Where: Mesa, AZ
When: January 24, 2010
Who: Jilly and Mo
What: Restaurant
Cost: $13.00-$20.00 for dinner entrees
Rating: 4.0 stars (out of 5)
I heard about Il Vinaio through a magazine article in a Phoenix magazine and thought it looked interesting so I asked my friends if they wanted to check it out. We were originally going to go on Saturday night but received a special and changed our plans. When I was on the restaurant’s Web site, I signed up for their enewsletter specials and received an email with a 50% off special for Sunday – Thursday so we changed our plans and decided to take advantage of some free money and checked out the restaurant on a Sunday.
Il Vinaio is in old town Mesa, which isn’t the greatest part of town and in all honesty, the exterior of the restaurant isn’t very desirable. It’s next to a shady Best Western hotel and the restaurant itself looks like a “Village Inn” chain restaurant – not very desirable. However, when you enter Il Vinaio, all thoughts of what you had on the exterior soon fade. The interior is nicely decorated, homey, romantic and cozy. When Jilly and I arrived a 6pm on Sunday, there were only three other tables taken and there is seating for probably 80 or so in the entire restaurant. It’s always disappointing to see a quaint little restaurant with seemingly so much to offer, so void of clientele. I’m sure the Olive Garden down the road had a wait to eat – what is wrong with people??
This 50% off special that Jilly and I took advantage of included a bottle of wine + two entrees for $40. How can you go wrong? Even if the food sucks ass, you have a nice bottle of wine to enjoy, right?? Well, the food didn’t suck ass and the wine was phenomenal!
Jilly and I were seated by our wonderful waiter, Matthew and he quickly brought us our menus and some water. Jilly and I were having trouble deciding on both what wine to choose (great wine list) and the entree we would order. We decided on a bottle of Pinot which Matthew agreed was a great choice.
I chose the Braised Pork Shank, Buttered Spinach and Yukon Gold Potatoes Fresh Herbs which was $17.50 and Jilly chose the Braised Lamb Ragu with Fettuccine Pasta and Shave Parmesan which was $15.00. While we waited for the entree we enjoyed our bottle of Pinot and rolls Matthew brought to our table. Our entrees came quickly and they were both phenomenal. My pork shank fell off the bone and I couldn’t stop eating it – I didn’t leave anything to take home or for any dog to enjoy – I cleaned my plate. Jilly thoroughly enjoyed her Lamb Ragu and had more self restraint than I and only finished half her entree and took the other half home so she could enjoy it again tomorrow.
Through the email club, we saved $36 on our bill which we were awesome. How many places can you go and get a bottle of wine and two entrees for $40 and not only good entrees but great entrees??
We highly recommend this restaurant and hope they see more customers as it’s a gem in the east valley. Don’t let the neighborhood or the exterior of the restaurant fool you, go in and enjoy it. Always remember to enjoy the food but to also enjoy your friends. Eat, drink and be merry!!














































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