• Tempe, Arizona, is a city of 166,000 in the Phoenix metropolitan area. Located in the Sonoran Desert, there is low humidity and hot temperatures during the summer, often well in excess of 100 degrees. Winter months are mild, and the area boasts about 330 days of sunshine a year. Tempe is home to Arizona State University and just minutes from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport. It supports numerous dining options, including several locally-owned restaurants offering Italian fare.
  
  

Lo Cascio Italian Restaurant

• Since 1985, native Sicilian Giovanni Lo Cascio has been serving the Tempe area with Italian-American favorites including fried mozzarella, fried calamari, garlic bread, Caesar salad, manicotti, lasagna, fettuccine Alfredo, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Marsala, shrimp scampi and veal piccata. The menu lists more than 30 main dish choices, and diners can mix and match different pastas and sauces. Meatballs and Italian sausage can be added to most pasta dishes for more customization. The restaurant also serves thin-crust, pan and stuffed pizzas. They serve beer, wine and spirits, and have a sandwich menu for the bar area. Lo Cascio also has a seniors' early bird menu.
  
  Lo Cascio Italian Restaurant
  
  2210 N. Scottsdale Road
  
  Tempe, AZ 85281
  
  480-949-0334
  
  locascioitalianrestaurant.com
  
  

Riazzi's Italian Garden

• Open since 1947, Riazzi's dishes up Italian-American food. This casual, family-run eatery has a menu that runs the gamut of well-known Italian items: antipasto salad, minestrone, sausage and peppers, pizza, ravioli, lasagna, chicken cacciatore, chicken piccata, veal Parmesan and shrimp scampi. Riazzi's also lets diners mix and match pastas and sauces. Steaks and seafood complete the list of the entrees.
  
  Riazzi's Italian Garden
  
  2700 S. Mill Ave.
  
  Tempe, AZ 85282
  
  480-731-9464
  
  riazzis.com
  
  

VinciTorio's

• Run by a native of Puglia, the region that makes up the heel of the boot of Italy, this homey, small restaurant serves familiar Italian-American fare and more. There are items such as pizza, Caesar salad, insalata caprese, roasted peppers, linguine with clams, eggplant Parmesan, chicken Parmesan and veal Marsala. According to its website, fresh pastas are made with "wheat flour and semolina, to that we add fresh water and nothing else." This is unusual because no eggs are used, but this is the traditional way in much of southern Italy. Dishes featuring freshly made pasta include ravioli filled with butternut squash and several cheeses, orecchiette with ground sausage and peppers in a tomato-cream sauce and lasagna. VinciTorio's serves a variety of hot sandwiches and has a lunch buffet, also.
  
  VinciTorio's
  
  1835 E. Elliot Road
  
  Suite C-109
  
  Tempe, AZ 85284
  
  480-820-2786
  
  vincitoriosrestaurant.com