Scottsdale - Uncle Sal's Italian Restaurant

I was going to be in the Scottsdale area for business and decided to try it. I had found it via yahoo maps and it had a couple good reviews.

I showed up right after noon on MLK Monday and the place was about 80% full. I figured that was a good sign :)

I was promptly seated. I ordered the chicken parmigiana (~$8) lunch entrée. It came with a side of pasta. I asked the waitress if the kitchen could do the pasta “al dente” and informed her that I was in no hurry for it so the kitchen could take their time. She blinked and said no problem. Odd.

The menu indicated that the lunch entrée included a salad, so I asked for a caesar salad. The salad arrived quickly; it was presented nicely. Romaine lettuce with some slivers of parmigiano cheese atop the greens. It looked nice, but had absolutely no taste. I’ve never had caesar salad where there was no taste at all. Even the slivers of cheese were tasteless. I was also given some greasy buttered garlic bread. That, at least, had some taste.

Next up was the chicken parmigiana with my pasta. The pasta was served in a side dish. Nice size portion for a side dish. Unfortunately, it was swimming in water. Not a good sign. My first bite confirmed another suspicion. This restaurant has never heard of the term “al dente”. The pasta tasted like your typical soft mushy pasta found in a can. Why is it so hard to cook pasta “al dente” in a restaurant? I told her I was in no hurry for it. Sigh.

The chicken was not much better. They had over-fried it so it was tough and dry.

The waitress never even asked if my pasta was cooked correctly. She just asked if I wanted desert. I did order an espresso, and found it to be quite good. I was surprised on this.

All in all, not much better than Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden.

Uncle Sals Italian Restaurant
3370 N Hayden Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85251