a side of mafia, please

in case you love italian food and a little intrigue ...

i give you, Uncle Sal's in south scottsdale.
what will sell you on this place:

the atmosphere
this place is adorable. think mismatched china in every centerpiece, a smattering of roman statues and italian art, busboys that sing to themselves, owners that greet you at the door, a steady hum of italian music and tables full of italian men in mobster hats (i'm not kidding). it's just perfecto if you're looking to avoid the commercialism of olive garden, etc.

the menu
as prices go, lunch is a steal. dinner appears a bit pricier but still mediocre for a scottsdale eatery. i haven't tried everything here, but i was pleased with my choice last week. meet the mediterranean pizza, even though my ghetto camera phone can't do it justice:

(mozzarella, spinach, artichoke, and i substituted shrooms for the olives)

the company

i lunched here with my papa, but i bet you can find someone almost as enjoyable. may i suggest the aforementioned men in mobster hats?

the scandal

the mobster hats are hardly a facade. this place lays claim as an employer of salvatore "sammy the bull" gravano, a former underboss of the gambino crime family, one of five families that control organized crime in new york city. when mr. gravano turned in his mobster hat to enter the witness protection program in 1991, he became the highest-ranking member of organized crime to ever turn informer. sorry kids, you won't find him at Uncle Sal's anymore -- his do-gooder days only lasted so long before he got busted for dealing drugs and headed back to the big house.

but just the same, you can imagine him peeking around the corner as you get lost in your calzone ...

p.s.
drug dealing? what a completely unromantic way to go out, sammy. did you even use the phrase "swim with the fishes"?? tsk tsk. i wonder if italian mobster hats come in prison orange ...