. I ordered one of their Summer items, the SPAGHETTI ALLA NERANO. It had absolutely no flavor at all. I did not taste any garlic, chili, parsley or cheese. The fried zucchini were limp, very thin, oil soaked discs. Not crispy or breaded or anything one might expect when they think of a fried vegetable. It was a tasteless bowl of buttered noodles at best. I asked for some grated Parmesan just to make it palatable - thinking I'd get a table side grating of fresh Parmesan. But no, I was quickly handed a fingerprint covered shaker of dried Parmesan. Which did not help at all. My husband ordered one of their accoladed "Signature Dishes" according to the menu - the GRAMIGNA BOSCAIOLA. It was again, a tasteless bowl of buttered noodles at best. There was no visible cream sauce. Maybe some trace residue if you look closely. Very few tidbits of sausage, maybe 3 mushrooms and absolutely no flavor. This dining experience pretty much ruined our anniversary evening. We had planned on ordering a piece of dessert to share but we were so disappointed that we decided we'd rather leave. With tip, we ended up paying $150 for a very regrettable memory. We will most definitely...

Our party of 5, with a reservation, was initially going to be seated at a 4-person table by adding a chair on one end. We asked to instead be seated at a larger 6-person booth/table, and greatly appreciated that our request was accommodated. Two in our party loved the gazpacho style "Evista" pureed cold soup as an appetizer, made of fresh tomato, cucumber, red onions, avocado, house made croutons. The other three of us enjoyed sharing the Carpaccio Di Monza as a tasty appetizer. We ordered three Napoletana style pizzas to share amongst us five, which turned out to be about perfect, although our son could have easily eaten a whole one on his own. We tried the Aurora, the Quattro Stagioni, and the Rotto Sapone (For meat lovers!), and loved each of them. If you are planning to order enough to have leftovers to take home, be aware that this style pizza can get soggy if not eaten soon after served, especially with more toppings. Regardless, we were very glad we left room in our tummies to sample the scrumptious dessert offerings that included gelato sundaes from the adjacent Luna Gelateria, as well as Pomo's "dolci" selections of Profiteroles (choux pastry filled with vanilla gelato by Luna) and Torta Nutella (dark chocolate cake layered with chocolate mousse, topped with Nutella ganache, served with vanilla gelato by Luna). All were quite deliciously sublime. We definitely plan a return visit when back...