Enoteca Pizzeria Wine Bar

Went to get pizza for lunch and noticed that they had for sale signs up and a notice of default by the lender with a no tresspassing sign up. Looks to be closed for good.

Got my worst meal in Tucson here, at any price. I called to get a reservation and was told they were full. Drove down there anyway, and the place was nearly empty. We were told that they were having kitchen issues, so anything with chicken and a few other items was unavailable. That constituted 70% of the menu. I got their last pasta carbonara, which tasted bad, and when they offered to substitute it with one of their last remaining items, a pesto pasta, it was even worse, since it was swimming in oil with little flavoring. I gave up. It was hard to get the servers’ attention because they were mostly chatting with each other while two tables were occupied in the whole restaurant. During this whole process, the excuses switched from, «We’re having technical kitchen issues with some equipment» to «We have a kitchen inspection tomorrow» to «We didn’t get our food shipment on time» and finally, «Our chef suddenly quit today.» The last one was the most believable, but I wish they had just decided on one excuse and closed their doors before I walked in. All of this after people raved to me about the place.

So disappointed with my experience at Enoteca.
I will start with the good points — server was very nice and the meatloaf sandwich is delicious!
On that note here are the bad — Service was SLOW SLOW SLOW (not the server’s fault, all kitchen and bar) and although the drinks were delicious not worth the $ 18 they charged for a double rum and diet coke. My husband ordered the Meatloaf Sandwich (which is usually only a lunch item so we were happy that they made it for him at dinner) and I ordered the baseball filet. Took a very long time to receive our entrees and when I cut into the steak I knew I was not going to be happy. The filet was extremely tough and chewy. I sent it back and after about 5 minutes the chef came out and apologized, told me all the filet cuts will be the same, and suggested I try the ribeye, so I did. He said give me 5 minutes. No problem! 20 minutes later he came out with my ribeye. I should have stuck with the tough filet — this steak was even worse. I sent it back as well. Meanwhile my husband ate as slow as he could so he wouldn’t be done with his meal, finally I just insisted that he ate, at least one of us should have dinner. A while later the waitress came back and told us she was going to take off my drinks (not the $ 18 drinks my husband had) as the owner wouldn’t allow her to take the «meat» off the bill. We told her that was unacceptable and after she went back and, I presume, argued with the owner, she came back with the bill and said he finally agreed to take off the steak but the drinks were back on! I couldn’t help but laugh! I told her as a person who worked in restaurant management for years that there is no doubt that this meal should have been comped. She agreed and apologized (but left the bill). The owner came over (I am sure our waitress passed on our unhappiness to him) and basically just said «sorry you didn’t like your steak, we removed it from the bill». Apparently, even the owner doesn’t care if his restaurant is subpar. Nowhere to complain after that. We paid our grossly high bill and left, never to return! Don’t even get me started on the runny, horribly presented Bananas Foster!!! If you are looking for a restaurant downtown, do yourself a favor and go to Café Poca Cosa — never a disappointment!!!

Food is pretty good. However, for the prices that are charged, I really expected more food.
Also, if you can, do not have Charity as your server. She really didn’t pay any attention to us. Took our order, brought the food, brought the bill.

I eat here whenever I’m drafted for jury duty, but it had been a while. We stopped in on the way to the Fox, and the staff was slammed. The mussels were in a wonderful garlic wine sauce, but they always, always need to be served with at least a sliver of bread to sop up the goodness. We got ours after we’d finished them. Management has the wait staff tend bar, and without a dedicated bartender they are losing $. The salads are always fantastic, and Enoteca’s still a great bet for downtown lunch.

Went for a return trip and took more family.
Food was great. We tried the pizza this time and it was very good Crust and toppings were very good even my grandson thought it was very good and the waitperson brought him a scoop of ice cream at the end of the meal and he thought she was a rock-​star. My wife and Daughter shared a salad and had white pizza and I had Spaghetti Bolognese while my son and grandson had a peperoni and sausage pizza, great all around

I read good things on Unilocal and wanted to check it out! I was pleased they had the Unilocal sticker on the door… usually a good sign!
I went for lunch, kind of late, around 130 – 2 pm-​ish. There were two tables seated besides myself. One of the cooks, must have just gotten off of work, and was sitting with some of the diners, who must have been his friends. No biggie. But when the phone rang, he started ordering people to answer it, esp. complaining about the front of the house. He also was talking to the pizza cook from the table… kinda irritating. They were talking about the pepperoni orders from the food vendors, he ordered hormel… bummer, sliced pepperoni is far superior, glad I did not get the pepperoni! There were two people at the cash register doing something… and the girl behind the bar was waiting on the tables. It just was a weird vibe.
It took quite a while for my order to be taken. I ordered the pear and prosciutto pizza. It had jalapenos and Gorgonzola cheese. It was topped with prepackaged Parmesan, that did not melt, so it seemed an afterthought. The dough was topped with honey, which was quite tasty, yet sticky. I prefer my pizza thinner… They were trying out a Chicago style as a new menu option.
Maybe it was the timing, maybe it’s the construction, but I was not impressed. I was happy my drink was refilled promptly and the size of the pizza was plenty for lunch plus leftovers.

Ate here last night! The bartender Jen recommended a great viogner, which I normally don’t drink. It was fantastic! We came in for a quick drink and left with a pizza. Rick, the owner suggested the pizza, it was phenomenal! I can’t wait to go back!

Not what it used to be, but still good. Back when I arrived in Tucson this was the place to be downtown for great wine, great conversation and tasty thin/​crispy pizzas. With turn over of staff, new management and odd closures, this place lost some steam and in my opinion hasn’t recovered. I do enjoy the simple eats I’ve had recently, but I don’t think it’ll be what it used to be back in the day.

Pretty pretty delicious.
The polenta in the Drunken Shrimps appetizer was so amazing. I could eat a bucket of it I’m pretty sure.
We shared a 10′ pizza and it was the perfect amount of food. They let you mix different pizza creations on one pizza, which is awesome. We had a half Toscana half Enoteca. I loved both halves of that pizza.
My dad raved about his eggplant with house made ricotta so when I go back I think I’ll also try a non pizza entrée.
It was pretty empty on a Saturday night, which could be a bad sign, but it was really good. So now I know if I don’t want to wait to eat on a Saturday it’s a place to hit up.

We stumbled across Enoteca because there was an hour wait at Hub and we were pleasantly surprised. The eggplant is amazing, topped with homemade ricotta and a reduced balsamic vinegar. And it’s worth the trip just for the guitarist.

If you want to have a Cappuccino like you’d find in Europe (Strong, bold, full-​flavored), this is the place to go. I haven’t had their food here so to be fair I am only judging their coffee bar and ambiance.
This is definitely a place worth visiting whenever you’re downtown!

I’ve been going to Enoteca on Fridays to hear live music & have drinks recently, and finally tried the food. Wonderful! Great salads, excellent margherita pizza, good service at the bar & great drinks. They have a really nice patio, too!

Went there for lunch today. I tried the curry chicken salad after only opting for their awesome pizza and it was soooo good.

May, 2011: First off, it was unclear to me whether I was supposed to sit down and asit for service or go to a counter to place an order. After waiting in a line that turned out to be the to-​go line, I was told to have a seat.
No artichoke hearts so pizza won’t be much of a draw for me. However, I’m going to order the Margherita pizza (7 inches) to go and and eat the lamb meatball marinara sauce on spaghetti now. Water to drink.
Way too much oregano on the pizza and in the marinara sauce.

You have got to try this place. Awesome Pizzas & Salads! The Enoteca Salad is just fantastic while sitting on the patio and enjoying the great weather of Tucson.
The current owners are great and the service is really good. If you are downtown, you definitely need to give this place a shot.

This place was amazing! We had the best dining experience! My best friend and I came across this place while visiting Tucson (in town for a band playing at the Rialto) and were in great need of food and wine before the show.
We sat at the bar and immediately felt welcome. One of the owners was behind the bar and took very good care of us the whole night. The entire staff was nice and very accomodating. We shared a bottle of wine (as well as a few lemon drop shots later in the night) and started out with the Caprese Salad and Enoteca Salad. Both were delicious and very fresh. We then decided to share a pizza and went with the Toscana. Oh my! This was absolutely wonderful and the combination of zucchini, salami and tomatoes was fantastic! The sauce was yummy… it was not sweet like many pizza sauces can be at places. It was cooked to perfection. We couldn’t get enough of it. Superb!!!
We ended up staying there for nearly 3 hours and watching the baseball playoffs. We had the best time and left for the show feeling very happy and full (especially since this was the night the Giants clinched the NLCS)!
If you are ever in Tucson, I highly recommend stopping in to enjoy good wine and terrific pizza!!!

Under new management. Went for a quick bite for lunch. The restaurant was maybe half full when we left. Ordered a salad and pizza. Our order took over 50 minutes to arrive.
I would like to see the old Enoteca back. When you go through the pizza line to get a fast slice or excellent salad. The dessert offerings are gone. The prices are now inflated. Why pay $ 8 for spagetti when you can go to Ascolese’s on Monday for $ 3.99 or Wed-​Fri $ 5.99 for a larger portion and better service?
I would think that a restaurant would want to turn tables quickly. For the covenience of the Courthouse, those on Jury Duty would not have time to eat. It seems that the management wants to be more upscale which is great at night. But during lunch in Downtown Tucson, not everyone has time to hang around.
The server never checked to see if our pairings were fine. The water glass my companion was served had lipstick on it. When we complained to the server about the wait, she only muttered. This is unacceptable. When the restaurant’s take goes down, maybe they will take a look at what worked well in the past and identify services issues now before it is too late.

Great place if you enjoy experiencing warmer-​than-​outside temperatures, wonderful service, high prices, and mediocre food.
I found a real cannoli in Tucson! They have cannolis for $ 3.50 a piece. They use cheese as the filling, not cream like some of the other cop out places use. The only problem, and this is a huge determining factor when deciding whether or not to order one, is that they are filled in the morning and sit in the refrigerator all day. This allows the pastry to soften and become disgusting. The cheesy creamy filling is outstanding.
The pizza tastes very generic. The dough is crispy and tastes better than the average delivery, but the cheese and sauce and toppings are nothing special. The wine selection is lacking, and for a wine bar, one would expect more. The non-​pizza-​and-​wine selections are creative and taste better than what they claim to do well.
Happy Hour is during their switch from lunch to dinner and has its own selected menu. Entrees are about $ 7 each and include things like sandwiches and pasta, pizza slices are $ 3.50 each and wine and beer is $ 1 off. Everything that I have tried during happy hour has been pre-​made.

This is a tough review. I would really like to give Enoteca four stars for having wonderful service but I was underwhelmed and expected better. For a place that is supposed to have great pizza, it has pretty generic fare. For a wine bar, it has a pretty bad selection. And to make matters worse, they were out of the majority of their list since they hadn’t stocked up for one of the areas biggest tourist events — the Tour de Tucson. Really? You didn’t make sure you had enough wine beforehand? Isn’t Tour de Tucson like Black Friday for area restaurants?
We had a pretty good zin. And the pizza was pretty good. The service, however, was excellent and they did a great job of accommodating our reservation for 35 people. Thank you for that!
Basically, I’d like to give four stars for service and three for food.