Would you stop to eat at this place?

On our way from Dallas to Los Angeles, we stopped at a La Quinta in Phoenix. When I was checking in, Johnny at the desk recommended an Italian place called Pizza A Metro. He said he was an Italian from Brooklyn and “could not recommend bad Italian food”. When it was time for dinner, we drove by the place…and kept going. It’s by a Circle K in a tiny little storefront, and didn’t look like much. We drove around for about twenty minutes, then pulled out Yelp to compare a couple restaurants. We threw Pizza A Metro in the mix. After reading the reviews, we were sold.

We were the only ones there with the exception of a woman waiting for takeout. We took a hint from the Yelp reviews, and ordered the Carpaccio as an appetizer. Before the carpaccio came, a plate of lightly toasted pita bread arrived with some tapenade. Neal and I took our first bite and our eyes met saying “wow”. It was better than any tapenade I’d had before.

I wasn’t sure if I would like the carpaccio, but boy was I wrong. The mixture of the meat, shaved parmesan and capers (I love capers!) made the dish delicious!

For the main course, I ordered the Carbonara because it’s one of my favorite dishes (it has bacon in it, what else do you expect from me?) and one review on Yelp said it was the best Carbonara he’d tasted outside of Italy. I was a little skeptical since I’d had a carbonara dish in Toronto that I can’t stop thinking about, but I decided to give it a go. It was a very well done dish. I can’t say it compared to my memory of the one in Toronto but I gobbled it up.

Neal ordered the Veal Cannelloni. I had a bite, and I wanted to order some myself. The flavor was very complex but not overwhelming. The sauce was an original tomato vodka with a twist. It was a bit more tongue-popping than other tomato vodka sauces I’ve had.

The manager, who also served us (I think his name was Luigi), came out during the main course and chatted. He came from Italy to Salt Lake City where his uncle was, then came to Phoenix and they opened up the restaurant. He was very sweet (younger than I would have thought) and made us feel welcome.

I can’t imagine ever going to Phoenix in the future without eating at Pizza A Metro. If you live there, or visit in the future, it’s definitely worth going to! If I lived in Phoenix this would be the place I would take all my family and friends. I would imagine, though, as word continues to spread, Pizza A Metro will only live in that hole next to the Circle K for a little while. I would expect it to move to some trendy location because the chef has a gift and all in all, this was the best Italian food we’ve ever had. It even tops what my grandmother made from scratch.

2336 West Thomas Road
Phoenix, AZ 85015
Hours: Monday through Thursday – 11 AM to 8:30 PM; Friday and Saturday – 11:30 AM to 9:30 PM; Closed Sundays.

Posted in Blog
4 Comments Posted by Cali Lewis