A little late in writing a review of this place after having attended the event organized by Chrissy P. The location was nice for the Happy Hour we all attended because it was a short drive from work. Parking was adequate as well. Everyone was out on the cool patio enjoying drinks that they have a couple bucks off of at this time. They had Peroni on tap which was a plus. The pizza I had was only so-so. I love and know pizza and have had some fabulous pizza in my day. This one, not so much. The potential is there, but something was missing. Not sure if it needed to be cooked longer or what, but it was a little soggy. The mushrooms were fresh which was nice, as opposed to canned. The only other thing I had was the bread and pesto dip. I should have and could have eaten this all night! The bread was warm and crusty on the outside and soft inside. The "Green Goo", which I called it all night, was awesome! I would like to go back and try some different dishes to get a better sense of the food. Very cool patio with a neat sand fire pit. Perfect for the nights we are all enjoying right now. 3 stars for now...
(3)
Jose C R.
The staff was great and the atmosphere is awesome. There's a great variety of menu items and on my visit it was pretty busy but the food came fast after I ordered it. Definitely worth passing by if you're in the area. It's perfect for a date.
(4)
Janelle E.
I had such a great time at Il Posto! We came here for dinner. The weather was nice so we sat on the patio. I love the ambience of their outdoor space. It's like you're at a cafe in Little Italy. They start you off with warm crusty bread and served with the most delicious dipping sauce. It was olive oil with pesto and garlic. So good! For appetizers we ordered calamari and the seafood fra diavolo. If you can handle a little heat I highly recommend the seafood fra diavolo. It's calamari and shrimp in a spicy marinara sauce. It's served with grilled bread for dipping. It's out of this world! For my main dish I had the cheese manicotti. It was good, but I could barely touch it because it was so full from the appetizers. I did take it home and I ate it for lunch the next day. They were very generous on the cheese. That's awesome because I really love cheese! My husband ordered the chicken marsala. I didn't try it all, but I snuck in a taste of the mushroom sauce. Mmm! Our server was so attentive the entire night. We were there with our Aunt and Uncle and between the four of us we devoured 3 baskets of their crusty bread. (I told you it's good.). I loved how the servers were so willing to bring out more for us. Excellent customer service. Generous food portions. Flavorful comfort food. Il Posto has it all.
(5)
Matthew B.
We love this place and find the location, service and food to be top notch! We've been multiple times and often visit the Lounge next door afterwards. I'd highly recommend the pizza, lasagna (or pretty much any of the pasta dishes with red sauce) and they recently had these delicious meatballs as a special appetizer. Absolutely out of this world and not to be forgotten if available. Plus, pretty sure you can never have too much Amy. She's a staple here- and an awesome personality. Pretty sure it'd be impossible to leave unhappy if she's serving you!
(5)
Stormy Suncloud G.
I was torn between a 1 star and a 2 star, but I decided on 2 stars because the complimentary bread and pesto they bring you while you wait for you food is pretty good. In fact, it was the best thing I had. I ordered the stuffed mushrooms, and the stuffing was repulsive. It was dark black and resembled mushed up soggy bread. I had to ask what it was, because besides tasting like bland mushy yeasty dough- it looked disgusting. They assured me it was mushrooms and bread crumbs cooked in white wine with seasoning- it may have been mushrooms and left-over stale bread, but I am certain there wasn't any seasoning- not even salt. Not good. I removed the stuffing and just ate the mushroom in the rich, cheesy orange sauce the shrooms were drown in. The sauce was tasty, but it's hard to make cream and melted cheese taste bad. I actually make some pretty killer stuffed mushrooms at home- I would not serve Il Posto's in my kitchen- they were just bad. I also had a simple dinner salad. It had canned olives, processed, maybe pre-shredded mozzarella- it came with a pre-made dressing. When they said, "raspberry vinaigrette"- I was not expecting a creamy pink pepto-bismol looking dressing. So weird... Maybe I am just too much of a foodie... sheesh. I rarely eat canned olives, processed cheese and I make all of my salad dressings... it's pretty easy to make a vinegarette- there's usually only 2 main ingredients. My wine was also not very good. My server was nice, the hostess was nice, the manager was nice- I will say that although my server was nice- she presented herself very ditsy. I asked what was good on the menu and mentioned that I am vegetarian, but on occasion eat seafood- she was not able to recommend anything- she said, "It depends on what you like... tee hee tee hee hee". She sort of spoke in a baby talk way and giggled quite a bit- she also kept calling me "Doll", which was annoying. I think I caught her about to twirl her hair at one point. All the servers looked very young- almost like a harem of female teens. It is an interesting dynamic. I would not be surprised to find out the hiring manager is a man in his 20s to early 30s. Anyhow, they were nice- it's just the ditsy act is off-putting, unprofessional. All in all- I have always wanted to try this place as I hike in the area often and have tried all the other restaurants around. The patio looked pretty cool- if cactus weren't wilting outside at dusk (summers in Phoenix- ugh). I will not be back though- The tacos next door are about 75% less expensive and 200% better tasting.
(2)
Jennifer S.
What a nice surprise! We had a Restaurant.com certificate to use, so we decided to head up one Saturday night to check it out. We were seated on the lovely patio and settled in for a great dining experience. The service was great and the food was even better. I started with soup and then moved on to the baked ziti - huge portions, great flavor and so filling and ended my dinner with a cannoli. I was absolutely in heaven by the end of this meal!
(4)
Phil M.
Great, attentive and welcoming staff, great food, good prices, great location. One of our "go-to" in terms of Italian and gives me the old New York being from there originally.
(5)
Cindy D.
This has been a long time favorite of ours, but this evenings meal just wasn't the quality we've come to expect, no pesto for the bread or pizzas, my NY White pizza was undercooked and the patrons were few and far between. I asked for light cheese and extra garlic, both requests were ignored. And the $50.00 check for two small pizzas and 2 draft beers is a bit pricey.
(2)
Paul F.
Wanted this place to be good because I often stay at a hotel down the street. It was not good. Service was terrible. Drinks took 20 minutes to get there, had to ask for silverware, salt and pepper and red pepper., server was cute an bubbly, but she was bad at her job. Double charged for glass of wine, never checked back after entrees arrived. Food was Ok and priced right, but too much to overcome. Won't be back.
(1)
Chris G.
The staff was friendly and service was quick. The decor is beautiful, I loved the court yard. The pasta I had was good but nothing to special. But I will be back to try something new.
(4)
Lindsay C.
Was driving on 7th Street through North Mountain park when Il Posto caught my eye. After meeting up with my "little" brother, I decided to take him to dinner there and check the place out. Ambience: old world Italy mixed with Lady and the Tramp and a pizza joint. The patio is lovely, especially at dusk and in the evening, and was the popular place to sit. Try and get seated near the firepit if possible, as their portable heaters appear to be out. Reservations accepted (that's why we weren't able to sit near the firepit). Service: below what I expected though not below average. Our server took quite a long time to take our order and also took a long time to bring out another basket of bread. There's also like, 3 separate menus: one for drinks, one for pizzas and one for the rest of the food. Food: I ordered the mussels appetizer, but requested that they cook it in a white wine sauce, as opposed to the marinara/basil sauce offered on the menu. They obliged. It was pretty tasty, though some of the mussels were overcooked and very tough to get out of the shell. My brother ordered chicken alfredo (wah wah) and surprise, was not that impressed with it; he claims it was bland and tasteless. Price: both of our meals were in the $12-15 range, a fair price considering the large portions. I didn't finish mine and my brother took half of his home. For best success: reserve a table for 6PM near the firepit on the patio, bring a smokin' hot date and share a big bottle of their finest wine. And their delicious pesto/olive oil mixture with a basket of hot bread.... molto bene!
(4)
Stewart D.
Very friendly staff and amazing food. I've been hearing about this place for years and finally decided to try it. I will becoming back again very soon! Overall A+ experience!!!
(5)
Garth M.
Very pleasant place. Was with a party of 12 and we were kinda rowdy but received impeccable service. Reasonable prices for reasonable wines. Delicious salads and a wonderful ambiance. A bit spendy food-wise for what is just slightly above average italian.
(3)
Tiffany H.
We visited Il Posto for the second time this past Sunday evening. This was our second experience with the same server. He was very inattentive and seemed as though he did not want to be there. We had to flag him down when we needed anything such as more drinks and bread because he never came around after taking our initial order. The restaurant seems to be ran by a bunch of young people and no management was present. The restaurant was dusty and there were flies and gnats everywhere. The food was mediocre at best. We will not be visiting Il Posto again.
Quite possibly the worst steak I have ever been served. I ordered it medium, it came out bloody and I sent it back. After 20 minutes they brought it back and it was charred. It was so chewy and tough I couldn't finish two bites. Horrible. The server was incredibly slow and inattentive. I may have a drink on the patio some day, but I will not eat at this place again.
(1)
Patricia C.
This is tough. Found this place via restaurant.com so we decided to check it out. Place appears to be a cute little mom and pop shop, we walked in shortly after 830 on a Saturday so it was an hour and a half before closing. The hostess was super nice and sat us right down and said the waitress would be with us soon. A long while passed and it took a reminder and apology from the hostess, but our waitress finally stopped talking with the other waiter long enough to come take our drink and food order. While we were waiting for the food to come the real show started.......the waiter was coming in and out of the back to the waitress station eating what appeared to be chicken wings, our waitress and the hostess sat down at a table and shared a plate of pasta, and the most concerning item was the bar tender from the lounge side. He came over to pick up a salad and as he has the customers salad in his one hand, he's sucking on his e cigarette with his other hand. I tried to grab my phone to catch this but he quickly walked back to the other side with the salad. When he came back to the kitchen he was waiting for a pizza in the pizza oven and the was running his hands through his hair and rubbing his nose, then handled the pizza. Gross!!!! Then the food came and somehow it made all the horrible service worth it. It was amazingly delicious. We had 3 dinners, an appetizer, and a dessert and all of them were perfect. The 4 men in the kitchen working totally made up for the 4 slackers working the front of the house. I would say if you like waffle house, you will love this place because based on the front, service, and sanitation habits of the front of the house, I would rate it a 1 star. If you base it on the food alone I would give it 5 stars. If you can ignore poor service for good food, give it a try.
(3)
Scott G.
First, the faux Italian store front patio is creative, and cozy. Service is friendly, happy, and fast..The warm bread with olive oil, basil, and loads of parm is great! But what we really enjoyed was the baby green salad with pecans, feta, all mixed in a fine dressing..Next, a huge slab of lasagne..best I have had in years! We will be back!
(5)
Rob S.
This place has sadly gone downhill since it was Our Gang cafe. The patio is still a nice place to dine and our waitress was very attentive and sweet, but the dishes we ordered were bleah. Its a bummer because they were things we had eaten here before and were favorites. We had the calamari appetizer and it was a smaller portion, better for 1 person, served on a too big mound of romaine. Was too rubbery. My wife had the chicken parmigiana and they put waaay too much sauce on it. The breading was ruined by that and just sloughed off. The sauce was bland. I had the mussells marinara with an ok caesar salad. The marinara was a very tasty wine sauce. I ate about 8 mussells then bit into a bad one. Had to spit it out since it was rancid. Was on a date night with my wife with the kids at home which is rare, so i decided to try and power through it without sending it back and wrecking the flow. I ate 2 more mussells and then hit another bomb. I had to tap out and call it a wrap at that point. Hopefully they get new cooks back there or new kitchen management, or the existing ones can get their sh*t together.
(2)
Michelle B.
My girlfriends took me here for my birthday dinner and it was wonderful! Great patio, food and service. This will be one of our new regular spots!
(5)
Jesica L.
I found this place one Yelp... sometimes I don't trust Yelp, but this time around I wanted to try something new. I was so glad me and my husband came here! It was a little far for us, but definitely worth it. Our server was Amy, she was really sweet and nice. I had Gnocchi, the sauce was cheesy and it went well with the fresh bread that they give you. We also had our own individual water, it came in an old style type of bottle. We sat in the patio outside, the decoration and vibe outside made me forget I was in good ol' Arizona..... We will definitely come back!
(5)
Jill D.
We ordered the calamari appetizer and the field greens salad. The calamari was ok and it was nice to have two different dipping sauces. The field greens salad was good. I ordered the gnocci and my fiance ordered the linguini in clam sauce. The gnocci was ok, it was very buttery. The linguini pasta was cooked well but the sauce was gross. Like cat food gross. It did not look or taste homemade at all. Very disappointing and as you can tell by the picture there was a lot left. This is odd because my fiance is a garbage disposal. Everyone who knows him knows this, but he did not finish this plate. The worst? I woke up at midnight very nauseous and threw up. Thanks Il Posto.
(2)
Kate S.
I have come to this place a handful of times over the years beginning when it used to be called "Our Gang.". I have always liked the feel of the place & the chicken piccata. I have taken different friends there, dates there before I met my husband, and no matter who I have gone with,have always had a pretty positive experience. That said, last night I went there with my husband, immediate family, and best friend to celebrate my birthday. There were 6 of us. This time I ordered a simple spaghetti & meatballs. I was surprised that I did not really like it. I gave 1/2 the meal to my brother to eat after and 1 of the 2 meatballs to my dad. I was also really surprised at the response we received when we asked for more bread. We had eaten 2 small baskets each with a single little loaf of sliced bread, and when we asked if we could have more, the server said, "I'm not sure. How many have you had?" I thoughts he was kidding. But we were told we could have 1 more loaf of bread but after that we'd be charged $2.50 for each additional loaf. What a crappy policy. I guess everyone else liked their food ok so I gave them 3 stars. Also my husband. Enjoyed a bottle of wine for a great deal because it was a Weds. special they always run.
(3)
Trev O.
So I just moved to Phoenix and have been tasting about town. Don't get me wrong, Il Posto isn't going to blow you away with tastes you never dreamed possible...but for the friendly service and reasonable prices it's worth it alone! Then the food comes! Awesome portion for a great price. Makes you feel like you are at your favorite relatives house for dinner. House made pesto is delish too! I will definitely be returning.
(5)
Brooke T.
Love the patio area! We frequent there after work for dinner and a drink, favorite is the calamari appetizer and field greens salad. They have a great bartender in the patio named Jesse, always remembers what we need and makes it a relaxing evening! They also came out with a new drink menu thats worth the try!
(4)
Ike D.
Great little Italian joint nearby with wonderful dishes at medium prices. We love their olive oil and pesto dip and fresh bread. Great service with friendly and consistent staff. Their outdoor seating area is reminiscent of an Italian street corner, very lovely atmosphere. Wine bottles half off on Wednesday too.
(4)
Jacob F.
I've been here a few times, I like to drink and eat good food you can do both very easily here. I usually choose to sit at the bar on the patio, the bartender remembers me by name and that's a pretty cool thing, also remembers my drink and food orders. His service is the main reason I keep going back. If you haven't tried it out yet do yourself a favor and go because it's real good food at a reasonable price, with drinks that do their job!
(5)
Dave B.
One of Moon Valley's secrets, this place is definitely a great place for dates! Great food and wine, reasonably priced, friendly staff, food prepared to your satisfaction, very flexible with menu and ingredients. everything is made fresh and tastes wonderful.
(5)
Ashley P.
Tonight was my third visit to il Posto and I have not been disappointed. All the food I have gotten has been very good. Tonight I had the apple-arugula salad topped with chicken. I have had their gnocchi, eggplant rollatini, pasta with sausage, etc. and all has been good. Sitting inside is a very different experience than sitting outside; tonight there was no outside seating so we were forced indoors and the experience was not as good. I highly suggest outdoors if possible. The servers are usually young kids who don't have much experience, so don't expect a lot in that department. But the food is great, as is the ambiance.
(4)
Daren C.
Finally brought my wonderful wife here... We ate bread and pesto, more bread and pesto and a little more bread and pesto. We also had Chicken Princesseola or something like that... Loved it. Except the risotto was mushy... bad mushy We also had a pasta with sausage and stuff. It was OK, just a Tad boring. The service was good, the price was fine, we too used a coupon and they had no issues honoring it. The math was correct too. LOL
(4)
Adrian C.
Il Posto is definitely a LET DOWN. The bread and the patio dinning is the only positive aspect to the restaurant. I ordered the fettuccine alfredo, but wanted to substitute shrimp for the chicken. In other words, I was charged three dollars for four little shrimps. The food tastes overcooked and straight out of a CAN! The service is poor, as well. It took a good ten minutes for our waitress to even ask for our drinks and she failed to realize we didn't even have menu's. Definitely not wasting money here again.
(1)
Eric S.
Il Posto is very close to my house, so I'd been jonesing to try it again. I had been here years ago when it was known as Our Gang, and I was as impressed with the actual restaurant now as I was then: it is big, but has lots of nooks and crannies and a cool outdoor area with a fire pit and outdoor bar, it's pretty nifty for Phoenix. They've made it feel very Scottsdale with the new decor inside. I can take that or leave it. The food is what matters, and the food was good, but not great. I can't remember how good it was back in the Our Gang days, that was like nine years ago, but the food now is hit and miss. It is definitely more hit than miss. The meal starts with a complimentary basket of bread with a garlic/parmesan/pesto dipping sauce that is just plain FABULOUS. We had the crab cakes appetizer. The flavor was absolutely delicious and the remoulade it came with was decadent, but the cakes were ruined by being ridiculously mushy. I had the seafood manicotti (see my uploaded picture) which we both agreed was blameless and wonderful. My wife had the veal parmesan which we both found bland and somewhat overcooked, with too much breading. It came with an abundance of pasta on the side, soaked in a sauce that was a lot like thickened tomato soup. I like tomato soup, she doesn't. It was pretty unforgivably mediocre. All in all, we didn't feel like our experience was worth sixty bucks, but we think we might feel different if we came back and ordered more judiciously.
(3)
Bacon B.
I woke up this morning with Il Posto on my mind and garlic on my breath. We've driven past Il Posto many times en route to visiting a friend who lives in the area, but hadn't taken the opportunity to stop in. Last night, that changed. As part of a large group of about 20, I was concerned there would be too much confusion over drinks and food orders. Such was not the case. Our servers were prompt and attentive and were able to remember our names. Amazing! The bread and pesto they start you with is great. Even better was the insane amount of garlic they use. The bruscetta was wonderful. The NY Spinach White Pizza was out of this world!! Our one friend is moving out of this area of town, but we'll be back for Il Posto.
I liked it. We requested an outdoor patio table..so charming! Just like the other reviews, it resembles a little cafe. I wouldn't say authentic, but a cute attempt at making you feel away from the city. The firepit was also a great touch outside. The bread and pesto was great and very flavorful. The menu, as MOST Italian restaurants done on the West coast, lacks authenticity. It seemed bare. Not bare enough for me to not want to leave, just lacking the stuff I want to see from NY/NJ menus. I had the margherita pizza..tasty, not too greasy, and a nice crust. I requested light on the plum tomatoes-perfect. My husband had the jalapeno chicken pizza..it was HOT!!! Adorable ambiance, and decent food. Not bad all.
(3)
William B.
I was trying to figure out why there are such different reviews for this place. I was thinking that the bad reviews were from people who were used to corporate chains and processed foods. I really got that wrong. If you are expecting Italy or Naples style food, you too will be greatly let down as I was. I had several texts to warn me when I checked in here for dinner. I should have listened. Pasta was overcooked. Floating in a butter sauce, literally. So much poor quality cheese on everything. Pizza was like frozen style maybe before it was frozen. Smothered in greasy cheese on a boring crust. We had 2 dinners and 2 pizzas. We ate about 1/3 and felt sick from the heavy, cheesy, oily, buttery and greasy food. I may have to have a cholesterol medication after this. Even my dinner salad had about a cup of cheese pellets on top of it. I've not seen mozzarella in this form before. What is going on here? Maybe I would have thought this was good when I was in my teens. I think that this place has a lot going for it, but not it's food.
(2)
Melissa H.
This place used to be "Our Gang". Not much has changed. I still adore their outdoor "garden" area which makes me nostalgic for Little Italy. The bread comes out hot and fresh, you can dip it in a nice pesto. The salad caprese is standard, nothing mind blowing, The chicken parmagiano will hit the spot if that is what you are craving. I will say that the pizza "4 ways" is good, but not terrific. Everything seemed to need a little salt, or some red pepper or some kick. However, this is a great little neighborhood place for when you want to go out for Italian but don't want something super fancy.
(3)
Dara P.
This place is just OK. I'm not sure why everyone, despite whether they like this place or not, seems to think the bread and pesto/olive oil dipping sauce is so spectacular. Its didn't strike me as that great. Though I've had homemade pesto (yum) so I'm a bit spoiled I guess. Our server was great. She was very friendly, energetic and attentive. The portions here are small. I ordered the ravioli. For the price I would expect more than 6 small ravioli. Had they been larger, homemade and absolutely delicious I'd feel differently. But these were your run of the mill, frozen grocery store ravioli. And I was hungry when I was finished - wishing there were a few more ravioli on the plate. The hubs had the manicotti, which was slightly better than the ravioli but also a small portion. The highlight of the meal was dessert. I had the chocolate tartufo (chocolate ice cream with nuts, chocolate chips and whipped cream) which was delicious. The hubs ordered the creme brulee which came topped with fruit. Different but very tasty.
(3)
Peg C.
Will NEVER dine here again. Have dined here several times since they renovated but it's never bee as good as the original. Now it's hit an all time low. We dined there the other night. One of us had the pizza which was ok though rather greasy. Two of us had entrees which were awful. Both were drowning in sauce and very unappetizing. We ate on the patio which is the restaurant's best feature. However, there were tons of flies ruining any semblance of ambiance. Never again.
(1)
Mary S.
A few months ago I drove by my favorite, remind me of back east wonderful Pizza place, and cried when I noticed it was gone. After sitting down and crying with a few friends who loved the place too, we moved on with plenty of grief mgt and support. Today I was thrilled to go here and learn it is the same owners and same place, just a new name. I am back in heaven! Tonight I tried something different, a caprese salad pannini. It came with home made potato chips. ( Always a plus-yum) and greens to boot (Because you know your body needs those vitamins) The meal was great. I ordered a side servng of an Italian sausgage( My weakness and hard to find good in Az) One was enough to feed 4. A little spicy and good. The only thing I did not care about was the sauce it was served on. I come from a place where sauce is called gravy and I like sauce thick not thin. But hey, I did not expect the sausage to have any sauce on it so no big deal to me. It was delish!I ended with Tiramusu, always a nice ending. I went home with a 20 extra pounds on my hips and in leftover doggie bags. AHHHHH sweet heaven!
(4)
Titus C.
My wife and I have been going to this place since it was Our Gang Cafe. They have fairly average, but always tasty food, and the service has always been great. We love the patio for a nice relaxing evening. The one negative is their very non-Italian desert menu. What Italian place doesn't serve canolis? They also don't serve cappuccino or espresso so plan on going elsewhere for desert. The lounge next door is apparently under the same ownership, and is a great place to enjoy a glass of wine and some anti pasta before dinner.
(4)
Kimberly G.
Found this place on restaurant.com . You can get a $25 gift card for $10 bucks! My hubby and I really enjoyed ourselves. It does not look like much from the outside but the patio is so cute!!! You really feel like you have a little piece of New York in Phoenix. We got the bruchetta which was very good. My husband got a seafood special which was loaded with all different kinds of shellfish. I had the pizza and while it was good, I would suggest getting a pasta dish. All of the pastas looked amazing and the pizza looked reminiscent of a frozen pizza.
(4)
Wes N.
Il Posto has some really good aspects and it has some so-so aspects. The outside patio area is completely awesome. It's like you're sitting in a little Italian cafe, with one of the walls mocked up to look like the side of an old style European building. There are Christmas lights strung about in different locations, a small bar area, a lil fountain and some other cool decorations. It's worth a trip just to hang out in their decked out patio area, if only to have some drinks. The service was awesome. Our waiter was totally cool, friendly and accommodating. The fresh baked bread and oil with cheese dipping sauce was fantastic. Loved it. They had local beer (Kiltlifter) on tap for only $3 a pint. awesome. The salads and pasta entrees were just ok, which is the reason behind my 3 star rating. I just wasn't wowed by the main course. We'll definitely be back to try them again though, perhaps to sample their highly rated pizzas. I predict a review sequel in my future.
(3)
Mandah C.
I dont think the owner is very friendly.. I think the hours are kinda odd... Staff could be a little bit more excited to work there... Food is okay.. Pizza is good... Salad is bland, I could deff whip up something better at home. I love the pesto. Love the patio :)
(3)
LaVerne F.
I like this restaurant a lot and dine here every couple of months. The patio with the Italian villa decor is charming and I love the firepit. This restaurant is were I take out of state guests because the food is so good. The fresh made pesto and warm bread is excellent. I've tried numerous selections from the menu and I've never been disappointed. The spagetti carbonara is my favorite. They've taken it off the menu but will still make it. The veal scallopine, when they have it as a special is also very good . It's layered with mozzarella cheese and eggplant.. The service is good and so are the prices.
(4)
Jesse F.
You go to a restaurant for a few reasons,: great food that you cant quite duplicate in your own kitchen , enjoyable atmosphere and a nice drink..at least that's why me and my friends go out. Il posto delivers when it comes to these key elements. I find it interesting reading some other reviews on here because the service has never been an issue for me (and ive been quite a bit). sure its not always the absolute best every time, but having working in restaurants a large chunk of my life just because servers aren't running around doesn't mean they aren't working hard or caring. Beside the point anyway, for me. The food is fantastic, especially their seafood dishes and the PIZZA, love the thai pizza. Atmosphere i great, cute patio area with a bar, not to hot later in the evening. They have specialty cocktails that are all great and unique. Servers are generally knowledgeable about wine (after all it is an italian place) anytime they may not have the answer the bartender is never too far away with a recommendation. For the price this is truly one of my favorite spots for dinning out,
(5)
M C.
I had dinner here last night, my second time and I think I can say it's one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the valley! The pasta I ordered (corkscrew with peppers, mushrooms, and sausage) was so flavorful! I'm a big fan of flavor and spices and this dish is full of it! I also love their oven fresh bread with the olive oil & pesto dipping sauce. The service was excellent as well.
(4)
Barbara Y.
Food is awesome. Idle servers, hostess and bartender socialize, eat and check cell phones in full view of customers. Busboy was the only one hustling; everyone else was just killing time in between service. Totally lacking in professionalism. Hostess chewing & snapping gum with a bored attitude. Wouldn't go back except I have another restaurant.com GC.
(2)
Mallory S.
All I can say is this place is phenomenal! We came here on a whim while in town and were amazed at how great the food was and service. We even used a restuarant.com coupon. We have told dozens of our friends to stop by here if they are in town. GREAT PESTO with the bread. Yum. Hubby had cheese ravioli which was to die for (and I don't even like the stuff). Don't pass this place up, it was great.
(5)
Chaundra C.
The "Il Posto" pizza is pizza done so right. Pepperoni, sausage, bell pepper, red onions, olives, and the light sprinkling of garlic brings it all to greatness on a light thin crust. The meat tortellini with alfredo AND marinara sauce covered with their thick smooth mozzarella is one of my top 10 dishes of all time. I get extra of their tasty marinara. You can't get this anywhere else and the mix of flavors and textures in this pasta dish are unbelievable in your mouth. The only thing I don't like about here is the service... we have been going here since it was called Our Gang Cafe and the teenage hostesses are pathetic and the servers are a bit douchy. They chill in the back gossiping like schoolgirls looking around at everyone in the place. When it looks as if your table might need something, they casually get up from their seats as if a burden of service has come upon them. I don't like it.. but I've never known them to be any other way so ehhh. A good little Italian restaurant, while it may not make you feel all warm inside while their indoor center fountain splashes you throughout your meal, they have good foods so I'll be back.
(4)
AMber W.
I was really impressed with Il Posto, especially after all of the mediocre reviews. My favorite Yelper, Christina P, put together a UYE here last night, and the event could not have been more perfect. The bartender and staff were really friendly and made us feel very welcome. They have a fantastic patio with a fire pit in the middle which made for a perfect happy hour setting. We happened to be there on the night they unveiled their specialty pizza line. I had the pleasure of trying both the margharita and the goat cheese & onion, both of which I thought were fantastic. They also serve bread with a cheesy pesto dipping sauce that was to die for. Our group ending up trying a lot of different pizza's and everyone seemed to really enjoy. I was pleased with their happy hour specials ($2 off specialty pizzas; $1 off appetizers, well drinks, house wines and draft beers) and especially pleased that they extended those specials for our group for the entire time we were there. This is another time I wish we could give 1/2 stars because I would give Il Posto a 4.5... and I will definitely be back to grab another glass of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and snack on one of those delish speciality pizza's on the patio!
(4)
Julie P.
I joined the crew last night for the HH organized by the fabulous Christina P. Although it was my first visit and I generally like to sample a place a few times before reviewing, there were so many of us there that I felt that I had gotten a pretty well-rounded experience and had enough information to provide input. Phoenix is known for its host of strip mall restaurants, but few can actually transport you to another place. The restaurant interior is a mix of kitschy Italian and moderately nice mainstream. The main patio is actually about the same size as the restaurant interior and is flanked by two cute NYC street scenes (think universal studios city scene) with each window telling a different story and the Statue of Liberty holding court. Very quaint! The back of the patio is taken up by a complete bar. The fire pit that others have mentioned is situated in the middle. The patio is clearly the place to be at this venue! Service was spot on, which was unexpected for such a large group. I have to echo Georgie S., the bartender seemed to single handedly (with the exception of bussing support) kept our brood quenched and fed with no errors. He asked each guests name upon their initial order and remembered them throughout the remainder of the evening. No simple feet, if you consider that we had at least 20 people in our party and he was also serving the numerous other guests that shared our al fresco setting. The manager Matt, came out to thank us for coming by and informed us that there is a separate patio in the back to accommodate private parties/functions. What a divine setting for almost any family or business gathering! In addition to the ambience and service, there is the food... Oddly one of the best things of the evening was the free appetizer provided to each table, which consists of bread and a parmesan/pesto dipping sauce that is so infused with garlic that its sweet fragrance swirls in the air. Now as Bacon B. points out, this will stay with you (i.e.: if you are on a date, you should both eat some) but it is seriously out of this world! I also really enjoyed the bruschetta, which is a classic take on the dish in every aspect except size. More often than not you will receive four or six small slices of toast with some tomatoes and basil carefully assembled on top, but not here... instead you will be served a small flatbread mounded with fresh hand cut tomatoes, chiffonades of basil and more of that dreamy garlic. I was also able to sample two of the new pizza offerings. The Roberto's (ironically offered up by the fabulous Robert M.), which was set off by a sprinkling of pepperocinis offering just a little kick, and the White pizza which had more of those rich garlic undertones. Although I enjoyed the toppings on each of the pizzas, I was left wanting more from the crust. Both were uniform in size and shape and a little on the tough / dense side, which made me wonder if they were not made in house. That said, it was not enough to detract from the overall experience and I will definitely be back in the near future.
(4)
Shannon C.
I can now say I've been to Il Posto for lunch, dinner, and happy hour. I love their patio so much that I wouldn't even consider eating inside, even if it was 100 degrees outside. I'm surprised more hasn't been mentioned about their delish homemade potato chips. I've been known to skip the salad so that I could fill up on more chips. I'm usually like meat, but went with the margherita pizza last night and I can say I'm impressed. The bread and pesto sauce were also excellent. With great atmosphere and good food, I'll definitely go back.
(4)
Georgie S.
3 1/2 Stars Alright, I'll try and make this one short and sweet and follow the old expression "If you don't have anything nice to say..." because I really did like parts of Il Posto... Let me start by saying that the staff was incredible! About 20 or so of us Yelpers gathered yesterday for a Happy Hour organized by the fantastic Christina P and the staffers were very pleased to oblige. Like Bacon B said before me, I'm always nervous about being a part of a large party because it is practically inevitable that they are going to screw up at least some of our orders, and it is guaranteed that mine will always be one of them. That said this was sooo not the case here. I was shocked! We sat outside and were all served at our leisure by 1 bartender who I from here on out will refer to as Superman, because he obviously had some sort of magical powers to serve all 20 of us individually, simultaneously, and screwed up no one's orders mind you... I'll continue to touch on the good. The patio was great. Very spacious area with a fire pit in the middle which added some lovely ambiance to the evening, and hey, who doesn't look better by firelight?? Now on to the less than good... The Happy Hour specials were okay, to be honest I'm not thrilled by $1 off of things, I think it's kind of weak. However, many of Il Posto's drink prices were already fairly low, so the $1 off could sway some. First of all, I will say that their fresh bread and pesto dip which was free mind you was delicious. The pizza though, not so much...Let me preface this by saying that I am from NYC and I take my pizza very seriously...it is a bit of an art for me I don't want to say too much because I do want to go back and try some different things because the rest of the experience was lovely, but no, unfortunately, I did not enjoy my pizza. It was undercooked, the dough was unimpressive, and I had to use a knife and fork because it was so soggy. All in all I had a nice time at Il Posto, mainly because of the company, but I would be willing to go back and give it another shot.
(3)
Dottsy Z.
I attended a UYE at Il Posto on Mardi Gras. I enjoyed it very much. I shared a pizza that was pretty darn good with Matthew K and sampled a few other pizzas with other people. I didn't much care for the crust of the pizza, but the pizza itself was very flavorful. My drink of the night was a strawberry lemonade alcoholic beverage that the bartender was having trouble getting right. Each time I had to help him out with the formula of sweet to sour, but he was a good sport about it. Our large group sat out on their clean a pretty patio. It grew chilly so they lit the fire pit for us. I can imagine sitting on the patio and enjoying drinks with friends here. I would most certainly visit Il Posto again. Their pizzas were flavorful and the service was great!
(3)
Andrew K.
This place gets four stars for the patio alone. Seriously, look for this review on a future "best patios" list. Small bar, lots of tables, some open space, hearty gas fire pit in the middle, screened on all sides (with some very ornate facades, a wall painted like a billboard, hilarious "laundry line" replete with underwear and socks over head, and so on to break up the boring "screen wall" and add ambiance). They have a gate towards the parking lot that keeps it from being claustrophobic, but the gate is small enough to keep out the noise from nearby 7th St. I didn't personally try the food, but it did look good. Definitely want to check it out sometime soon. The one area they really need to improve would be the bathrooms. With as much effort as they put into the patio, the bathrooms should be a few steps up from the nearby gas station. That's really my only quibble at this point, and I won't deduct stars b/c I don't typically spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Anyway, Il Posto is a great place, I'll definitely be back. I may even brave the an evening or two during the coming summer months under a mister on that awesome patio, beer in one hand and pizza in the other...
(4)
Amy P.
Went on a random Thursday night. It seems like the owners have a stake in all of the restaurants/bars in the same shopping center. Didn't realize how cute the outside patio was, or I would have chosen to sit there. Ordered calamari appetizer - best part of the meal. Entree - seafood manicotti. I try to stray away from fish with cheese, but this was really, the fish tasted fresh, and i did not feel disgustingly full after. Overall, a nice little italian place, but nothing to go home bragging about
(3)
Morris J.
I was pleasantly surprised. The server was incredible. It was a GREAT value. We enjoyed our meals. Loved the environment sitting on the patio. I had the Lasagna and Ash had the Seafood Manicotti. The Lasagna was great. I really enjoyed it. It had a great texture, perfect amount of cheese, and was well seasoned. The Seafood Manicotti was incredible. I HIGHLY recommend this dish. Along with dinner we each enjoyed a wine flight. They offered a nice selection and we both really enjoyed the tasting. I would highly recommend this spot. Give it a try. We will be back. For the $$...you cannot go wrong.
(4)
Tom R.
Went to Il Posto tonight....service (from Asia) was prompt, friendly and professional. I had the Caesar salad and seafood Manicotti, both were on point and delicious. My companion had the Pasta Fagoul soup and Seafood fetuccini special and both were incredible! This is a great liltte neighborhood Italian place (as it's been for years). Highly recommended!
(5)
Chris K.
Ok, I admit it: we're regulars...almost once a week regulars. The bread and pesto is something both my wife and I always look forward to, as well as the friendly and very attentive staff. My wife almost always has the baked tortellini: a great mix of tortellini and bubbling cheese thats always filling and satisfying. The linguini with clam sauce really should be clam with linguini -- the clams are so plentiful that you can barely see the linguini and quite garlicy to boot. The lasagna is huge and quite good, as are the regular specials of Zuppe de Pesche (a huge platter of seafood over linguini) and the Veal Sorentino, a wonderfully tasty dish of waffer-thin veal and eggplant with cheese and a delightful mushroom sauce. Recently they've had Manhattan clam chowder as a soup special, and its really fantastic -- I'm not a fan of the red chowder normally, but theirs is really top notch: plenty of clams, nice spicy broth. Its a must-order if its a special, as is the Veal. The standout desert is the hazelnut tortufo, with the cheesecake and creme bulee being good and nicely dressed. The decor is a bit odd -- they've recently redecorated with weird "fairy" wood and glass sculpture things that really need to be tossed out, and a few odd "rustic farm implements" that clash with the modern crisp decor. But the food is top notch, and the decor is just a point of dinner conversation.
(5)
Martin G.
Posto still delivers as it did when it was called Our Gang a few years back (Our Gang is now the name of the sports Bar next door). We were seated quickly on the Patio and promptly waited on. Appetizers and drinks were quickly brought out. My wife ordered the gnocci and I had the Cavatappi. Both were very good, leaving no room for desert. I will be back soon!
(4)
John M.
Brunch was one of the worst experienced. over-priced ($18 per person) and just off. a mimosa served in a tumbler filled with ice? lame. mimosas come in a flute, period. Euro- styled pancake was thin chewy and better off as a frisbee. Mexican scramble on tortillas was disappointing. I was hoping for something resembling huevos rancheros but was left with dry scrambled eggs on dry tortillas. the cheese was mildly flavored and the salsa did have a kick but not enough to make the dish. never again. this place while trying to be different failed. top it off, the waitress was annoying and ditzy. meanwhile, Scramble next door had a long line almost out the door.
(1)
Kathleen W.
Food is excellent, the bread and dipping oil is to die for, service is excellent very attentive. Love the patio
(5)
Ryan C.
I enjoy this restaurant thoroughly. The bread and pesto is delicious, I look forward to it every time I go there. The last time I was there, I had a really good seafood pasta (I don't remember the name, it was one of their specials) and it was really good for the most part, the shrimp was a little overcooked though. I have enjoyed every other pasta dish I have had there and the chicken dishes I have tried were very good too. I need to try the pizza sometime, it looks good, I am just typically more of a pasta person. As far as the place itself, the bathrooms are ok, and the restaurant itself is clean and pleasant. I have never sat on the patio to eat, but I would really like to sometime, as it looks pretty cool.
(4)
Kari M.
This place has been around for a while-had a different name-remodeled and I could probably count the number of times that I have been here on one hand. I have some mixed reviews on this place. The stars keep falling as I keep going back there though. First couple of visits were pretty good-yummy foods, good portions, tasty drinks on their beautiful ambiance of a patio. Had a big birthday party on their patio back in April-it was very delightful and the waiters were pretty attentive to our large party(20+people)-they just keep bringing more and more bottles of wine-great time, but I was a little afraid of what the bill was going to look like since they weren't even asking anyone if we wanted more wine bottles opened. I have enjoyed a nice satisfying meal in a booth with a friendly waitress on another occasion. This past weekend I arrived on a Saturday evening at 6:15 with 4 other party members. We generously accepted red wine when we sat down, but had to wait over 45 minutes to get our starter dinner salads. One of my friends ordered a vodka cranberry and 2 of us tasted it and it tasted pretty "nonalcoholic" so we had to send it back to "The Lounge." I felt like we were just filling up on their complimentary bread a pesto the whole time while waiting forever for our food to get to our table. The pizza selection was interesting-I think I could only find one with red sauce and the waitress was surprised to find the same results on the menu when we double checked. For dinner I shared a small pizza, and it didn't come out looking like what the description had said and I looked over at another friend and her husband's "split" dish dinner-it consisted of 2 ravioli's on one plate and 3 on the other-I felt so bad for them that I offered to share some of my share of pizza to them and they accepted with more satisfied bellies in the end. I don't know if the kitchen was backed up or what not, but I have recently heard from friends that it has not been a great experience at this restaurant for them either. All in all the food and wine is good, but don't expect quick service or larger portions these days. I'm not sure you'll be getting what you're paying for, but hey I can't complain on the price too much since I used a QUICK TIP: RESTURANT.COM coupon on the last evening I spent there!
(2)
Angie J.
The Thai Chicken pizza is good. But the white NY pizza is not good at all frozen spinach on the pizza we can do better than that.! The apple salad with mixed greens was good. We were not impressed at all .
(2)
Linda W.
I'm assuming everyone was there for the Smart Shopper deal for 1/2 off menu items excluded the drinks and desserts. It was a busy Friday night. We seat by the open kitchen. Every dish looked and smelled so good. We got to watch the Suns vs. Lakers game on nice big screen TV. The kids enjoyed the Chefs cooking, especially when the pans were on fire. I had tried their White Wine Flight (InfmGoose - Sauvignon Blac, New Age White, and NapaCreek Chard) - $9.00. I like the flight, however the New Age White was over ice, and it was sort of diluted. I'm glad that we ordered the appetizers crab cakes and soup/salad. The clam chowder was full with crabs, so worth the $2.00 add-on to your meal. I think they forgot us after the appetizers. Our food took a while to arrive. After sitting for about 15-20 minutes, our food finally arrived. I had ordered the Four Seasons pizza that came with 2 slices of the seafood (scallop/shrimp), margherita, mushroom & plum tomatoes, and prosciutto with shaved parmesan. The seafood pizza needs cheese and sauce. It was basically scallop and shrimp on a pita bread. The rest of the pizza was just OK. They do have excellent paste dishes. My friends had the Seafood Manicotti, Linguini with clam, and another pasta dish, which I can't remember the name. They were all phenomenal. The Chicken Marsala was a bit dry. As the weather cools, they have a great patio area to unwind.
(4)
Vern G.
Zupa di pesch was phenom!
(4)
Hydro W.
It is great that the place is in the neighborhood. It is just sad that it is nothing special. The only reason we go is because it is convenient. The staff are always nice.
(3)
Harriet L.
It was disaster. Bread was hard and burnt. One dish was served and three others waited more than five minutes for their meal. Manager gave a free desert for the service. We thought that was anice gesture until we got our check. Al items were marked up $8.00.can you believe it could be this bad?
(1)
Sarabear B.
I moved here to Phoenix from a city that is well known for it's Italian neighborhoods and Italian food. The first thing I missed when I had been here a month or 2 was good Italian food. There are plenty of people that have claimed they found good Italian food here or there, but when I tried it, i found the places were serving something that may have included pasta, but had nothing else in common with Italy... so now after years of searching to find really good Italian food in the Phoenix area, I can count all the really good places on one hand... Il Posto is one of them. In addition, it is a very reasonably priced place with a wonderful patio. Their eggplant parmigiana is some of the best I have ever had. The layers of eggplant are thin and perfectly crispy before they bake the whole thing in cheese and sauce. The pasta on the side has a wonderful light fresh marinara. Their scampi sauce is garlicky, but not too much.... and their Alfredo is made per order with the best cream, butter and cheese. It's so rich that I have to limit myself to a once a year thing when I order their tortellini. For lunch, try a Caesar salad, or a paninni. This is one place where you don't have to explain what you mean if you want a white pizza. It's already on the menu. The patio is well placed and has fountains and plants to keep away all parking lot noise. The decorations are fun and endearing to people who have spent any time in NYC's little Italy.... right down to the painted Mulberry Street sign and the laundry hanging on the lines overhead. Now, I hear they have rented the storefront that is immediately east of their place and are opening a bar called "the lounge." I hope it will be as fun to go there as it has been to sit at the bar on their patio. I will be thrilled to have another neighborhood hangout.
(4)
Rina M.
I like this place. Not a true (New York) Italian place (in my opinion) but very very close. Food is very tasty especially fried calamari app. I usually stick with fish or veal (not a big pasta person) but have sneaked some from my bf's plate at it was tasty as well as my dishes have always been. We are here fairly often.
(5)
Ryan C.
For those wondering, the restaurant.com coupons work fine, however the incompetent staff at Il Posto couldn't and/or wouldn't figure out 18% for the included gratuity. The coupon clearly states that it would be included, so no surprise there..... ...but a big WTF when I realized looking at the receipt that they had either purposefully or accidentally calculated exactly 20% as the autogratuity. Now by saying it may have been an accident, I'm really pushing things and trying to be nice because I overall liked the place. I cannot honestly come up with an explanation as to how a person who'd graduated 4th grade math could read a peice of paper saying 18% and then calculate 20%, unless is was blatantly done on purpose with the idea that the customer wasn't going to figure it out. SHAME SHAME SHAME The decor here is a mish-mash of old and new, good and bad, nice and ugly. They've recently done (some) remodeling, since I saw a huge dumpster in the parking lot, but they aren't finished inside. There are huge areas where exposed surfaces are in need of paint or drywall, and a huge sheet of plastic hung in a doorway behind us, swooshing with every breeze of a server walking by. The outside patio area did indeed look very neato, like a street in italy or new york. Inside, they have a dining area with warm wood accents, a lit-up fountain, and dim lighting (which i liked, but the mrs said was making her feel woozy) right next to the kitchen area's flourescent light fixtures and flourescent lime green paint. What classiness the first area had was lost with barely a shift of your glance, since there's no wall or anything separating the two areas. The very uncomfortable booths have hard wood back and a butt cushion that's token at best, with the bottom of the seat being way too long, so your back can't reach the seatback so you are forced to chose between sitting upright with no backrest at all, or slouching so badly that a painful arch is in your middle back. The food had good and bad, as well. The bread basket with pesto dip was superb, and like many others have said, we should've simply eaten that until full and then left. The lady's ceviche was a huge portion, and said to be very good (didn't eat it), but the tortillas I did sample were overcooked, looking only slightly dark but tasting burnt. My NY strip pizziaola - after being ordered as "tell the chef to aim for between Medium and Medium Rare" - arrived at barely even MR, but was tasty enough with all that garlicy marinara (*SLICES* of shaved garlic, like in Goodfellas!) that the extra juiciness was okay with me. I used more of the appetizer bread to soak up the bloodiness. Mmmmm aus juis The other had a penne dish with chicken and mushrooms in a brown sauce. This was said to be all just fine, but my keen eye saw the chicken going untouched and a few peices of penne being pushed around. Probing proved that all was not just fine, since the chicken was quite dry, and the penne was so barely grasping to reach al dente doneness that she thought at first it might be whole wheat pasta (the dim lighting may have contributed also). Service was 'eh'. Yes, that's right. It was so generic, by-the-book, make sure we cover all the requisite phrases and checking in moments -- but nothing more than that -- that I cannot even warrant the "M" to give them the entire 'meh'. When inquiring if we'd like wine, and asked for Spumante, the server replied, "you mean Spumoni?!? We don't have that." We looked at each other.....I so badly wanted to ask "so, you don't have the wine, or you don't have the ice cream?"....but we both just gave a tentative "okaaaaaaay..." Chose not to try getting any wine. 8^ | There was nothing too horrible about the service, but nothing great either...... EXCEPT of course there was the fact that someone involved in making up the bill decided to _*help themselves*_ to a 20% gratuity when the coupon states that an 18% gratuity is included. Even with the mediocre service, I would have added a personal table tip to the auto-gratuity, but I certainly did not do that once I saw the 20% on the bill. I also chose not to bring it up with the server, because it was obvious that they already knew that it was calculated at 20%, and I wasn't about to play the whole Pretend It Was An Error game. There was no mis-reading the coupon. There was no mistake in the math. It was *calculated* at exactly 20% with intention. So that's what they got from me. Nothing else. ...except this review.
(2)
Gary P.
Best linguini and red clam sauce this side of the mississippi
(5)
Roberto C.
It 's more like two 1/2 stars.... Very cute place but the food, like many Italian restaurants in phoenix, was pretty disappointing. I was there with a group of 12 for a birthday party. We pretty much ordered off the pasta menu. I ordered the baked tortellini with a white and red cream sauce, it was missing any king of flavor, one of my friend ordered spaghetti carbonara, although it was not made in a traditional way and although the pasta was way over cooked , it had a pretty good flavor. Like i said the place has a little charm but with very pricey food, 15 average for entree' , and very little flavor it deserves just two 1/2 stars.
(3)
Ashley G.
Fantastic Restuarant. Very Very good food, and so romantic. Sit on the patio, it's like you're really in Italy. I just love this place!
(5)
Angelique A.
get the lasagna and you'll have leftovers that taste even better the next day!
(4)
Scott W.
That has got to be one of the coolest patios in town for a get together. I was another of the Yelp group (and friends) in attendance last night for happy hour. We had a long table reserved for us. The bartender was also our waiter for the evening. To my knowledge, with all of us moving around, I don't think he screwed up a single order of food or drink. The manager, Matt, came by to check on us several times. I arrived fairly early and before I was tempted to work my way through multiple baskets of the wonderful bread and pesto I ordered a serving of crab cakes. They were quite good, certainly not enough volume to replace an entree. I was offered several choices of pizza slices and accepted a bruscetta one which was delicious. Of the many pizzas ordered I did not hear one person that was less than satisfied. I do of sort regret not trying the white pizza but I was at that not full but no longer hungry point where I should, but don't always, stop. We did cause one hiccup in the evening, many of us decided it was time to go at the same time and with all the separate bills to figure out at once it swamped the entire staff to the point a couple of people at the bar complained they couldn't get a drink. Most of the night we ordered as individuals or pairs as we saw fit so we never overwhelmed the kitchen or the server. I have yet to figure out why groups of people (non business) that are going to be there for a couple of hours anyway have to all order and get served at the same time. We must have at least looked like we were well behaved, Matt invited us back.
(4)
Jessie P.
I live within walking distance of this place. And while it has a nice cool atmosphere for having a drink & smoke outside. Both times our server wasn't friendly or helpful let alone experienced. And the food is at best slightly mediocre. Next time I'll go to Taco's Jalisco in the same parking lot.
(1)
Emilie M.
My husband and I had dinner at Il Posto while visiting Phoenix. Dinner was great, service was perfect. Our waitress was super nice and right on top of our needs. I wish it was a bit warmer I would have like to sit outside on the patio.
(4)
Natalie G.
The service is friendly and great, and the food is on the better side of average. Nothing to get excited over, but a perfectly decent meal.
(3)
Sarah H.
Great food and quick service. I really enjoyed eating at this restaurant. I was surprised to find such a nice place in this area! Very good and will eat again! *Only downfall...closed on Mondays!
(5)
Cynthia P.
I used to love the calzones and pizza, as well as the atmosphere, at this restaurant back when it was Our Gang. So I was thrilled to learn it still existed, just under a new name. I bought a certificate on restaurant.com and grabbed 2 friends to try out Il Posto. The fresh bread and delicious pesto dip they brought out was a good sign of things to come. We decided to share 2 dishes, and ordered a baked pasta dish along with the eggplant pamigiana based on Sarabear's yelp review - who I hope spelled parmigiana right cuz I'm just copying her spelling =). Well the eggplant was every bit as good as she said! All three of us were very impressed by this dish. The pasta, however, seemed to be lacking in flavor. It was decent, but paled in comparison. We had a very hard time deciding what to order as there were many mouth-watering items on the menu from salads to sandwhiches, and ofcourse the pizza and calzones. I will definitely be back to try out some others. They are also in the process of opening a lounge attached to the restaraunt, so Iook forward to checking that out as well!
(4)
Andrew C.
Our family dined here last friday evening, this is about our 6th visit in the past couple of years. We live close by and so wish it was a great local go to eatery. Clearly whoever owns it has thought about the decor, the outdoor patio is very cool. On friday evening we had the large booth on the right as you walk in, my guess is no one has cleaned the table with anything other than a damp rag for months, i bought this to the attention of the server and guess what a quick wipe over witha wet rag. The table had so much grime on it when i passed my cc over it, it bought up a large film of who knows what, that really set us off in the wrong direction. I dont get why the simple things like tables being clean get overlooked. We have come to expect the food to be a bit hit and miss, the bread and olive oil with pesto is great. I ordered pasta it was ok not great but prices are very reasonable, we sent one of the salads back ...... Sadly i think we will not return, big shame its close to our home and someone clearly cared enough at some point to create a great environment but food quality and cleanliness are really wanting.
(2)
Wendy R.
I have now tried the place twice. This place has all the makings to be amazing and yet it seems to be having a serious identity crisis! The service is average and for a small place, that is sad. The decor is quite lovely and they have a beautiful patio. The food is pretty good. Although the specials seem to be the same both times we went. So obviously the chef doesn't much do local and variety. Prices aren't bad. Here's my two biggest complaints- 1. classic rock Really? 2.TV with football on. Are you trying to be a neighborhood pub (which is strange since I understand they own the Lounge next door) or a quaint neighborhood, indie restaurant? Either is cool, but pick one and do it well. My suggestion is go for the later since you have all the makings and so few of those up there in Sunnyslope. If you want good food with friends and family, this is your place. A romantic evening, chose elsewhere.
(3)
Gary S.
I brought my family to Il Posto to use a restaurant.com gift certificate. We were seated quickly and greeted by a friendly server. She brought us delicious bread and pesto dipping sauce and I was anticipating a great dinner. Then the "dinner" arrived. The spaghetti I ordered was hard, undercooked, and bland. The (2) meatballs had a soggy texture and were completely flavorless. I sampled the fettuccine Alfredo and was again disappointed by the bland noodles and flavorless sauce. My daughter who usually voraciously devours all noodles refused to finish the Alfredo. My wife ordered the eggplant Parmesan and was also disappointed. Considering the price of these items, my whole family was thoroughly disappointed. Our attentive server was the only bright spot of the night. Our disappointment was wholly with the food itself.
(1)
Heidi E.
Ah, yes, Il Posto. I really want to like you, but it seems like every time I come (either when it was Our Gang or in its current incarnation as Il Posto) I leave a bit disappointed. The last night we came it was on a Wednesday. They attempted to seat us on the patio, but unfortunately someone was smoking cigars out there. So my friends requested we move inside. Now, when something like this happens, more experienced waitstaff normally says the following "Of course. Allow us to seat you inside. One moment." Our waitress instead confusedly looked at us as if she didn't believe us, picked up the menus, then scanned the area to determine who was smoking a cigar, then as we felt the need to apologize, continued to scan the patio to find the perpetrator. I'm assuming if she spied them, she was going to say something or perhaps the delay was to fulfill her own curiosity. However, it might have been a good idea get our party situated before she got down to the bottom of things, Sherlock Holmes-style. The food was mediocre, as always (I ordered the chicken parmesan with its soggy, eggy breading and my friends ordered pasta.) Sigh. Even though it's in my neighborhood, I probably would prefer to drive a bit further and go to a different Italian restaurant in the future.
Takes Reservations : Yes Delivery : No Take-out : Yes Accepts Credit Cards : Yes Good For : Dinner Parking : Private Lot Bike Parking : Yes Wheelchair Accessible : Yes Good for Kids : Yes Good for Groups : Yes Attire : Casual Ambience : Intimate Noise Level : Quiet Alcohol : Full Bar Outdoor Seating : Yes Wi-Fi : No Has TV : Yes Waiter Service : Yes Caters : Yes
The immense popularity of Italian cuisine globally isn't unknown. You can find an Italian Pizzeria around every corner of almost every city in the United States. Not to forget that in every house, people enjoy mac and cheese as comfort food. But it would be wrong to believe that Italian food starts with pizza and ends with good pasta as this Mediterranean country has much more to offer other than these two dishes. In Italian Cuisine, there is a high use of fresh tomatoes, all kinds of herbs, great quality of cheese, all types of meat, seafood and fresh handmade pasta. Many find it hard to believe that Italians have been making noodles long back.
Italian and Greek cuisines are always mistaken to be same, but they are poles apart. The primary difference between the two cuisines is the use of cheese in most of the Italian dishes. Italians love to cultivate their own cheese and process them as per their food requirement. It is believed that some cheese is so expensive that cheese producers secure them in lockers.
If you are bored eating the same old pasta or pizza, you can try some of the authentic Italian dishes like Risotto, Polenta, Ribollita, Lasagna, Fiorentina Steak, Bottarga, Ossobuco, Carbonara, Focaccia, Arancini and Supplì. Another item which Italians love to relish every morning is a good cup of Italian Coffee. Once you taste a freshly brewed cup of Italian Coffee, you might not visit Starbucks ever again. Authentic Italian food is made with heart and soul, so go find a restaurant where you can relish Italian cuisine in your city.
Brad E.
A little late in writing a review of this place after having attended the event organized by Chrissy P. The location was nice for the Happy Hour we all attended because it was a short drive from work. Parking was adequate as well. Everyone was out on the cool patio enjoying drinks that they have a couple bucks off of at this time. They had Peroni on tap which was a plus. The pizza I had was only so-so. I love and know pizza and have had some fabulous pizza in my day. This one, not so much. The potential is there, but something was missing. Not sure if it needed to be cooked longer or what, but it was a little soggy. The mushrooms were fresh which was nice, as opposed to canned. The only other thing I had was the bread and pesto dip. I should have and could have eaten this all night! The bread was warm and crusty on the outside and soft inside. The "Green Goo", which I called it all night, was awesome! I would like to go back and try some different dishes to get a better sense of the food. Very cool patio with a neat sand fire pit. Perfect for the nights we are all enjoying right now. 3 stars for now...
(3)Jose C R.
The staff was great and the atmosphere is awesome. There's a great variety of menu items and on my visit it was pretty busy but the food came fast after I ordered it. Definitely worth passing by if you're in the area. It's perfect for a date.
(4)Janelle E.
I had such a great time at Il Posto! We came here for dinner. The weather was nice so we sat on the patio. I love the ambience of their outdoor space. It's like you're at a cafe in Little Italy. They start you off with warm crusty bread and served with the most delicious dipping sauce. It was olive oil with pesto and garlic. So good! For appetizers we ordered calamari and the seafood fra diavolo. If you can handle a little heat I highly recommend the seafood fra diavolo. It's calamari and shrimp in a spicy marinara sauce. It's served with grilled bread for dipping. It's out of this world! For my main dish I had the cheese manicotti. It was good, but I could barely touch it because it was so full from the appetizers. I did take it home and I ate it for lunch the next day. They were very generous on the cheese. That's awesome because I really love cheese! My husband ordered the chicken marsala. I didn't try it all, but I snuck in a taste of the mushroom sauce. Mmm! Our server was so attentive the entire night. We were there with our Aunt and Uncle and between the four of us we devoured 3 baskets of their crusty bread. (I told you it's good.). I loved how the servers were so willing to bring out more for us. Excellent customer service. Generous food portions. Flavorful comfort food. Il Posto has it all.
(5)Matthew B.
We love this place and find the location, service and food to be top notch! We've been multiple times and often visit the Lounge next door afterwards. I'd highly recommend the pizza, lasagna (or pretty much any of the pasta dishes with red sauce) and they recently had these delicious meatballs as a special appetizer. Absolutely out of this world and not to be forgotten if available. Plus, pretty sure you can never have too much Amy. She's a staple here- and an awesome personality. Pretty sure it'd be impossible to leave unhappy if she's serving you!
(5)Stormy Suncloud G.
I was torn between a 1 star and a 2 star, but I decided on 2 stars because the complimentary bread and pesto they bring you while you wait for you food is pretty good. In fact, it was the best thing I had. I ordered the stuffed mushrooms, and the stuffing was repulsive. It was dark black and resembled mushed up soggy bread. I had to ask what it was, because besides tasting like bland mushy yeasty dough- it looked disgusting. They assured me it was mushrooms and bread crumbs cooked in white wine with seasoning- it may have been mushrooms and left-over stale bread, but I am certain there wasn't any seasoning- not even salt. Not good. I removed the stuffing and just ate the mushroom in the rich, cheesy orange sauce the shrooms were drown in. The sauce was tasty, but it's hard to make cream and melted cheese taste bad. I actually make some pretty killer stuffed mushrooms at home- I would not serve Il Posto's in my kitchen- they were just bad. I also had a simple dinner salad. It had canned olives, processed, maybe pre-shredded mozzarella- it came with a pre-made dressing. When they said, "raspberry vinaigrette"- I was not expecting a creamy pink pepto-bismol looking dressing. So weird... Maybe I am just too much of a foodie... sheesh. I rarely eat canned olives, processed cheese and I make all of my salad dressings... it's pretty easy to make a vinegarette- there's usually only 2 main ingredients. My wine was also not very good. My server was nice, the hostess was nice, the manager was nice- I will say that although my server was nice- she presented herself very ditsy. I asked what was good on the menu and mentioned that I am vegetarian, but on occasion eat seafood- she was not able to recommend anything- she said, "It depends on what you like... tee hee tee hee hee". She sort of spoke in a baby talk way and giggled quite a bit- she also kept calling me "Doll", which was annoying. I think I caught her about to twirl her hair at one point. All the servers looked very young- almost like a harem of female teens. It is an interesting dynamic. I would not be surprised to find out the hiring manager is a man in his 20s to early 30s. Anyhow, they were nice- it's just the ditsy act is off-putting, unprofessional. All in all- I have always wanted to try this place as I hike in the area often and have tried all the other restaurants around. The patio looked pretty cool- if cactus weren't wilting outside at dusk (summers in Phoenix- ugh). I will not be back though- The tacos next door are about 75% less expensive and 200% better tasting.
(2)Jennifer S.
What a nice surprise! We had a Restaurant.com certificate to use, so we decided to head up one Saturday night to check it out. We were seated on the lovely patio and settled in for a great dining experience. The service was great and the food was even better. I started with soup and then moved on to the baked ziti - huge portions, great flavor and so filling and ended my dinner with a cannoli. I was absolutely in heaven by the end of this meal!
(4)Phil M.
Great, attentive and welcoming staff, great food, good prices, great location. One of our "go-to" in terms of Italian and gives me the old New York being from there originally.
(5)Cindy D.
This has been a long time favorite of ours, but this evenings meal just wasn't the quality we've come to expect, no pesto for the bread or pizzas, my NY White pizza was undercooked and the patrons were few and far between. I asked for light cheese and extra garlic, both requests were ignored. And the $50.00 check for two small pizzas and 2 draft beers is a bit pricey.
(2)Paul F.
Wanted this place to be good because I often stay at a hotel down the street. It was not good. Service was terrible. Drinks took 20 minutes to get there, had to ask for silverware, salt and pepper and red pepper., server was cute an bubbly, but she was bad at her job. Double charged for glass of wine, never checked back after entrees arrived. Food was Ok and priced right, but too much to overcome. Won't be back.
(1)Chris G.
The staff was friendly and service was quick. The decor is beautiful, I loved the court yard. The pasta I had was good but nothing to special. But I will be back to try something new.
(4)Lindsay C.
Was driving on 7th Street through North Mountain park when Il Posto caught my eye. After meeting up with my "little" brother, I decided to take him to dinner there and check the place out. Ambience: old world Italy mixed with Lady and the Tramp and a pizza joint. The patio is lovely, especially at dusk and in the evening, and was the popular place to sit. Try and get seated near the firepit if possible, as their portable heaters appear to be out. Reservations accepted (that's why we weren't able to sit near the firepit). Service: below what I expected though not below average. Our server took quite a long time to take our order and also took a long time to bring out another basket of bread. There's also like, 3 separate menus: one for drinks, one for pizzas and one for the rest of the food. Food: I ordered the mussels appetizer, but requested that they cook it in a white wine sauce, as opposed to the marinara/basil sauce offered on the menu. They obliged. It was pretty tasty, though some of the mussels were overcooked and very tough to get out of the shell. My brother ordered chicken alfredo (wah wah) and surprise, was not that impressed with it; he claims it was bland and tasteless. Price: both of our meals were in the $12-15 range, a fair price considering the large portions. I didn't finish mine and my brother took half of his home. For best success: reserve a table for 6PM near the firepit on the patio, bring a smokin' hot date and share a big bottle of their finest wine. And their delicious pesto/olive oil mixture with a basket of hot bread.... molto bene!
(4)Stewart D.
Very friendly staff and amazing food. I've been hearing about this place for years and finally decided to try it. I will becoming back again very soon! Overall A+ experience!!!
(5)Garth M.
Very pleasant place. Was with a party of 12 and we were kinda rowdy but received impeccable service. Reasonable prices for reasonable wines. Delicious salads and a wonderful ambiance. A bit spendy food-wise for what is just slightly above average italian.
(3)Tiffany H.
We visited Il Posto for the second time this past Sunday evening. This was our second experience with the same server. He was very inattentive and seemed as though he did not want to be there. We had to flag him down when we needed anything such as more drinks and bread because he never came around after taking our initial order. The restaurant seems to be ran by a bunch of young people and no management was present. The restaurant was dusty and there were flies and gnats everywhere. The food was mediocre at best. We will not be visiting Il Posto again.
(2)Nathan Y.
I found this place online, and I have lived in the neighborhood for 2 years and have never heard of this place or been. We sat on the patio where they had misters to keep us cool. The decor outside is great, one wall has doors, windows, and a balcony to make it look more like new York. There is also a big statue of liberty replica. The server greeted us quickly and brought waters right away. She was knowledgeable on the drink and food menu. The music on the patio was modern acoustical hits, and we found it to be very enjoyable. They have a nice selection of beer and wine so I decided to go with the craft beer out of San Diego called Sculpin IPA. We decided to start off with calamari and the breaded mozzarella. The apps came out very quickly. The calamari was cooked perfectly and the marinara dipping sauce was so delicious. The mozzarella was equally perfect on a bed of marinara with fresh basil on top. For the entrée, I ordered rigatoni bolognese which was delicious. I would highly recommend this place and will definitely be back soon. FYI, they have an adjoining lounge called The Lounge which has a wonderful selection of signature mixed drinks and after dinner cocktails. We decided to pop in after dinner where I enjoyed a Moscow mule serve in the copper cup, we had a great evening thanks to I'll Post and the lounge!
(5)Sunny B.
Quite possibly the worst steak I have ever been served. I ordered it medium, it came out bloody and I sent it back. After 20 minutes they brought it back and it was charred. It was so chewy and tough I couldn't finish two bites. Horrible. The server was incredibly slow and inattentive. I may have a drink on the patio some day, but I will not eat at this place again.
(1)Patricia C.
This is tough. Found this place via restaurant.com so we decided to check it out. Place appears to be a cute little mom and pop shop, we walked in shortly after 830 on a Saturday so it was an hour and a half before closing. The hostess was super nice and sat us right down and said the waitress would be with us soon. A long while passed and it took a reminder and apology from the hostess, but our waitress finally stopped talking with the other waiter long enough to come take our drink and food order. While we were waiting for the food to come the real show started.......the waiter was coming in and out of the back to the waitress station eating what appeared to be chicken wings, our waitress and the hostess sat down at a table and shared a plate of pasta, and the most concerning item was the bar tender from the lounge side. He came over to pick up a salad and as he has the customers salad in his one hand, he's sucking on his e cigarette with his other hand. I tried to grab my phone to catch this but he quickly walked back to the other side with the salad. When he came back to the kitchen he was waiting for a pizza in the pizza oven and the was running his hands through his hair and rubbing his nose, then handled the pizza. Gross!!!! Then the food came and somehow it made all the horrible service worth it. It was amazingly delicious. We had 3 dinners, an appetizer, and a dessert and all of them were perfect. The 4 men in the kitchen working totally made up for the 4 slackers working the front of the house. I would say if you like waffle house, you will love this place because based on the front, service, and sanitation habits of the front of the house, I would rate it a 1 star. If you base it on the food alone I would give it 5 stars. If you can ignore poor service for good food, give it a try.
(3)Scott G.
First, the faux Italian store front patio is creative, and cozy. Service is friendly, happy, and fast..The warm bread with olive oil, basil, and loads of parm is great! But what we really enjoyed was the baby green salad with pecans, feta, all mixed in a fine dressing..Next, a huge slab of lasagne..best I have had in years! We will be back!
(5)Rob S.
This place has sadly gone downhill since it was Our Gang cafe. The patio is still a nice place to dine and our waitress was very attentive and sweet, but the dishes we ordered were bleah. Its a bummer because they were things we had eaten here before and were favorites. We had the calamari appetizer and it was a smaller portion, better for 1 person, served on a too big mound of romaine. Was too rubbery. My wife had the chicken parmigiana and they put waaay too much sauce on it. The breading was ruined by that and just sloughed off. The sauce was bland. I had the mussells marinara with an ok caesar salad. The marinara was a very tasty wine sauce. I ate about 8 mussells then bit into a bad one. Had to spit it out since it was rancid. Was on a date night with my wife with the kids at home which is rare, so i decided to try and power through it without sending it back and wrecking the flow. I ate 2 more mussells and then hit another bomb. I had to tap out and call it a wrap at that point. Hopefully they get new cooks back there or new kitchen management, or the existing ones can get their sh*t together.
(2)Michelle B.
My girlfriends took me here for my birthday dinner and it was wonderful! Great patio, food and service. This will be one of our new regular spots!
(5)Jesica L.
I found this place one Yelp... sometimes I don't trust Yelp, but this time around I wanted to try something new. I was so glad me and my husband came here! It was a little far for us, but definitely worth it. Our server was Amy, she was really sweet and nice. I had Gnocchi, the sauce was cheesy and it went well with the fresh bread that they give you. We also had our own individual water, it came in an old style type of bottle. We sat in the patio outside, the decoration and vibe outside made me forget I was in good ol' Arizona..... We will definitely come back!
(5)Jill D.
We ordered the calamari appetizer and the field greens salad. The calamari was ok and it was nice to have two different dipping sauces. The field greens salad was good. I ordered the gnocci and my fiance ordered the linguini in clam sauce. The gnocci was ok, it was very buttery. The linguini pasta was cooked well but the sauce was gross. Like cat food gross. It did not look or taste homemade at all. Very disappointing and as you can tell by the picture there was a lot left. This is odd because my fiance is a garbage disposal. Everyone who knows him knows this, but he did not finish this plate. The worst? I woke up at midnight very nauseous and threw up. Thanks Il Posto.
(2)Kate S.
I have come to this place a handful of times over the years beginning when it used to be called "Our Gang.". I have always liked the feel of the place & the chicken piccata. I have taken different friends there, dates there before I met my husband, and no matter who I have gone with,have always had a pretty positive experience. That said, last night I went there with my husband, immediate family, and best friend to celebrate my birthday. There were 6 of us. This time I ordered a simple spaghetti & meatballs. I was surprised that I did not really like it. I gave 1/2 the meal to my brother to eat after and 1 of the 2 meatballs to my dad. I was also really surprised at the response we received when we asked for more bread. We had eaten 2 small baskets each with a single little loaf of sliced bread, and when we asked if we could have more, the server said, "I'm not sure. How many have you had?" I thoughts he was kidding. But we were told we could have 1 more loaf of bread but after that we'd be charged $2.50 for each additional loaf. What a crappy policy. I guess everyone else liked their food ok so I gave them 3 stars. Also my husband. Enjoyed a bottle of wine for a great deal because it was a Weds. special they always run.
(3)Trev O.
So I just moved to Phoenix and have been tasting about town. Don't get me wrong, Il Posto isn't going to blow you away with tastes you never dreamed possible...but for the friendly service and reasonable prices it's worth it alone! Then the food comes! Awesome portion for a great price. Makes you feel like you are at your favorite relatives house for dinner. House made pesto is delish too! I will definitely be returning.
(5)Brooke T.
Love the patio area! We frequent there after work for dinner and a drink, favorite is the calamari appetizer and field greens salad. They have a great bartender in the patio named Jesse, always remembers what we need and makes it a relaxing evening! They also came out with a new drink menu thats worth the try!
(4)Ike D.
Great little Italian joint nearby with wonderful dishes at medium prices. We love their olive oil and pesto dip and fresh bread. Great service with friendly and consistent staff. Their outdoor seating area is reminiscent of an Italian street corner, very lovely atmosphere. Wine bottles half off on Wednesday too.
(4)Jacob F.
I've been here a few times, I like to drink and eat good food you can do both very easily here. I usually choose to sit at the bar on the patio, the bartender remembers me by name and that's a pretty cool thing, also remembers my drink and food orders. His service is the main reason I keep going back. If you haven't tried it out yet do yourself a favor and go because it's real good food at a reasonable price, with drinks that do their job!
(5)Dave B.
One of Moon Valley's secrets, this place is definitely a great place for dates! Great food and wine, reasonably priced, friendly staff, food prepared to your satisfaction, very flexible with menu and ingredients. everything is made fresh and tastes wonderful.
(5)Ashley P.
Tonight was my third visit to il Posto and I have not been disappointed. All the food I have gotten has been very good. Tonight I had the apple-arugula salad topped with chicken. I have had their gnocchi, eggplant rollatini, pasta with sausage, etc. and all has been good. Sitting inside is a very different experience than sitting outside; tonight there was no outside seating so we were forced indoors and the experience was not as good. I highly suggest outdoors if possible. The servers are usually young kids who don't have much experience, so don't expect a lot in that department. But the food is great, as is the ambiance.
(4)Daren C.
Finally brought my wonderful wife here... We ate bread and pesto, more bread and pesto and a little more bread and pesto. We also had Chicken Princesseola or something like that... Loved it. Except the risotto was mushy... bad mushy We also had a pasta with sausage and stuff. It was OK, just a Tad boring. The service was good, the price was fine, we too used a coupon and they had no issues honoring it. The math was correct too. LOL
(4)Adrian C.
Il Posto is definitely a LET DOWN. The bread and the patio dinning is the only positive aspect to the restaurant. I ordered the fettuccine alfredo, but wanted to substitute shrimp for the chicken. In other words, I was charged three dollars for four little shrimps. The food tastes overcooked and straight out of a CAN! The service is poor, as well. It took a good ten minutes for our waitress to even ask for our drinks and she failed to realize we didn't even have menu's. Definitely not wasting money here again.
(1)Eric S.
Il Posto is very close to my house, so I'd been jonesing to try it again. I had been here years ago when it was known as Our Gang, and I was as impressed with the actual restaurant now as I was then: it is big, but has lots of nooks and crannies and a cool outdoor area with a fire pit and outdoor bar, it's pretty nifty for Phoenix. They've made it feel very Scottsdale with the new decor inside. I can take that or leave it. The food is what matters, and the food was good, but not great. I can't remember how good it was back in the Our Gang days, that was like nine years ago, but the food now is hit and miss. It is definitely more hit than miss. The meal starts with a complimentary basket of bread with a garlic/parmesan/pesto dipping sauce that is just plain FABULOUS. We had the crab cakes appetizer. The flavor was absolutely delicious and the remoulade it came with was decadent, but the cakes were ruined by being ridiculously mushy. I had the seafood manicotti (see my uploaded picture) which we both agreed was blameless and wonderful. My wife had the veal parmesan which we both found bland and somewhat overcooked, with too much breading. It came with an abundance of pasta on the side, soaked in a sauce that was a lot like thickened tomato soup. I like tomato soup, she doesn't. It was pretty unforgivably mediocre. All in all, we didn't feel like our experience was worth sixty bucks, but we think we might feel different if we came back and ordered more judiciously.
(3)Bacon B.
I woke up this morning with Il Posto on my mind and garlic on my breath. We've driven past Il Posto many times en route to visiting a friend who lives in the area, but hadn't taken the opportunity to stop in. Last night, that changed. As part of a large group of about 20, I was concerned there would be too much confusion over drinks and food orders. Such was not the case. Our servers were prompt and attentive and were able to remember our names. Amazing! The bread and pesto they start you with is great. Even better was the insane amount of garlic they use. The bruscetta was wonderful. The NY Spinach White Pizza was out of this world!! Our one friend is moving out of this area of town, but we'll be back for Il Posto.
(4)Christina P.
I went to Il Posto last night because I wanted to eat there one more time before I wrote my review. I go there for lunch with the work bunch on occasion. They have a popular lunch special with pizza and salad ($7), but I especially like the goat cheese sandwich. It's a flavored pita folded over marinated veggies and loads (I mean LOADS) of goat cheese! It's called a panini, I think, which threw me the first time because a hot pressed sandwich comes to mind when I hear the word but this one is not hot. Let me tell you: that is NO REASON to skip the burst of flavors this provides! A few weeks ago, I was there to grab a quick drink with a friend. We sat out on the cute patio that is set up to look like a street in Little Italy, U.S.A. These people can pour a drink! I already had a dinner commitment, so I just noshed on the bread and pesto that was provided. The pesto was loaded with parmesan... soo delish! And, the warm bread was better than any I've found in Arizona so far! Last night, I had a crab cake appetizer as my entrée. I got three for $11. Not much filler, but lots of diced veggies like onion, peppers mixed with the crab. I was full by the time I finished and could not have taken another bite! All together, I had two (generous) vodka sodas and the crab cakes (plus more bread and pesto, of course!) for just under $30. I hear from a lot of people in the neighborhood how they miss Our Gang (what this place used to be called) and they lament the old meat sauce or some other menu item that got dropped when they changed the name. Last night, I found out the meat sauce is back! And, Matt, the manager has been very accommodating and open to suggestions every time I've had a minute to pester him about what's going on with the Lounge (the '60 era-Sinatra style venue they plan to open next door). So, now I have my eye on the white pizza and can't wait to go back!
(4)Michelle A.
I liked it. We requested an outdoor patio table..so charming! Just like the other reviews, it resembles a little cafe. I wouldn't say authentic, but a cute attempt at making you feel away from the city. The firepit was also a great touch outside. The bread and pesto was great and very flavorful. The menu, as MOST Italian restaurants done on the West coast, lacks authenticity. It seemed bare. Not bare enough for me to not want to leave, just lacking the stuff I want to see from NY/NJ menus. I had the margherita pizza..tasty, not too greasy, and a nice crust. I requested light on the plum tomatoes-perfect. My husband had the jalapeno chicken pizza..it was HOT!!! Adorable ambiance, and decent food. Not bad all.
(3)William B.
I was trying to figure out why there are such different reviews for this place. I was thinking that the bad reviews were from people who were used to corporate chains and processed foods. I really got that wrong. If you are expecting Italy or Naples style food, you too will be greatly let down as I was. I had several texts to warn me when I checked in here for dinner. I should have listened. Pasta was overcooked. Floating in a butter sauce, literally. So much poor quality cheese on everything. Pizza was like frozen style maybe before it was frozen. Smothered in greasy cheese on a boring crust. We had 2 dinners and 2 pizzas. We ate about 1/3 and felt sick from the heavy, cheesy, oily, buttery and greasy food. I may have to have a cholesterol medication after this. Even my dinner salad had about a cup of cheese pellets on top of it. I've not seen mozzarella in this form before. What is going on here? Maybe I would have thought this was good when I was in my teens. I think that this place has a lot going for it, but not it's food.
(2)Melissa H.
This place used to be "Our Gang". Not much has changed. I still adore their outdoor "garden" area which makes me nostalgic for Little Italy. The bread comes out hot and fresh, you can dip it in a nice pesto. The salad caprese is standard, nothing mind blowing, The chicken parmagiano will hit the spot if that is what you are craving. I will say that the pizza "4 ways" is good, but not terrific. Everything seemed to need a little salt, or some red pepper or some kick. However, this is a great little neighborhood place for when you want to go out for Italian but don't want something super fancy.
(3)Dara P.
This place is just OK. I'm not sure why everyone, despite whether they like this place or not, seems to think the bread and pesto/olive oil dipping sauce is so spectacular. Its didn't strike me as that great. Though I've had homemade pesto (yum) so I'm a bit spoiled I guess. Our server was great. She was very friendly, energetic and attentive. The portions here are small. I ordered the ravioli. For the price I would expect more than 6 small ravioli. Had they been larger, homemade and absolutely delicious I'd feel differently. But these were your run of the mill, frozen grocery store ravioli. And I was hungry when I was finished - wishing there were a few more ravioli on the plate. The hubs had the manicotti, which was slightly better than the ravioli but also a small portion. The highlight of the meal was dessert. I had the chocolate tartufo (chocolate ice cream with nuts, chocolate chips and whipped cream) which was delicious. The hubs ordered the creme brulee which came topped with fruit. Different but very tasty.
(3)Peg C.
Will NEVER dine here again. Have dined here several times since they renovated but it's never bee as good as the original. Now it's hit an all time low. We dined there the other night. One of us had the pizza which was ok though rather greasy. Two of us had entrees which were awful. Both were drowning in sauce and very unappetizing. We ate on the patio which is the restaurant's best feature. However, there were tons of flies ruining any semblance of ambiance. Never again.
(1)Mary S.
A few months ago I drove by my favorite, remind me of back east wonderful Pizza place, and cried when I noticed it was gone. After sitting down and crying with a few friends who loved the place too, we moved on with plenty of grief mgt and support. Today I was thrilled to go here and learn it is the same owners and same place, just a new name. I am back in heaven! Tonight I tried something different, a caprese salad pannini. It came with home made potato chips. ( Always a plus-yum) and greens to boot (Because you know your body needs those vitamins) The meal was great. I ordered a side servng of an Italian sausgage( My weakness and hard to find good in Az) One was enough to feed 4. A little spicy and good. The only thing I did not care about was the sauce it was served on. I come from a place where sauce is called gravy and I like sauce thick not thin. But hey, I did not expect the sausage to have any sauce on it so no big deal to me. It was delish!I ended with Tiramusu, always a nice ending. I went home with a 20 extra pounds on my hips and in leftover doggie bags. AHHHHH sweet heaven!
(4)Titus C.
My wife and I have been going to this place since it was Our Gang Cafe. They have fairly average, but always tasty food, and the service has always been great. We love the patio for a nice relaxing evening. The one negative is their very non-Italian desert menu. What Italian place doesn't serve canolis? They also don't serve cappuccino or espresso so plan on going elsewhere for desert. The lounge next door is apparently under the same ownership, and is a great place to enjoy a glass of wine and some anti pasta before dinner.
(4)Kimberly G.
Found this place on restaurant.com . You can get a $25 gift card for $10 bucks! My hubby and I really enjoyed ourselves. It does not look like much from the outside but the patio is so cute!!! You really feel like you have a little piece of New York in Phoenix. We got the bruchetta which was very good. My husband got a seafood special which was loaded with all different kinds of shellfish. I had the pizza and while it was good, I would suggest getting a pasta dish. All of the pastas looked amazing and the pizza looked reminiscent of a frozen pizza.
(4)Wes N.
Il Posto has some really good aspects and it has some so-so aspects. The outside patio area is completely awesome. It's like you're sitting in a little Italian cafe, with one of the walls mocked up to look like the side of an old style European building. There are Christmas lights strung about in different locations, a small bar area, a lil fountain and some other cool decorations. It's worth a trip just to hang out in their decked out patio area, if only to have some drinks. The service was awesome. Our waiter was totally cool, friendly and accommodating. The fresh baked bread and oil with cheese dipping sauce was fantastic. Loved it. They had local beer (Kiltlifter) on tap for only $3 a pint. awesome. The salads and pasta entrees were just ok, which is the reason behind my 3 star rating. I just wasn't wowed by the main course. We'll definitely be back to try them again though, perhaps to sample their highly rated pizzas. I predict a review sequel in my future.
(3)Mandah C.
I dont think the owner is very friendly.. I think the hours are kinda odd... Staff could be a little bit more excited to work there... Food is okay.. Pizza is good... Salad is bland, I could deff whip up something better at home. I love the pesto. Love the patio :)
(3)LaVerne F.
I like this restaurant a lot and dine here every couple of months. The patio with the Italian villa decor is charming and I love the firepit. This restaurant is were I take out of state guests because the food is so good. The fresh made pesto and warm bread is excellent. I've tried numerous selections from the menu and I've never been disappointed. The spagetti carbonara is my favorite. They've taken it off the menu but will still make it. The veal scallopine, when they have it as a special is also very good . It's layered with mozzarella cheese and eggplant.. The service is good and so are the prices.
(4)Jesse F.
You go to a restaurant for a few reasons,: great food that you cant quite duplicate in your own kitchen , enjoyable atmosphere and a nice drink..at least that's why me and my friends go out. Il posto delivers when it comes to these key elements. I find it interesting reading some other reviews on here because the service has never been an issue for me (and ive been quite a bit). sure its not always the absolute best every time, but having working in restaurants a large chunk of my life just because servers aren't running around doesn't mean they aren't working hard or caring. Beside the point anyway, for me. The food is fantastic, especially their seafood dishes and the PIZZA, love the thai pizza. Atmosphere i great, cute patio area with a bar, not to hot later in the evening. They have specialty cocktails that are all great and unique. Servers are generally knowledgeable about wine (after all it is an italian place) anytime they may not have the answer the bartender is never too far away with a recommendation. For the price this is truly one of my favorite spots for dinning out,
(5)M C.
I had dinner here last night, my second time and I think I can say it's one of my favorite Italian restaurants in the valley! The pasta I ordered (corkscrew with peppers, mushrooms, and sausage) was so flavorful! I'm a big fan of flavor and spices and this dish is full of it! I also love their oven fresh bread with the olive oil & pesto dipping sauce. The service was excellent as well.
(4)Barbara Y.
Food is awesome. Idle servers, hostess and bartender socialize, eat and check cell phones in full view of customers. Busboy was the only one hustling; everyone else was just killing time in between service. Totally lacking in professionalism. Hostess chewing & snapping gum with a bored attitude. Wouldn't go back except I have another restaurant.com GC.
(2)Mallory S.
All I can say is this place is phenomenal! We came here on a whim while in town and were amazed at how great the food was and service. We even used a restuarant.com coupon. We have told dozens of our friends to stop by here if they are in town. GREAT PESTO with the bread. Yum. Hubby had cheese ravioli which was to die for (and I don't even like the stuff). Don't pass this place up, it was great.
(5)Chaundra C.
The "Il Posto" pizza is pizza done so right. Pepperoni, sausage, bell pepper, red onions, olives, and the light sprinkling of garlic brings it all to greatness on a light thin crust. The meat tortellini with alfredo AND marinara sauce covered with their thick smooth mozzarella is one of my top 10 dishes of all time. I get extra of their tasty marinara. You can't get this anywhere else and the mix of flavors and textures in this pasta dish are unbelievable in your mouth. The only thing I don't like about here is the service... we have been going here since it was called Our Gang Cafe and the teenage hostesses are pathetic and the servers are a bit douchy. They chill in the back gossiping like schoolgirls looking around at everyone in the place. When it looks as if your table might need something, they casually get up from their seats as if a burden of service has come upon them. I don't like it.. but I've never known them to be any other way so ehhh. A good little Italian restaurant, while it may not make you feel all warm inside while their indoor center fountain splashes you throughout your meal, they have good foods so I'll be back.
(4)AMber W.
I was really impressed with Il Posto, especially after all of the mediocre reviews. My favorite Yelper, Christina P, put together a UYE here last night, and the event could not have been more perfect. The bartender and staff were really friendly and made us feel very welcome. They have a fantastic patio with a fire pit in the middle which made for a perfect happy hour setting. We happened to be there on the night they unveiled their specialty pizza line. I had the pleasure of trying both the margharita and the goat cheese & onion, both of which I thought were fantastic. They also serve bread with a cheesy pesto dipping sauce that was to die for. Our group ending up trying a lot of different pizza's and everyone seemed to really enjoy. I was pleased with their happy hour specials ($2 off specialty pizzas; $1 off appetizers, well drinks, house wines and draft beers) and especially pleased that they extended those specials for our group for the entire time we were there. This is another time I wish we could give 1/2 stars because I would give Il Posto a 4.5... and I will definitely be back to grab another glass of the Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling and snack on one of those delish speciality pizza's on the patio!
(4)Julie P.
I joined the crew last night for the HH organized by the fabulous Christina P. Although it was my first visit and I generally like to sample a place a few times before reviewing, there were so many of us there that I felt that I had gotten a pretty well-rounded experience and had enough information to provide input. Phoenix is known for its host of strip mall restaurants, but few can actually transport you to another place. The restaurant interior is a mix of kitschy Italian and moderately nice mainstream. The main patio is actually about the same size as the restaurant interior and is flanked by two cute NYC street scenes (think universal studios city scene) with each window telling a different story and the Statue of Liberty holding court. Very quaint! The back of the patio is taken up by a complete bar. The fire pit that others have mentioned is situated in the middle. The patio is clearly the place to be at this venue! Service was spot on, which was unexpected for such a large group. I have to echo Georgie S., the bartender seemed to single handedly (with the exception of bussing support) kept our brood quenched and fed with no errors. He asked each guests name upon their initial order and remembered them throughout the remainder of the evening. No simple feet, if you consider that we had at least 20 people in our party and he was also serving the numerous other guests that shared our al fresco setting. The manager Matt, came out to thank us for coming by and informed us that there is a separate patio in the back to accommodate private parties/functions. What a divine setting for almost any family or business gathering! In addition to the ambience and service, there is the food... Oddly one of the best things of the evening was the free appetizer provided to each table, which consists of bread and a parmesan/pesto dipping sauce that is so infused with garlic that its sweet fragrance swirls in the air. Now as Bacon B. points out, this will stay with you (i.e.: if you are on a date, you should both eat some) but it is seriously out of this world! I also really enjoyed the bruschetta, which is a classic take on the dish in every aspect except size. More often than not you will receive four or six small slices of toast with some tomatoes and basil carefully assembled on top, but not here... instead you will be served a small flatbread mounded with fresh hand cut tomatoes, chiffonades of basil and more of that dreamy garlic. I was also able to sample two of the new pizza offerings. The Roberto's (ironically offered up by the fabulous Robert M.), which was set off by a sprinkling of pepperocinis offering just a little kick, and the White pizza which had more of those rich garlic undertones. Although I enjoyed the toppings on each of the pizzas, I was left wanting more from the crust. Both were uniform in size and shape and a little on the tough / dense side, which made me wonder if they were not made in house. That said, it was not enough to detract from the overall experience and I will definitely be back in the near future.
(4)Shannon C.
I can now say I've been to Il Posto for lunch, dinner, and happy hour. I love their patio so much that I wouldn't even consider eating inside, even if it was 100 degrees outside. I'm surprised more hasn't been mentioned about their delish homemade potato chips. I've been known to skip the salad so that I could fill up on more chips. I'm usually like meat, but went with the margherita pizza last night and I can say I'm impressed. The bread and pesto sauce were also excellent. With great atmosphere and good food, I'll definitely go back.
(4)Georgie S.
3 1/2 Stars Alright, I'll try and make this one short and sweet and follow the old expression "If you don't have anything nice to say..." because I really did like parts of Il Posto... Let me start by saying that the staff was incredible! About 20 or so of us Yelpers gathered yesterday for a Happy Hour organized by the fantastic Christina P and the staffers were very pleased to oblige. Like Bacon B said before me, I'm always nervous about being a part of a large party because it is practically inevitable that they are going to screw up at least some of our orders, and it is guaranteed that mine will always be one of them. That said this was sooo not the case here. I was shocked! We sat outside and were all served at our leisure by 1 bartender who I from here on out will refer to as Superman, because he obviously had some sort of magical powers to serve all 20 of us individually, simultaneously, and screwed up no one's orders mind you... I'll continue to touch on the good. The patio was great. Very spacious area with a fire pit in the middle which added some lovely ambiance to the evening, and hey, who doesn't look better by firelight?? Now on to the less than good... The Happy Hour specials were okay, to be honest I'm not thrilled by $1 off of things, I think it's kind of weak. However, many of Il Posto's drink prices were already fairly low, so the $1 off could sway some. First of all, I will say that their fresh bread and pesto dip which was free mind you was delicious. The pizza though, not so much...Let me preface this by saying that I am from NYC and I take my pizza very seriously...it is a bit of an art for me I don't want to say too much because I do want to go back and try some different things because the rest of the experience was lovely, but no, unfortunately, I did not enjoy my pizza. It was undercooked, the dough was unimpressive, and I had to use a knife and fork because it was so soggy. All in all I had a nice time at Il Posto, mainly because of the company, but I would be willing to go back and give it another shot.
(3)Dottsy Z.
I attended a UYE at Il Posto on Mardi Gras. I enjoyed it very much. I shared a pizza that was pretty darn good with Matthew K and sampled a few other pizzas with other people. I didn't much care for the crust of the pizza, but the pizza itself was very flavorful. My drink of the night was a strawberry lemonade alcoholic beverage that the bartender was having trouble getting right. Each time I had to help him out with the formula of sweet to sour, but he was a good sport about it. Our large group sat out on their clean a pretty patio. It grew chilly so they lit the fire pit for us. I can imagine sitting on the patio and enjoying drinks with friends here. I would most certainly visit Il Posto again. Their pizzas were flavorful and the service was great!
(3)Andrew K.
This place gets four stars for the patio alone. Seriously, look for this review on a future "best patios" list. Small bar, lots of tables, some open space, hearty gas fire pit in the middle, screened on all sides (with some very ornate facades, a wall painted like a billboard, hilarious "laundry line" replete with underwear and socks over head, and so on to break up the boring "screen wall" and add ambiance). They have a gate towards the parking lot that keeps it from being claustrophobic, but the gate is small enough to keep out the noise from nearby 7th St. I didn't personally try the food, but it did look good. Definitely want to check it out sometime soon. The one area they really need to improve would be the bathrooms. With as much effort as they put into the patio, the bathrooms should be a few steps up from the nearby gas station. That's really my only quibble at this point, and I won't deduct stars b/c I don't typically spend a lot of time in the bathroom. Anyway, Il Posto is a great place, I'll definitely be back. I may even brave the an evening or two during the coming summer months under a mister on that awesome patio, beer in one hand and pizza in the other...
(4)Amy P.
Went on a random Thursday night. It seems like the owners have a stake in all of the restaurants/bars in the same shopping center. Didn't realize how cute the outside patio was, or I would have chosen to sit there. Ordered calamari appetizer - best part of the meal. Entree - seafood manicotti. I try to stray away from fish with cheese, but this was really, the fish tasted fresh, and i did not feel disgustingly full after. Overall, a nice little italian place, but nothing to go home bragging about
(3)Morris J.
I was pleasantly surprised. The server was incredible. It was a GREAT value. We enjoyed our meals. Loved the environment sitting on the patio. I had the Lasagna and Ash had the Seafood Manicotti. The Lasagna was great. I really enjoyed it. It had a great texture, perfect amount of cheese, and was well seasoned. The Seafood Manicotti was incredible. I HIGHLY recommend this dish. Along with dinner we each enjoyed a wine flight. They offered a nice selection and we both really enjoyed the tasting. I would highly recommend this spot. Give it a try. We will be back. For the $$...you cannot go wrong.
(4)Tom R.
Went to Il Posto tonight....service (from Asia) was prompt, friendly and professional. I had the Caesar salad and seafood Manicotti, both were on point and delicious. My companion had the Pasta Fagoul soup and Seafood fetuccini special and both were incredible! This is a great liltte neighborhood Italian place (as it's been for years). Highly recommended!
(5)Chris K.
Ok, I admit it: we're regulars...almost once a week regulars. The bread and pesto is something both my wife and I always look forward to, as well as the friendly and very attentive staff. My wife almost always has the baked tortellini: a great mix of tortellini and bubbling cheese thats always filling and satisfying. The linguini with clam sauce really should be clam with linguini -- the clams are so plentiful that you can barely see the linguini and quite garlicy to boot. The lasagna is huge and quite good, as are the regular specials of Zuppe de Pesche (a huge platter of seafood over linguini) and the Veal Sorentino, a wonderfully tasty dish of waffer-thin veal and eggplant with cheese and a delightful mushroom sauce. Recently they've had Manhattan clam chowder as a soup special, and its really fantastic -- I'm not a fan of the red chowder normally, but theirs is really top notch: plenty of clams, nice spicy broth. Its a must-order if its a special, as is the Veal. The standout desert is the hazelnut tortufo, with the cheesecake and creme bulee being good and nicely dressed. The decor is a bit odd -- they've recently redecorated with weird "fairy" wood and glass sculpture things that really need to be tossed out, and a few odd "rustic farm implements" that clash with the modern crisp decor. But the food is top notch, and the decor is just a point of dinner conversation.
(5)Martin G.
Posto still delivers as it did when it was called Our Gang a few years back (Our Gang is now the name of the sports Bar next door). We were seated quickly on the Patio and promptly waited on. Appetizers and drinks were quickly brought out. My wife ordered the gnocci and I had the Cavatappi. Both were very good, leaving no room for desert. I will be back soon!
(4)John M.
Brunch was one of the worst experienced. over-priced ($18 per person) and just off. a mimosa served in a tumbler filled with ice? lame. mimosas come in a flute, period. Euro- styled pancake was thin chewy and better off as a frisbee. Mexican scramble on tortillas was disappointing. I was hoping for something resembling huevos rancheros but was left with dry scrambled eggs on dry tortillas. the cheese was mildly flavored and the salsa did have a kick but not enough to make the dish. never again. this place while trying to be different failed. top it off, the waitress was annoying and ditzy. meanwhile, Scramble next door had a long line almost out the door.
(1)Kathleen W.
Food is excellent, the bread and dipping oil is to die for, service is excellent very attentive. Love the patio
(5)Ryan C.
I enjoy this restaurant thoroughly. The bread and pesto is delicious, I look forward to it every time I go there. The last time I was there, I had a really good seafood pasta (I don't remember the name, it was one of their specials) and it was really good for the most part, the shrimp was a little overcooked though. I have enjoyed every other pasta dish I have had there and the chicken dishes I have tried were very good too. I need to try the pizza sometime, it looks good, I am just typically more of a pasta person. As far as the place itself, the bathrooms are ok, and the restaurant itself is clean and pleasant. I have never sat on the patio to eat, but I would really like to sometime, as it looks pretty cool.
(4)Kari M.
This place has been around for a while-had a different name-remodeled and I could probably count the number of times that I have been here on one hand. I have some mixed reviews on this place. The stars keep falling as I keep going back there though. First couple of visits were pretty good-yummy foods, good portions, tasty drinks on their beautiful ambiance of a patio. Had a big birthday party on their patio back in April-it was very delightful and the waiters were pretty attentive to our large party(20+people)-they just keep bringing more and more bottles of wine-great time, but I was a little afraid of what the bill was going to look like since they weren't even asking anyone if we wanted more wine bottles opened. I have enjoyed a nice satisfying meal in a booth with a friendly waitress on another occasion. This past weekend I arrived on a Saturday evening at 6:15 with 4 other party members. We generously accepted red wine when we sat down, but had to wait over 45 minutes to get our starter dinner salads. One of my friends ordered a vodka cranberry and 2 of us tasted it and it tasted pretty "nonalcoholic" so we had to send it back to "The Lounge." I felt like we were just filling up on their complimentary bread a pesto the whole time while waiting forever for our food to get to our table. The pizza selection was interesting-I think I could only find one with red sauce and the waitress was surprised to find the same results on the menu when we double checked. For dinner I shared a small pizza, and it didn't come out looking like what the description had said and I looked over at another friend and her husband's "split" dish dinner-it consisted of 2 ravioli's on one plate and 3 on the other-I felt so bad for them that I offered to share some of my share of pizza to them and they accepted with more satisfied bellies in the end. I don't know if the kitchen was backed up or what not, but I have recently heard from friends that it has not been a great experience at this restaurant for them either. All in all the food and wine is good, but don't expect quick service or larger portions these days. I'm not sure you'll be getting what you're paying for, but hey I can't complain on the price too much since I used a QUICK TIP: RESTURANT.COM coupon on the last evening I spent there!
(2)Angie J.
The Thai Chicken pizza is good. But the white NY pizza is not good at all frozen spinach on the pizza we can do better than that.! The apple salad with mixed greens was good. We were not impressed at all .
(2)Linda W.
I'm assuming everyone was there for the Smart Shopper deal for 1/2 off menu items excluded the drinks and desserts. It was a busy Friday night. We seat by the open kitchen. Every dish looked and smelled so good. We got to watch the Suns vs. Lakers game on nice big screen TV. The kids enjoyed the Chefs cooking, especially when the pans were on fire. I had tried their White Wine Flight (InfmGoose - Sauvignon Blac, New Age White, and NapaCreek Chard) - $9.00. I like the flight, however the New Age White was over ice, and it was sort of diluted. I'm glad that we ordered the appetizers crab cakes and soup/salad. The clam chowder was full with crabs, so worth the $2.00 add-on to your meal. I think they forgot us after the appetizers. Our food took a while to arrive. After sitting for about 15-20 minutes, our food finally arrived. I had ordered the Four Seasons pizza that came with 2 slices of the seafood (scallop/shrimp), margherita, mushroom & plum tomatoes, and prosciutto with shaved parmesan. The seafood pizza needs cheese and sauce. It was basically scallop and shrimp on a pita bread. The rest of the pizza was just OK. They do have excellent paste dishes. My friends had the Seafood Manicotti, Linguini with clam, and another pasta dish, which I can't remember the name. They were all phenomenal. The Chicken Marsala was a bit dry. As the weather cools, they have a great patio area to unwind.
(4)Vern G.
Zupa di pesch was phenom!
(4)Hydro W.
It is great that the place is in the neighborhood. It is just sad that it is nothing special. The only reason we go is because it is convenient. The staff are always nice.
(3)Harriet L.
It was disaster. Bread was hard and burnt. One dish was served and three others waited more than five minutes for their meal. Manager gave a free desert for the service. We thought that was anice gesture until we got our check. Al items were marked up $8.00.can you believe it could be this bad?
(1)Sarabear B.
I moved here to Phoenix from a city that is well known for it's Italian neighborhoods and Italian food. The first thing I missed when I had been here a month or 2 was good Italian food. There are plenty of people that have claimed they found good Italian food here or there, but when I tried it, i found the places were serving something that may have included pasta, but had nothing else in common with Italy... so now after years of searching to find really good Italian food in the Phoenix area, I can count all the really good places on one hand... Il Posto is one of them. In addition, it is a very reasonably priced place with a wonderful patio. Their eggplant parmigiana is some of the best I have ever had. The layers of eggplant are thin and perfectly crispy before they bake the whole thing in cheese and sauce. The pasta on the side has a wonderful light fresh marinara. Their scampi sauce is garlicky, but not too much.... and their Alfredo is made per order with the best cream, butter and cheese. It's so rich that I have to limit myself to a once a year thing when I order their tortellini. For lunch, try a Caesar salad, or a paninni. This is one place where you don't have to explain what you mean if you want a white pizza. It's already on the menu. The patio is well placed and has fountains and plants to keep away all parking lot noise. The decorations are fun and endearing to people who have spent any time in NYC's little Italy.... right down to the painted Mulberry Street sign and the laundry hanging on the lines overhead. Now, I hear they have rented the storefront that is immediately east of their place and are opening a bar called "the lounge." I hope it will be as fun to go there as it has been to sit at the bar on their patio. I will be thrilled to have another neighborhood hangout.
(4)Rina M.
I like this place. Not a true (New York) Italian place (in my opinion) but very very close. Food is very tasty especially fried calamari app. I usually stick with fish or veal (not a big pasta person) but have sneaked some from my bf's plate at it was tasty as well as my dishes have always been. We are here fairly often.
(5)Ryan C.
For those wondering, the restaurant.com coupons work fine, however the incompetent staff at Il Posto couldn't and/or wouldn't figure out 18% for the included gratuity. The coupon clearly states that it would be included, so no surprise there..... ...but a big WTF when I realized looking at the receipt that they had either purposefully or accidentally calculated exactly 20% as the autogratuity. Now by saying it may have been an accident, I'm really pushing things and trying to be nice because I overall liked the place. I cannot honestly come up with an explanation as to how a person who'd graduated 4th grade math could read a peice of paper saying 18% and then calculate 20%, unless is was blatantly done on purpose with the idea that the customer wasn't going to figure it out. SHAME SHAME SHAME The decor here is a mish-mash of old and new, good and bad, nice and ugly. They've recently done (some) remodeling, since I saw a huge dumpster in the parking lot, but they aren't finished inside. There are huge areas where exposed surfaces are in need of paint or drywall, and a huge sheet of plastic hung in a doorway behind us, swooshing with every breeze of a server walking by. The outside patio area did indeed look very neato, like a street in italy or new york. Inside, they have a dining area with warm wood accents, a lit-up fountain, and dim lighting (which i liked, but the mrs said was making her feel woozy) right next to the kitchen area's flourescent light fixtures and flourescent lime green paint. What classiness the first area had was lost with barely a shift of your glance, since there's no wall or anything separating the two areas. The very uncomfortable booths have hard wood back and a butt cushion that's token at best, with the bottom of the seat being way too long, so your back can't reach the seatback so you are forced to chose between sitting upright with no backrest at all, or slouching so badly that a painful arch is in your middle back. The food had good and bad, as well. The bread basket with pesto dip was superb, and like many others have said, we should've simply eaten that until full and then left. The lady's ceviche was a huge portion, and said to be very good (didn't eat it), but the tortillas I did sample were overcooked, looking only slightly dark but tasting burnt. My NY strip pizziaola - after being ordered as "tell the chef to aim for between Medium and Medium Rare" - arrived at barely even MR, but was tasty enough with all that garlicy marinara (*SLICES* of shaved garlic, like in Goodfellas!) that the extra juiciness was okay with me. I used more of the appetizer bread to soak up the bloodiness. Mmmmm aus juis The other had a penne dish with chicken and mushrooms in a brown sauce. This was said to be all just fine, but my keen eye saw the chicken going untouched and a few peices of penne being pushed around. Probing proved that all was not just fine, since the chicken was quite dry, and the penne was so barely grasping to reach al dente doneness that she thought at first it might be whole wheat pasta (the dim lighting may have contributed also). Service was 'eh'. Yes, that's right. It was so generic, by-the-book, make sure we cover all the requisite phrases and checking in moments -- but nothing more than that -- that I cannot even warrant the "M" to give them the entire 'meh'. When inquiring if we'd like wine, and asked for Spumante, the server replied, "you mean Spumoni?!? We don't have that." We looked at each other.....I so badly wanted to ask "so, you don't have the wine, or you don't have the ice cream?"....but we both just gave a tentative "okaaaaaaay..." Chose not to try getting any wine. 8^ | There was nothing too horrible about the service, but nothing great either...... EXCEPT of course there was the fact that someone involved in making up the bill decided to _*help themselves*_ to a 20% gratuity when the coupon states that an 18% gratuity is included. Even with the mediocre service, I would have added a personal table tip to the auto-gratuity, but I certainly did not do that once I saw the 20% on the bill. I also chose not to bring it up with the server, because it was obvious that they already knew that it was calculated at 20%, and I wasn't about to play the whole Pretend It Was An Error game. There was no mis-reading the coupon. There was no mistake in the math. It was *calculated* at exactly 20% with intention. So that's what they got from me. Nothing else. ...except this review.
(2)Gary P.
Best linguini and red clam sauce this side of the mississippi
(5)Roberto C.
It 's more like two 1/2 stars.... Very cute place but the food, like many Italian restaurants in phoenix, was pretty disappointing. I was there with a group of 12 for a birthday party. We pretty much ordered off the pasta menu. I ordered the baked tortellini with a white and red cream sauce, it was missing any king of flavor, one of my friend ordered spaghetti carbonara, although it was not made in a traditional way and although the pasta was way over cooked , it had a pretty good flavor. Like i said the place has a little charm but with very pricey food, 15 average for entree' , and very little flavor it deserves just two 1/2 stars.
(3)Ashley G.
Fantastic Restuarant. Very Very good food, and so romantic. Sit on the patio, it's like you're really in Italy. I just love this place!
(5)Angelique A.
get the lasagna and you'll have leftovers that taste even better the next day!
(4)Scott W.
That has got to be one of the coolest patios in town for a get together. I was another of the Yelp group (and friends) in attendance last night for happy hour. We had a long table reserved for us. The bartender was also our waiter for the evening. To my knowledge, with all of us moving around, I don't think he screwed up a single order of food or drink. The manager, Matt, came by to check on us several times. I arrived fairly early and before I was tempted to work my way through multiple baskets of the wonderful bread and pesto I ordered a serving of crab cakes. They were quite good, certainly not enough volume to replace an entree. I was offered several choices of pizza slices and accepted a bruscetta one which was delicious. Of the many pizzas ordered I did not hear one person that was less than satisfied. I do of sort regret not trying the white pizza but I was at that not full but no longer hungry point where I should, but don't always, stop. We did cause one hiccup in the evening, many of us decided it was time to go at the same time and with all the separate bills to figure out at once it swamped the entire staff to the point a couple of people at the bar complained they couldn't get a drink. Most of the night we ordered as individuals or pairs as we saw fit so we never overwhelmed the kitchen or the server. I have yet to figure out why groups of people (non business) that are going to be there for a couple of hours anyway have to all order and get served at the same time. We must have at least looked like we were well behaved, Matt invited us back.
(4)Jessie P.
I live within walking distance of this place. And while it has a nice cool atmosphere for having a drink & smoke outside. Both times our server wasn't friendly or helpful let alone experienced. And the food is at best slightly mediocre. Next time I'll go to Taco's Jalisco in the same parking lot.
(1)Emilie M.
My husband and I had dinner at Il Posto while visiting Phoenix. Dinner was great, service was perfect. Our waitress was super nice and right on top of our needs. I wish it was a bit warmer I would have like to sit outside on the patio.
(4)Natalie G.
The service is friendly and great, and the food is on the better side of average. Nothing to get excited over, but a perfectly decent meal.
(3)Sarah H.
Great food and quick service. I really enjoyed eating at this restaurant. I was surprised to find such a nice place in this area! Very good and will eat again! *Only downfall...closed on Mondays!
(5)Cynthia P.
I used to love the calzones and pizza, as well as the atmosphere, at this restaurant back when it was Our Gang. So I was thrilled to learn it still existed, just under a new name. I bought a certificate on restaurant.com and grabbed 2 friends to try out Il Posto. The fresh bread and delicious pesto dip they brought out was a good sign of things to come. We decided to share 2 dishes, and ordered a baked pasta dish along with the eggplant pamigiana based on Sarabear's yelp review - who I hope spelled parmigiana right cuz I'm just copying her spelling =). Well the eggplant was every bit as good as she said! All three of us were very impressed by this dish. The pasta, however, seemed to be lacking in flavor. It was decent, but paled in comparison. We had a very hard time deciding what to order as there were many mouth-watering items on the menu from salads to sandwhiches, and ofcourse the pizza and calzones. I will definitely be back to try out some others. They are also in the process of opening a lounge attached to the restaraunt, so Iook forward to checking that out as well!
(4)Andrew C.
Our family dined here last friday evening, this is about our 6th visit in the past couple of years. We live close by and so wish it was a great local go to eatery. Clearly whoever owns it has thought about the decor, the outdoor patio is very cool. On friday evening we had the large booth on the right as you walk in, my guess is no one has cleaned the table with anything other than a damp rag for months, i bought this to the attention of the server and guess what a quick wipe over witha wet rag. The table had so much grime on it when i passed my cc over it, it bought up a large film of who knows what, that really set us off in the wrong direction. I dont get why the simple things like tables being clean get overlooked. We have come to expect the food to be a bit hit and miss, the bread and olive oil with pesto is great. I ordered pasta it was ok not great but prices are very reasonable, we sent one of the salads back ...... Sadly i think we will not return, big shame its close to our home and someone clearly cared enough at some point to create a great environment but food quality and cleanliness are really wanting.
(2)Wendy R.
I have now tried the place twice. This place has all the makings to be amazing and yet it seems to be having a serious identity crisis! The service is average and for a small place, that is sad. The decor is quite lovely and they have a beautiful patio. The food is pretty good. Although the specials seem to be the same both times we went. So obviously the chef doesn't much do local and variety. Prices aren't bad. Here's my two biggest complaints- 1. classic rock Really? 2.TV with football on. Are you trying to be a neighborhood pub (which is strange since I understand they own the Lounge next door) or a quaint neighborhood, indie restaurant? Either is cool, but pick one and do it well. My suggestion is go for the later since you have all the makings and so few of those up there in Sunnyslope. If you want good food with friends and family, this is your place. A romantic evening, chose elsewhere.
(3)Gary S.
I brought my family to Il Posto to use a restaurant.com gift certificate. We were seated quickly and greeted by a friendly server. She brought us delicious bread and pesto dipping sauce and I was anticipating a great dinner. Then the "dinner" arrived. The spaghetti I ordered was hard, undercooked, and bland. The (2) meatballs had a soggy texture and were completely flavorless. I sampled the fettuccine Alfredo and was again disappointed by the bland noodles and flavorless sauce. My daughter who usually voraciously devours all noodles refused to finish the Alfredo. My wife ordered the eggplant Parmesan and was also disappointed. Considering the price of these items, my whole family was thoroughly disappointed. Our attentive server was the only bright spot of the night. Our disappointment was wholly with the food itself.
(1)Heidi E.
Ah, yes, Il Posto. I really want to like you, but it seems like every time I come (either when it was Our Gang or in its current incarnation as Il Posto) I leave a bit disappointed. The last night we came it was on a Wednesday. They attempted to seat us on the patio, but unfortunately someone was smoking cigars out there. So my friends requested we move inside. Now, when something like this happens, more experienced waitstaff normally says the following "Of course. Allow us to seat you inside. One moment." Our waitress instead confusedly looked at us as if she didn't believe us, picked up the menus, then scanned the area to determine who was smoking a cigar, then as we felt the need to apologize, continued to scan the patio to find the perpetrator. I'm assuming if she spied them, she was going to say something or perhaps the delay was to fulfill her own curiosity. However, it might have been a good idea get our party situated before she got down to the bottom of things, Sherlock Holmes-style. The food was mediocre, as always (I ordered the chicken parmesan with its soggy, eggy breading and my friends ordered pasta.) Sigh. Even though it's in my neighborhood, I probably would prefer to drive a bit further and go to a different Italian restaurant in the future.
(2)