Red Devil | Italian Restaurant & Pizzeria — Restaurant in Tempe

RD was not my first choice for Saturday night's dinner, but the place we wanted was too full and seating was non-existent. My sister mentioned RD, stating when she had been there for lunch (pre-covid) it was decent.

Well, maybe way back then it was but now? It was so bland I couldn't take more than three bites before shoving it in a take-home container (we were raised not to waste food) and praying to all the food gods that I can salvage it with seasonings from my pantry.

The only saving grace for RD was Ana, our server. She was polite and attentive. Had I pressed the issue about the nasty meal, I think she would have tried to make it right but I didn't want to be that type of customer.

The fried combo was overly fried, the lettuce garnish was so wilted it was pathetic. The strawberry spinach salad was the best part of the entire meal (it was NOT wilted), although the chicken seemed a bit dry.

There were three of us eating, three different meals and not one of us finished it. My sister ordered the Red Devil Trio ("A colorful combination of fettuccine Alfredo, cheese ravioli marinara and chicken parmigiana.") It was bland and my sister swears it was just some cheap generic sauce over all of it. She brought it home and smothered it in Italian seasonings, garlic, and cheese.

My friend ordered the BBQ chicken pizza. The bits of chicken were all in the center, and the BBQ was a drizzle. She ate maybe two pieces before giving up and deciding it was not even worth taking home. She gave it to me for my compost bin.

I ordered the portobello mushroom ravioli. When it arrived, I swear my first thought was that it looked like a congealed mass of overly thick Campbell's mushroom soup. But Campbell's tastes better. The very first bite tasted like a mouthful of flour (commonly used to thicken up soup). I stirred it up hoping it would help. It didn't. Every bite was flour. My sister took a bite as well and agreed: tastes like flour. I asked Ana for some garlic powder and liberally sprinkled that over the dish. Still did not help. I was not going to waste any more time and packed it up to take it home. Hopefully my store of seasonings at the house will help make it edible.

The rolls that came w/ the meal were rock hard.

I do not like to give such low reviews but I cannot in good conscience say...

I'm sharing this feedback to genuinely help, not to criticize. I met the owner during my visit, and she was truly delightful. My background in restaurants, marketing, and business consulting compels me to offer these observations in the hope they'll contribute to your success.

First Impressions & Ambiance The pickup window is prominent, which is fine, but the front door was hard to find. Once inside, there was no one to greet me, and I had to wander before finding our server. Her demeanor suggested we were an inconvenience, despite arriving well before closing. A warmer welcome is key.

The full-size mirror in the bar area felt out of place and could be easily changed. All the artwork was crooked, and while nice, didn't quite fit a neighborhood pizza spot. The booths were old but clean, which is good. However, the carpet needs updating; laminate or concrete would be a cleaner, simpler improvement.

The Food: Room for Growth We started with fried mushrooms and a Caesar salad. My girlfriend loved the mushrooms, but the fry oil was dirty, and the mushrooms were watery from improper thawing, causing the breading to fall off. The Caesar salad had issues: old, dry chicken, flavorless dressing, and stale croutons.

My girlfriend's Philly Steak Club had stale bread and finely chopped meat that was overshadowed by large vegetable pieces. The Au Jus, however, was excellent. My Chicken Di Parma was very disappointing. The chicken was old and tough, prosciutto was lost in the cheese, noodles were overcooked, and the sauce tasted like pasta water.

While the cook has been with you for a long time, consider additional training or reviewing kitchen processes to improve dish consistency and quality.

Service & Overall Experience Our meal ended with a 20-minute wait for service while our waitress, the owner, and the cook chatted in the kitchen. We almost left without anyone noticing. This inattentiveness significantly impacted our experience.

I truly wanted to love this place. Please take this feedback as constructive and use it to better...

We had several items including two different pizzas, one all cheese, one with mushrooms.

The last time we had this ravioli it was good, but something went wrong this time.

Granted, last time we sat down and ate, but we had this delivered however, I kept track of it and my delivery location was under 10 minutes from the restaurant, so everything was still very hot when I received it.

I will say that the fried mushrooms and zucchini were good, as was the ranch they were served with.

In my opinion, whatever cream sauce they used for the ravioli had to have expired, or it was kept out of the fridge for too long, but the raviolis themselves were fine just the mushroom sauce was terrible, sour.

I was not able to isolate the mushrooms from the sauce itself, so I cannot tell if both the mushrooms and sauce were made in house and store together or if the sauce is made separately and in the mushrooms added during cooking but I can definitely say the sauce was sour.

I've been having mushroom ravioli for about 30 years, but this was definitely the worst, it was really good last time at the location here on Southern, so could be a different cook or expired product, but I guarantee, there's no way that the person who made this tasted it before it went out.

I myself have cooked since I was a child and we were always taught to taste the food before we served it and this was a failure, it tasted like sour milk.

If they can work on the ravioli issue I think it'll be perfect.

Feel free to reach out to me you can...