Mieles(Tempe)?

Question

Anyone eaten at this place? At McClintock and Guadalupe, same corner as Fry's, Papa Razzini, Pei Wei, etc...

We had to run to Trader Joe's tonight so we thought we'd try this place out. We never actually sat down to eat though...

Walking up on the patio first we saw a container of menus sitting there with a sign in bold letters "TO GO ONLY!!!!!"

On the door there were several more signs in bold print along hte lines of "NO OPEN CONTAINERS ALLOWED" "NO SMOKING" and a few others I dont' remember now that were also in bold print and very stern in their admonishments(one was along the lines of NO LOITERING!)...we laughed about the friendly greeting.

we walk in still laughing and by the front door there are two more signs. One says:

"WAIT TO BE SEATED!
WAIT TO BE SEATED!
WAIT TO BE SEATED!"

and another:

"SHOES MUST BE KEPT ON AND KEEP YOUR FEET OFF THE SEATS!!!"

???
(this one really caught us off guard! can't say i've ever seen anything like that INSIDE a restaurant in this part of the world! :lol"

There were two people standing near the kitchen watching us...no smile or hello. The restaurant was empty, though admittedly 5:45 is still pretty early...

Husband decided he wasn't sure he wanted to try it "just gives me a weird vibe"

So we walked over to Papa Razzini's which isn't one of our favorites but was right there...

Just curious if the food at Miele's is worth running the gauntlet of "friendly " signs after all?? did we miss out on something grand or was the husband's instinct correct?

Answer

z, that is just weird. You've got me curious, though. But not curious enough to try it. Any chance it was sort of a [tasteless] joke?

Answer

Never been there, but I used to live in the neighborhood -- just a thought -- It's a half-mile from Marcos de Niza High School, which I believe still has an open campus (i.e. lunch). My favorite Valley pizza place was (RIP) Pizza Town, just a few blocks from McClintock HS. They had a bunch of similar signs. These days I often buy gas at an AM/PM on Central at Indian School. They also have a bunch of admonitions posted, some of which are specifically directed at Central HS kids (also? Brophy and Xavier, but not really) just a half-mile away. I dunno, just a thought ...

Answer

i've only taken out from there, and i must have ignored all the signs! it does seem a bit dark and unfriendly though. i recommend trying the white pizza if you do end up trying it... gobs of mozzarella (not greasy though) and a buttery garlic scent that will stay on your hands for hours afterwards. the food makes up for the ambience, in my book. and maybe you can give the owners a friendly suggestion on changing their signs. good hope!

Answer

Well sounds like it might be worth trying after all...it was just such a weird vibe for a neighborhood pizza/pasta place. I could see a bar having all kinds of signs like that. Yes, the high school is down the street, we've just never seen so many big bold signs in a place around here before! 

Not sure I'll convince the hubby it's worth trying so I think I'll try recruiting my sister to try it out...I really don't care much for Papa Razzini's so would welcome another Italian option right around there...

Answer

Do go back and try their white pizza... mozzarella, chunks of ricotta, and thin crust make for a DIVINE pizza! Their eggplant rollatini was very good, if not a little bit on the salty side. I'd go back for the white pizza!!

Answer

Mieles is a fine local pizzeria. The signage is really not different from many other mom and pop places. I never particularly noticed their admonishments as being stern. The two guys who run it are quite friendly -- sit at the bar for a pizza and pretty soon they'll treat you like a regular, even if you aren't. Plus the pizza's good (and Phoenix mag rated it as one of the cleanest kitchens around, lol) and they've got limoncello for after dinner.

Answer

Thanks for teh feedback everyone. we'll definitely have to give it another try since there are some many favorable opinions!

Answer

We finally made it back here this evening. It's taken some time to finally get here but we've cut way back on our dining out over the last few months.

We had an early dinner as husband had to go this evening and when we got there around 5:45 it was surprisingly pretty crowded. And indeed the signs from last time were all gone!

We were sat at a two person booth and one of the owners warmly welcomed us and explained all the specials. The pasts dishes sounded good but we'd already decided we were going to have a white pizza based on what everyone here had to say about the pizzas.

We also ordered an antipasto salad. The salad was good but nothing spectacular. Generously sized and more than enough for two people however. 

The pizza was good as well. I would have liked it a bit crisper but the crust had good flavor, there was delicious taste of garlic without being overbearing and the generous globs of ricotta were appreciated.

Throughout the meal both owners checked and were always very friendly. They were thrilled it was our first visit. 

The prices were quite reasonable - a medium pizza, the salad, a draft beer(Fat tire $4), an iced tea, and two espressos(a well pulled shot) came to $33...with half a pizza leftover to bring home.

We dont' go out for pizza very often but do go out for pasta a lot. We agreed we liked the "feel" of this place and would definitely come back to try the pasta dishes as well. We go to Floridino's a lot when we're looking for an inexpensive bowl of pasta - we like it there a lot but the menu isn't very extensive so hopefully we'll like the pasta here and have some more options.

We're glad we gave it another chance. Definitely a "cheap and cheerful" keeper. Thanks to everyone for the comments encouraging us to stop in again and give them a try.

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Mieles(Tempe)?

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