Although the place was very busy as it was wine Wednesday for half price wine, the hostess put two…read moretables together to be able to see the four of us. Pizza was great as always, drinks came out super quick. All in all a great experience to have dinner with friends there!

Brugo's is our favorite pizza restaurant in the Cave Creek area. We especially enjoy their thin…read morecrust pizzas. Our two favorites are the Franktown and the Finding Nemo. The Franktown has chicken, bacon, roasted garlic, and a variety of cheeses while the finding Nemo is shrimp based with cheese. We typically eat at the bar while chatting with Patrick, a long-term bartender there. He's always good for a few laughs. While it sometimes takes a while to get your food, patience is a virtue. And especially during the snowbird season, the restaurant can be crowded so a reservation is in order.

This was my first time dining at Pizzicata (Mesa location), and the live music is what initially…read moredrew me in. The patio views are beautiful, and the weather made it such a great spot to sit outside in the evening. The live music was a perfect touch...not too loud, so you could still have a conversation comfortably. The owner even walked around and spoke with guests, and both he and his wife were incredibly friendly. You can tell they really take pride in the entertainment they provide and in making sure customers have a great experience. As for the food, it reminded me a lot of the pizza at A Modo Mio Cucina Italiana, which is just a few streets away. If you've had and enjoyed their pizza, you'll likely enjoy Pizzicata as well. I ordered the Jennifer calzone, and it was okay. I would try a calzone again, but with different toppings. I added a meatball for an extra $3, and honestly, it didn't quite hit the spot compared to homemade meatballs. The calzone had a lot of ricotta and not a lot of other ingredients in it, so if you're not a big ricotta fan, this probably isn't the best choice. That said, the ricotta itself had a different flavor than other ricotta I'm used to. The calzone doesn't come with sauce inside, and the side of sauce is pretty small. I was charged $0.50 for an extra... I probably could've used two or three sides of sauce since the calzone had none. That being said, the sauce itself was excellent... very close to the flavor of sauce that my family makes. This sauce really gave the calzone a good Taste, it just needed more! We also tried the mozzarella sticks, and those were good. Overall, the atmosphere is beautiful, the space is a nice size, and the staff is warm and welcoming. It seems like a good place to bring kids, although when we went (Thursday around 6), I didn't see many. The decor is lovely, and the overall vibe makes it a place I'd come back

Decided to try this place because of a post on Cave Creek Infamous Bulletin Board. Shout out for…read moreposting about it! Our first time in there JC was our server. She was awesome and encouraged us to try the pizza. The pizza was awesome. JC was so nice and so welcoming. The food did not disappoint. It was delicious and the pizza crust was the best we've had in the USA! JC told us that their flour is shipped in from Italy so it's much more healthier and TASTIER than the flour out here. Since it was so good we couldn't wait to bring our kids there. We were greeted immediately by Randy and sat immediately. Randy was an awesome server and our food came out very quickly. She checked on us enough to make sure our food was good and our drinks were always filled. She was very friendly and welcoming as well. Before leaving, we decided to get some gelato and Noah helped us. He was very patient with our chaotic family and gave us good recommendations on the gelato. This place is so cute, very clean, has awesome food, but most especially wonderful customer service. Good representation of Carefree and Cave Creek!!! I can't wait to bring out of towners here.

I don't know where to begin…read more.. The food! Is phenomenal The service is outstanding The vibes are just perfect old style Italian! Thank you!!

Our party of four enjoyed a "Fabulous Works" and a vegetarian thin crust pie. Delicious crust,…read moreperfectly baked with generous toppings. Excellent old school pizzas. Standard Crust is actually quite thick, and chewy...thin crust is a bit thicker than expected and far thicker than a typical New York crust. All very tasty. Good selection of reasonably priced beers on tap. Fast, friendly service, family run. Casual, well lit with generous seating. We would definitely recommend, and look forward to returning.

We returned to this restaurant last night after a year or so. We were shocked to find major…read moredeterioration in food quality with high prices! 1. Melon and prosciutto Hard unripe melon and prosciutto older than me and far more dried up! 2. Spaghetti bolognese. Tasted very old and refrigerated. Mushy tasteless nameless meat. Sent back no offer to replace or refund 3. Lamb chops ordered medium rare arrived well done with a small nameless and tasteless watery white veg. 4. They had no alcohol zero beer 5. Sprite sent back as it was yellow 6 . Told me the line was dirty. 7. 3 small lamb chops $54 (no potato) 8. Inedible spaghetti bolognese $24 (Thank goodness a very small portion) So sorry to see what once was a delightful restaurant fall into such neglect. There are many fine Italian restaurants from which we can choose. THIS IS NO LONGER ONE OF THEM.

Alberto's was awesome, expensive, and in every way a delightful experience. I can't believe I've…read morelived in the area for seven years and never made my way to this quaint and homey little gem. Other reviews on this place seem to run to extremes of awesome or horrible. Put me solidly in the awesome camp. We were immediately and graciously welcomed. Water, wine, comp snacks, and daily special offerings were immediately provided. It just felt good being in a quaint and slightly ecclectic, but thoroughly Italian Mediterranean ristorante. The large open hearth brick oven provided the warming pleasure of open flame and a slightly smokey background wafting aroma. The comp snacks of bread, olive oil and basil, and red beans were a meal unto themselves. Alberto's wine list was reasonably extensive with many Italian offerings at every price point. The diverse and traditional culinary offerings were thoroughly Mediterranean diet specialties. Be sure to listen to the specials. I put the menu down the instant I heard veal osso bucco. Nothing further to decide, except for an appetizer. We chose the bruschetta which was everything one could desire. Fresh fresh fresh. My Osso Bucco was roast for 11 hours to absolute tender perfection. My wife had the seafood soup, a rich and tasty tomato based play on chiopino. We sincerely loved our running dialog about the food with the owner. Personal, sincere, and gracious. The tiramisu dessert was one of the best I've ever had as well. Punctuating the entire experience was my espresso, as authentic and rich, and satisfying as could possibly be provided. Alberto's isn't for everyone, and not if you are looking for inexpensive formula Italian fare. Don't get me wrong, I like Olive Garden too, but authentic, sophisticated, hand crafted awesomeness comes with a price. Alberto's is well worth a visit.

I absolutely loved everything about this place! This was some of the best wood fired pizza I have…read moreever had. Our server, Kristina, is an absolute GEM! The restaurant itself is quaint, not huge which is nice. They have a good share of outside tables as well. There were 5 of us in the party and we ordered 4 pizzas, only my brother-in-law and I split a pizza between us. So when we left, we ended up with the equivalent of 2 full pizza, so we put a good hurt on the 4 that we ordered. I was in the best seat as I could see the work that they were doing in the "kitchen" so to speak. They were a machine, 3 to 4 guys preparing the pizzas and I think the owner, was operating the oven the whole time. They were cranking out the pizza like crazy! I had asked Kristina how many pizzas they put out a day, she said she was told 190 on a typical day, much higher than that I guess on the weekends. Kristina, what can I say about our server. She was the best. When we ordered, no paper, no electronic device, all memory. And I watched her enter the order in the touchscreen computer, and it was amazing. Just blazing fast, and accurate at the same time. She kept checking on us to make sure if we needed anything during our stay. We ordered a white pizza, margarita, one margarita with onion and pepperoni and a Kicker. I only had the Kicker and margarita with the pepperoni and onion, they were so damn good! Of course, the kicker was the spicy one. And I am glad I did not put any crushed red on my first slice because it was just spicy enough. I like my hot food, but this was delicious as it. And my wife's, the margarita with pepperoni and onion, so so good. I would order those 2 two again in a heartbeat! And this morning, they were pretty damn good for part of my breakfast.

Tip: Skip the wait and just eat at the bar. We wish we would've done that…read more We read the reviews and understood it could be a long wait. And it was. 1.5 hours. I would never wait that long to eat in normal circumstances, but when I'm on vacation, my tolerance for waiting goes up. You just gotta have the right mindset. We were originally quoted about 45 minutes, so we walked around the mall, but there's really not much to check out so we returned to the restaurant and grabbed a spot at the bar for drinks. Unfortunately, our phone was on silent (our fault) so we missed the "table is ready call" by about 5 minutes. So even though we were physically at the restaurant, our table was given away. We did not hear anyone call out our name at the restaurant either. I don't think we were necessarily put back on the bottom of the list, but it felt like it, as we had to wait another 45 minutes. Waiting aside, we at least enjoyed the meal. The pizzas had a nice crispy bottom and good toppings. We also visited Pizza Bianca this trip, and preferred that. Ironically, we went to LAMP because we were worried that the wait at Bianca would be too long. But we were seated immediately at Bianca. Go figure! Nevertheless, our meal at LAMP was still good. 2 pizzas and an app was plenty for 3 people.

We had a great experience at Patricia's Pizza for happy hour. When we first arrived, the bar was…read morefull, so we went to the small bar patio to find a seat. While some seats were available, it was a very warm day, and I couldn't manage sitting in the sun, as the one umbrella I saw wasn't opened, so we went back inside to see if any bar seating had opened, and fortunately for us, a couple of chairs at the bar were now available. It's super comfortable sitting at the bar here, with a nice open-air view across the bar to the outside patio area. The service was friendly, and the happy hour menu is plentiful. We were here for the food today, and there is no shortage of options at (by today's standards) pretty reasonable prices for the amount of food you get. And if you come at other than peak hours, you can even get happy hour in the main dining room and patio, so we hope to give that a try! We ordered three items: handcrafted meatballs with San Marzano sauce ($10) and rigatoni with pulled chicken ($12) from the happy hour menu and the half Tomaso's Sicilian salad from the regular menu (essentially a happy hour price at only $8). All of it was delicious, but the standout was the salad, which my wife said was even better than the salad she orders when we visit Little Italy in San Diego. That's a huge compliment! The atmosphere isn't quiet, but they didn't have super loud, blaring music when we were there, which was welcome. It's essentially a square dining room with a bar on the side. While the bar patio on the north side of the building isn't much and isn't shaded unless you score a spot with the umbrella or come at a time of day when the building blocks the sun, the main patio is nicely covered and shaded at all times. We look forward very much to coming here again and trying other items they offer, especially the pizzas. It's nice to have another dining option in this part of town. :)

Great food, great service, great atmosphere . It's super clean there and the servers have always…read morebeen very friendly. I love the patio and it's dog friendly. Peyton is an absolute asset to the restaurant. He's always upbeat and no matter what he takes the time to greet us and he always makes sure the patrons are well taken care off. We love the salads, the pasta, and the pizza! So basically we have not had a bad dish there. A+ all around.

It's been a long time since I've been up to Cave Creek, so imagine how pleased I was to find an…read moreOregano's right off the main artery running into town. Oregano's always has banging pasta, and they did not disappoint here. I had a wonderful Bowl O Pasta which is Angel Hair with a meatball added in for good measure. Served with a slice of garlic bread toasted to perfection. I was just stuffed with a single bowl, so it's nice they give you multiple servings if you want, but who can do that? They have a nice outdoor seating area to enjoy while the weather is nice, which won't be for very long, so get out there and try out their patio while the weather permits.

I hate to write a bad review of Oregano's because we truly love this place, but unfortunately this…read morevisit was anything but something to love. Oregano's is always a tradition for us when my dad visits, we typically go every time on his last night in town. We usually order the Oregano's Favorite salad and a large Bistro Classic, and it's something we always look forward to. We went on a Monday night and were seated right away. Everything seemed fine at first. Our salad came out, but shortly after we overheard a waitress telling a table behind us that there were issues with the pizzas and that theirs would be delayed. Since they were a large party, we didn't think much of it and assumed the kitchen was just backed up. After finishing our salad, the wait for our pizzas became very long. We had ordered a large Bistro Classic and a smaller pepperoni and black olive pizza for the kids. After a while a manager came over to apologize and explained that two of their pizza cooks had called out and the remaining employee was still in training. They eventually brought out the kids' pizza, which looked off, the crust was much thicker than Oregano's usual thin crust. We were told the Bistro Classic was still going to be a wait. When the Bistro Classic finally arrived, the manager apologized again. The pizza was burnt all around the edges, the tomatoes were thick instead of thin-sliced, and they didn't even cover the entire pizza. It looked and tasted nothing like the Bistro Classic we always order. The pizza was thick and doughy, and after trying a slice, it was clear it wasn't salvageable. The manager told us we wouldn't be charged and asked if we wanted to keep it, but we declined. She explained the employee in training was having trouble. We asked if they could make another one to go, hoping someone more experienced could prepare it. They also offered me a glass of wine on the house, but it never came. A few minutes later we were told an oven had gone out, so at that point we just said forget the pizza altogether. Our waitress had disappeared during the chaos so we actually thought maybe she was back there rolling pizza dough. When we saw her again she apologized and mentioned they were out of certain ingredients. The manager offered a free dessert, but my husband and dad declined. Given how long everything had already taken and knowing the kitchen was struggling, we didn't want to wait even longer for something else that might also come out wrong. We asked for the check. When the bill came, the Bistro Classic was removed, but our waitress brought out another Bistro Classic to go -- the one we had asked for before being told the oven was out. That was nice. We took it home and unfortunately, it still wasn't much better. While it wasn't burnt, it was very doughy and the ingredients still weren't what they should have been. Overall, it was just a bad experience from start to finish. Clearly, everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the kitchen -- staff calling out or no-showing, an oven going down, and running out of ingredients. We will come back during my dad's next visit and hope this was just a one-time issue, because Oregano's is usually a place we love and enjoy

This is the BEST Ray's to go to! They have shredded sausage which is amazing. It covers the pizza…read morewith every tasty bite. No one else does it like them! The staff is always nice, and to top it off, they have Pepsi products!

The guys at Ray's are super nice. Only one other couple eating here so service was fast and…read morehelpful. We ordered some cheese slices to go. They asked if we would mind a slight wait. They wanted to make up a new pie for us. Great! We had a seat and waited patiently. The boxed pie was ready to go quite quickly. One of the staff brought the box to our table and thanked us. Nice service! I reheated the pizza since it was cold. The slices were big in size. We thought the pizza was good and a bit on the salty side which no doubt is from the cheese. The crust was chewy. We will have to compare it with a New York slice next time we visit. In the meantime this slice fit the bill. Large outdoor parking lot with Cox WiFi for subscribers.