For lunch this afternoon I went to a shopping center at the corner of Scottsdale Road and East Mayo Blvd. in Phoenix, AZ. Considering the size of the complex, I knew there would be several eating options. Neither of us had breakfast, and we were famished. We drove past several eateries and finally decided on Frankie’s Little Italy. We pulled in to park and look at the menu posted outside, only to notice that this too was a Mancuso’s restaurant. Now we had to eat there, having just reviewed another Mancuso’s restaurant earlier this week.
We were excited to see several of the salad options repeated from the Bobby’s location we had visited. Instead of cozy and upscale, this location is more of a pizza joint nestled next to a busy movie theatre. The décor was casual, it looked like a nice pizza place. The menu included pizza and pasta entrees, calzone, a handful of sandwich selections, appetizers, and salads.
Salad
For kicks, we ordered the same Bufala Mozzarella Salad we had at Bobby’s. There was a slight difference in the artistic interpretation at this location, with considerably more lettuce beneath the tomatoes and cheese. The same lovely basil dressing was there, but again the tomatoes were pale and flavorless. Roma tomatoes would probably be a better option for this dish, pink tomatoes aren’t good for much.
Bread
Our server brought bread to the table without being asked, and we were quite excited to see if it would be on par with Bobby’s. The breadbasket consisted of several round rolls, the kind you might find in your grocery store bakery in a big bag of two dozen. My guest was the first to try the rolls and laughingly warned me that I should “put in my good teeth.” Good Lord! What does Mancuso’s do to its bread? I could barely tear it with my teeth, and trying to pull off a mouthful took effort using my hands. I nearly knocked my drink over trying to rip the roll in half. I was tired of chewing after some time and neither of us finished our little roll — too much effort.
Entrees
I tried two main dishes, the Vegetable Pizza and the Gnocchi. The Gnocchi was nearly flavorless: as soon as I swallowed I couldn’t remember if I ate. My lunch date thought he could detect garlic and tomato, but the marinara looked more like a broth. Around the edges of the dish the sauce was a clear light brown with oily droplets and the faintest hint of a pink tinge.
The pizza was sad. A 9″ individual pie, the two of us were unwilling to finish it — and we had skipped breakfast. The Vegetable Pizza featured artichoke hearts, green bell pepper, red onion, kalamata olives and mushrooms. My first impression was that this was really good—for hospital food.
Other Notes
The Iced Tea at this location was brewed and refilled adequately. There was a bar with two televisions tuned to different channels. The volume was a little loud, and I really don’t want to learn about celebrity pre-nups while I eat sad pizza. It makes me feel even more like I’m in a hospital. I would not eat here again.