Vitello’s

I was really in the mood for a stop at a good family type Italian place, nothing particularly fancy. Being from out of town I had no idea what to expect here. It met my expectations pretty much across the board.
The bruschetta was decent considering it’s not tomato season. The spaghetti and meatballs was great; sauce was simple and tasty, pasta cooked properly and the meatballs were good. The spicy chicken penne had a delicious cream sauce. As the name suggests, it is quite spicy which I enjoyed very much but if you don’t like your food very spicy, be careful here as it is hot. The house chianti was unremarkable and affordable, pretty much just what I wanted with a meal like this.
Service was really good, not too much attention and not too little. +50 points for correct pronunciation of bruschetta. Overall we were really pleased with our meal here. Would recommend it and would definitely return.

Another sad Catalina story. Once upon a time not a bad red sauce Italian restaurant. Its okay but nothing to write home about. Now they serve the spaghetti and meatballs on top of white pasta which is something no Italian would ever do. The pizza crust was excellent is now the disgusting cracker crust so popular with those who haven’t reach puberty yet. Again if you don’t feel like driving go but otherwise save your money.

4 of us had different entrees. The veal piccata was outstanding. The veal Pinocchio was also outstanding. Prices were affordable and service was excellent. This is not a fancy restaurant. Just great food at good price.

Authentic Italian food
Very fast and friendly service
The portions were satisfying and the dishes were delicious
My wife had Vitello’s Tucson which had plenty of fresh seafood and I had cioppino tutto mare
Both dishes were outstanding.
We will be coming back again

Food is mehh, service is ok. The owner lets her kids run amuck in the restaurant, and bother customers. The prices are ridiculous for the quality of food they serve. No thanks.

Excellent food. Some of the best Italian food I’ve had. The service was also exceptional. Our waitress was extremely friendly, helpful, hard-​working, and resourceful. As others have said, the chicken Pinocchio is outstanding.

This was my second time back. I’m always looking for a good place to eat close to my home Catalina. First experience I had the Tilapia. Hated it.
This time around a few minutes later had a completely different experience. My son loves calamari. It was prepared in a light batter with sauce on the side. Delish! They offer fresh baked rolls as you sit down … So yummy. We shared the eggplant Parmesan and upgraded to sautéed spinach for $ 2.
They now gave Gelato that is prepared in Mesa and folks let me tell you in was one of the best Gelato scoops we’ve ever tasted! We enjoyed lemon… They four or five flavors available with 1,2 or 3 scoop options.
My service was absolutely incredible and we even got an unexpected half appetizer coupon for checking in on Unilocal

Nice little Italian restaurant. Low-​key, friendly servers, and tasty red sauce. (Always a plus!) The soup of the day was good, Caesar salad a little too ordinary, and fresh-​baked rolls a nice surprise. Though the rolls would have been sooooo much better if served with real butter or perhaps a small bowl of marinara rather than a «buttery flavored spread» which was relatively tasteless and added nothing to the experience except calories.
We tried the Eggplant Parmesan which had good flavor and appeared to be pan-​fried (which is best) but didn’t have the crispy texture other reviewers experienced. Rats! However, the marinara sauce nicely completed this dish. We also tried the Chicken Puttanesca which was flavorful and quite spicy (perhaps too spicy).
Give this place a try. There is some tasty food happening here!

I had eaten lunch here a couple of times, so I decided to try it for dinner with my girlfriend. I ordered chicken Parmesan and she ordered eggplant Parmesan. The side salad was nice and my dish was good. The eggplant was too thick for her taste, but that is what it is.
About three bites into the eggplant, she discovered a piece of metal shaving in the eggplant! I showed it to the staff and they profusely apologized, explaining that they must have accidentally left it in the pan when using the steel wool to clean it out.
They immediately proceeded to let us know that they would make her a new one (which they promptly did), and that there would be no charge for her dinner.
They did and said all the right things, but it still left a negative impression on her (completely understandable), and I’m not sure if or when we shall return.

My family went here for dinner recently, with three adults and one elementary aged child. I have dined previously at Vitello’s 5years ago or longer and didn’t have strong feelings about the experience. Well this last meal was amazing and it was the perfect dining experience of an excellent server and delicious food.
I checked in at Unilocal and they had a Unilocal deal with check in of ½ off on any appetizer. We started our meal with fried cheese ravioli. Initially my husband was not interested until the plate arrived, and then we all were eye balling who was getting how much. Wonderful. The menu has pasta, entrée’s and pizza to choose from and everything looked good. My sister ordered a chicken caesar salad. Frequently when dining my husband has a hard time narrowing down what he wants to order and the server recommended the chicken pinocchio (which their web site describes as: Lightly breaded chicken medallions topped with spinach, mushrooms, creamy gorgonzola sauce baked with mozzarella cheese). My husband loved it. I had eggplant parmigiana, which was the best tasting Italian dish I can recall having in Arizona. The eggplant was thinly sliced and crispy with sauce and cheese; everyone at the table enjoyed it. My nephew had butter ziti pasta and cleaned his plate. Upon seeing he was done eating our wonderful server brought over crayons and a coloring book; which kept him occupied for the rest of the time the adults were eating. To top of a great dinner we ordered their homemade tiramisu which was so light and flavorful. However we also ordered spumoni, which arrived in a schooner. WOW, their spumoni was served like a sundae and was incredible. I nearly ordered a second dish of it. It was a shock how a simple dessert was so delightful. At the end of the meal, we were told they have a frequent diner reward club; which I immediately signed right up for. I may not have remembered much about my first time at Vitello’s but this last experience was unforgettable. Well done guys.

I love the pizza and pasta here. The pinoccio pizza is amazing. The pizza is full of taste and you don’t feel over stuffed like the pizza from the the typically lie quality franchises. They make their own special salad dressing which I also like. The servers have always been friendly and professional. I’ve been eating here for years and have never been disappointed.

Very clean inside, the floor, tables, seats, even the restrooms were nice and clean. A clean restaurant will always get high marks from me. We were greeted and seated in a timely manner, the waitress was very pleasant and checked on us often. And the eggplant was amazing! I really enjoyed the food and atmosphere, looking forward to dining here again soon.

Food: four stars, Service: 2 stars. I hadn’t been to Vitellos in a few years (stopped going out much with young kids), but remembered liking it. My husband and I went in tonight with high expectations that weren’t met.
The bread was not good, it tasted like something you’d get in a big bag at Costco. The dessert (mud pie) was OK but a little freezer burned on the bottom. The entrees, however, were fantastic. I have been looking for good Italian food in Tucson for years, and this tasted like my Nana used to make. Absolutely delicious.
The service was strange to say the least. The hostess who seated us was nice enough but a little odd (i.e. asking «What flavor are you?» Huh?). Our waitress took our order, and then she walked out the door with a pizza. We didn’t see her again until after we paid the bill. In the meantime, the hostess brought our food and check with no explanation for where the server was, no introduction… and then as we were getting ready to go the waitress came back to ask us if we had gotten all of our food. Apparently she went on a delivery? Meanwhile, two people in the kitchen were yelling at each other loud enough for us to hear.
The service wasn’t poor, just really strange and a bit uncomfortable.

We have eaten at Vitello’s on a number of occasions and have pizza delivered probably once a month. All I can say is it depends on who is cooking. The owner cooks great and I have had great pizza. Tonight’s pizza was delivered and was the worst ever, just awful.

Absutely the WORST food and service that I’ve ever experienced in my entire life. And I’ve eaten some questionable meals. This plays blows! Save yourself some money and time and do not ever eat here. Ever. Trust me.

Had the vitello piccata, and it was tough and chewy. Never had veal taste that way before, must have been long overcooked. Tried to mention it to the service, but they weren’t interested in doing anything about it, so I just gave up. Plus the owner/​chef? was yelling at someone in the back. Just didn’t seem like a very friendly place, or a good place to work. Paid my bill, and learned my lesson. Italian food in Tucson is pretty bad. Stick to the staples, like Vivace’s or Gavi’s. There is a pretty decent one called J. Marinara’s not too far from Vitellos, they were much better too.

Had a wonderful lunch. Had the chicken Pinocchio The Gorgonzola sauce was loaded with fresh mushrooms. Husband had chicken piccata which was also very good. They now have pizza which you can take home and bake. Good idea.
Had lunch today and it was excellent. I had the chicken Pinocchio and the Gorgonzola sauce was loaded with fresh mushrooms. Husband had chicken piccata which was also very good. They now have pizza that you can take home and bake. A good family restaurant

Was great when it first opened around 2004. They had to Americanize the menu for the demographics in the area.
Not Italian, very Americanized. EG: the lasagna was 60 percent sauce, no oregano, very little garlic.
Not Italian food any more.

We’ve eaten here for the past eight years. It’s a family owned, friendly place with consistently good meals. My favorite is the lasagna. Vitello’s has a large regular group of customers.

I will state it again — the negative reviews posted by «Alisha F» and «Ross H» should be considered with a great deal of skepticism. Look up when they joined Unilocal and see how many reviews have been done. Very, very suspicious.
Also, please take the time to look at the reviews which have been filtered by Unilocal (for reasons that are also suspicious). You’ll find positive reviews there as well. And if you need more reasons, you can find professional food critic reviews of Vitellos at the Arizona Daily Star’s website, as well as Tucson Weekly. I also believe the Tucson Citizen’s food review archive is still up and running and you can see the positive reviews Vitello’s got there, too. Indeed, they were #1 on the Citizen’s food rankings as voted by the public for a period of time, so all of that should be taken into account, too.
Do not let anonymous reviewers with obvious axes to grind deter you from coming here. My original review offered Ross H an opportunity to go again with me so that I could see for myself the alleged complaints he made. It should be VERY telling that he has not responded.