Our last day in Tucson, April 5, was spent celebrating my birthday. Steve told me to choose any restaurant I wanted for my birthday dinner. And after reading the menu, I knew that Locale Neighborhood Italian Tucson would be the perfect spot.
Make a wish!
How I choose a restaurant
When tasked with choosing a restaurant, in a town that I’m unfamiliar with, I read their online menus. I can tell quite a bit about the food by how well the menu is written. First thing I look for is whether the item description entices me. Steve and I both dislike when restaurants don’t put prices on their menus. We feel it’s important to get an idea what the meal will cost us. Surely you, and most people, feel the same way.
I also look for typos on the menu. Let me rephrase that. Typos usually jump out at me. Why does that matter? If they are careless about their website, they are likely to be a bit careless as to how they run their business. A typo isn’t a deal breaker, but it could sway me if there are similar restaurants that tick all of my boxes.
Locale Neighborhood Italian Tucson
Locale Neighborhood Italian Tucson certainly ticked all of my boxes. I wanted to order every dish on the online menu. I anticipated a wonderful evening and it was even better than I expected.
Locale’s historic, farmhouse inspired restaurant is located in central Tucson, which was about 15 minutes from our RV park. As soon as we arrived, we were welcomed by the hum of happy people enjoying a night out. We enjoyed people watching while waiting to be seated (they don’t take reservations for less than 8).
The time passed quickly, but the dishes coming out of the kitchen perfumed the air and made us ravenous. Then suddenly our device was vibrating and flashing red. Our table was ready. As we walked through different dining rooms we couldn’t help comment on how huge the place was. But each dining room had its own intimate charm.
When it was time to order we read each description before selecting our dishes.
Our starters
Pizza al Taglio
We started off by sharing 2 of the Pizza al Taglio. Locale’s pizza is Roman style. Instead of wedge shaped slices the pizza is rectangular. It’s similar to flatbread. So we each chose our favorite. Mine was the Pear, which had thin slices of ripe pear with gorgonzola, caramelized onion, candied pecans and arugula, all drizzled with aged balsamic vinegar. Steve’s choice was the Foraged. This one was loaded with wild mushrooms, taleggio cheese, leeks and truffle oil. Both were outstanding in every way!
Our entrées
One of the things I had learned about Locale Neighborhood Italian Tucson was that they made their own pasta fresh daily. So knowing that, Steve and I both wanted pasta for dinner!
Steve’s Tagliatelle Bolognese
For Steve’s entrée he chose the Tagliatelle. The pasta itself was eggy and al dente. It was tossed with a rich, tomatoey Bolognese and lots of nutty grana padano showered on top. I tasted it. He let me, grudgingly. It was delicious. And Steve sweetly said “yours is just as good”.
My Sfoglia with Pork and Mushroom Ragu
I knew, before we even got to the restaurant, that I would be ordering the Sfoglia. Tasting it in my mouth was EVEN better than tasting it in my mind!!! Ribbons of hand made pasta, braised pork, mushrooms, saba (vin cotto), dandelion greens and Parm dancing together in a perfectly choreographed dish.
Desserts
That gorgeous dessert is called Bonet
Since it was my birthday, like we need an excuse, we had to have dessert. Everything on the dessert menu sounded delicious making it very hard to choose. We narrowed it down to something chocolate vs something lemony. But chocolate always wins. Steve and I decided to share the Bonet. It was this beautiful, creamy chocolate pudding heart with a good measure of hazelnut crumble.
Our bonus dessert – Semifreddo
Funny thing, at the table next to us they were also celebrating a birthday. They had an entire Semifreddo – that lemony dessert we were considering. It looked so good. A graham cracker crust filled with frozen lemon whip, fresh strawberries and whipped cream. When it was being sliced they sent a couple of slices to our table for us to enjoy. To me that put the neighborhood in Neighborhood Restaurant.
So, not only is the food amazing, but the portions are huge and the prices very reasonable. Steve and I each took half of our pasta dishes home for another night’s dinner! For sure, these Traveling Locavores will be dining at Locale Neighborhood Italian again when we return to Tucson.
