Riazzi's Italian Gardens

After the bread and butter it was all down hill. Visited here with my friend who is a London Bobby as we were not looking for anything too lavish on our night on the town. Started our dining experience with an small anti-pasta salad for two. The dressing was sparse and the cheese and meat portion consisted of 2 amall slices of salami, 1 slice of cheese sliced from corner to corner and a couple of peporocinis (or whatever). Then came the minestroni soup which was bland and tastless. Better soups can be purchased in any super market. To top this dining experience off, we opted for the spaghetti with meat sauce and meatballs. Another mistake. Ragu is a gourmet sauce compared to the sauce presented on the pasta. The meatballs also ranked up there right along with the other items. Cannot believe this place tries to present itself as an Italian Restaurant. Oh, the 1 star was given to the waitress who was personable and attentive!

We read they review on here this evening and decided to finally try it out. We had a wonderful time. The inside is spacious with booths and large tables. We are definitely bringing family when they visit. We started with the calamari. The last time we had this good of calamari was in Monterey, CA on the pier. The service was spectacular. Our waiter went out of his way to make sure we were happy with our meals. Even bringing out extra meatballs (on the house) when I asked if they were included with my pasta (I read the menu wrong though). Homemade cheese ravioli was delicious in their marinara. Definitely recommend the NY Cheesecake. Simple but perfect! Riazzi's is a must try non-chain Italian place in Tempe. Enjoy!

I have been in Phoenix for two years now, I have been looking for an authentic Italian restaurant since the day I moved here, actually a couple months before I even moved here! I loved Maggiano's, I loved Arevaderci (Scottsdale) but last night my girlfriend and I decided to try this little hidden Italian place near Southern on Mill that we drove by all the time.

Wow, what a great idea, when you walk into the place, you'd think you were at some fancy restaurant in Scottsdale. There's a VERY large seating area, we were seated right away (Wednesday around 6:30, so not many people there) and we were promptly waited on. I had the meat ravioli - now let me tell you, I havn't had REAL home made Italian Ravioli since I was about 12 years old (12 yrs ago) but the meat inside these reminded me IMMEDIATELY of the meatballs my grandma used to make! The pasta was al dente! it didn't fall apart while eating it and the sauce didn't have tomato chuncks - best EVER!

I am a VERY large eater, I finished my dish, lettuce and two baskets of bread, I was full. Our bill was about $60 but we had a $26 bottle of wine. I can't wait until my parents come to visit because that will be the FIRST place I take them to eat!

Years ago this was a place to get excellent food. On my last visit, I had close to the worse plate of pasta ever. There was virtually no tomato sauce on the spaghetti. I'm surprised my waiter did not notice this.

This place used to be good, now it is just a former shell of what it used to be... The food was underwhelming and similar to what you could get at any other local Italian joint... Wait staff was OK, when they weren't talking to each other... So unless you live close and aren't looking for spectacular food I would try somewhere else....