vincitorio's

this place is awesome. i travel to tempe for business and i find time to make it to vincitorio's every trip!!

i have reviewed this restaurant before, and i still like the food here.

but the service, i'm sad to say, is slipping. my last couple of visits have had problems--i suspect they are understaffed. on one occasion, the waiter knew nothing about the wines on offer and couldn't answer basic questions about them. this same waiter forgot that we had brought a birthday cake to be served, failed to bring coffee with the cake when it was ordered, etc. rarely do the servers mention the special dishes being presented. on our most recent visit we waited over 45 minutes to be seated despite having a reservation.

the food here is very good and authentically italian. but be prepared to be patient and a little insistent.


-----21 apr, 2012-----

this is one of my favorite restaurants in the valley. the cozy, slightly cramped and noisy (but not too noisy!) atmosphere lends a festive spirit. the wine list is extensive and well-chosen, and the staff will make good recommendations. the food is delicious and quite reminiscent of dishes i've had in central italy. my personal favorite is the seafood ravioli, which turns up as a special from time to time. the pizza is excellent, and the veal dishes are nicely done. i also like a pasta dish with grilled chicken sun dried tomatoes and a creamy pesto sauce--very flavorful.

good place, great service.. wife & i, and our good friends had saturday evening dinner here.
seated at a nice booth by a friendly hostess. order taken by great waiter. bread basket & drinks arrived quickly.
started with the antipasto plate. prosciutto, salami, mozzarella,and small portions of good quality items. i would have liked more olives, eggplant & artichoke.
had a glass of chianti. nice.
waiter praised the veal, so i had the veal saltimbocca.
it was the best i've had in a good while. pasta was ok.
dessert was pretty good tiramisu, and i had a delightful "exotic gelato" beautifully presented, and very tasty.
everyone enjoyed their meals, this place has a well deserved good reputation.
service was excellent. efficient, and friendly.
food was good, but not great. a bit bland maybe, though everything was well prepared, and fresh.

we got there at 5:30 and had reservations. it soon got packed. even so, the service was perfect!. nice crowd, though some mannerless yuppies couldn't seem to get out of our way as we exited. not managements fault though.

food ..............b
service...........a
ambience......b
value..............b+

very enjoyable meal!

i loved this place good pizza beautiful scenery friendly faces to greet you and very well setting in the mood department perfect for a first date.

superb italian restaurant. atmosphere is cozy and well decorated that makes you feel like you are in an italian countryside. the wine list was extensive with many options by glass for those not getting a bottle. the warm garlic bread they bring to the table is scrumptious. the side salad is well decorated with toppings including delicious olives. the jalapeño ranch was a great dressing that being a little southwestern twist. the cannelloni rossini was absolutely amazing! thanks it was crepes filled with ground veal, chicken and ricotta, rolled and baked in béchamel, topped with bolognese. the lasagna and veal was also good. highly recommended if you are in mood for italian.

tried take out based on zomato recommendation. food absolutely excellent. we tried the italian wedding soup and the mushroom soup; both delicious. taking a chance on comparing to an old favorite i tried the chicken & sausage cacciatora and it is fantastic! ample garlic bread was included and made for the perfect tool to swipe the remaining marinara. our first foray is a resounding success. we are very much looking forward to dining in next time!

fantastic authentic italian food, such a pleasant surprise! my date and i had the eggplant parmesan along with chicken parmesan. i will definitely visit here again. highly recommend.

if they spent as much time and effort on the food as they did on the decor they might have a decent resturant.

what a lovely surprise! if you're looking for fresh,authentic italian food along with a great atmosphere and top notch service for a great price this is the place! from our appetizer to dinner to desert to after dinner drink we continued to be impressed. the pasta is nothing like i've ever had and the tirimisu is to die for! you definitely need to make this a place to eat!

best italian in tempe. mario makes the pasta fresh daily and ginger keeps everything running smoothly. the entire staff so friendly we always feel like we're visiting good friends.

some of the best dishes are specials, but for an every day dish try the capellini or the broccoli stromboli (think calzone). the wine list is excellent, and they have a good selection of beers, too. before 6pm the flatbreads, bruschetta and many wines by the glass are only $6, and draft beer is only $3.

we love the atmosphere, especially in the enoteca (wine bar) where there is often live music. good place to socialize and enjoy the festive atmosphere. dinner out isn't just about eating!

mediocre. went for dinner on a saturday night. nice looking restaurant, although my overall impression was that it was sort of fake. almost an olive garden like appearance. the food was nothing special. my lasagna was bland, mostly pasta and commercial mozzarella with a few pieces of sausage. my wife enjoyed her chicken scarpara. nice wine list. for dessert we split a tiramisu that was just awful: white cake and bland cream with no trace of espresso or liqueur.

worst italian food ever!!!. some of the worst, over priced, bland food i have ever had in my life! "garlic" bread they brought to the table had no flavor and was cold. wouldn't give it to my dogs. the salad was composed of the cheapest lettuce known to man...with 2 or 3 good pieces of lettuce thrown in there. insulting basically. then the pasta comes. meat sauce was watery with very few pieces of meat. beers were over priced. tables were so close together that my boyfriends chair got hit every time a waiter walked by. once the 60 year + crowd stops coming, this place will hopefully go out of business. ugh!!!! i want my 50 bucks back.

we love, love, love this place. augie on the accordion and david as our waiter makes for the perfect evening. seafood ravioli, homemade pasta, pizza carbonara .... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. great wine selection. our fav is conn creek cab. i'm confident you would find a favorite too. busy on weekends. call for reservations or wait in the wine bar and shop.

saturday nite dinner 6-23-12. my wife and i visited vincitorio for the first time, very nice atmosphere. first thing to comment on - excellent wait staff and service. very attentive. a+

wine list was great, good variety of selections and well explained choices. prices: decent/fair. i had two glasses of montepulciano riserva “bosco”abruzzo. very nice.

we ordered appetizer: burrata e pere (burrata cheese with pears wrapped in prosciutto), delicious, creamy, salty, sweet goodness. i strongly recommend it.

entrees with salad or soup: my wife ordered veal genovese with a salad, and i ordered the cannelloni rossini with soup (cream of mushroom).

the salad was typical, very ordinary; the cream of mushroom soup was bland needed flavor (perhaps some pepper or thyme would have improved it).

the veal genovese was very good, with side of penne in marinara. the cannelloni rossini was ok, with an ordinary presentation, and surprising small for the price. the meat filling was minimal, and the bechamel sauce was everywhere. i was a bit disappointed. pasta was fresh though.

we ordered a childhood favorite for dessert: spumoni. wonderful presentation and delicious. it made up for the cannelloni.

overall, the meal was enjoyable and we would return. the prices-to-food ratio is my only complaint.

one of the best italian places i know. the food-absolutely flavorful.