New Italian Restaurant in North Tampa (Lutz)

A few years ago, I decried the impossibility of getting good slice of pizza or a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs in a rich meaty sauce at a local non-chain restaurant in west-central Florida. (I acknowledged that I was raising the bar to New York-New Jersey shore standards.) There were some exceptions, pricey Donatello on North Dale Mabry Highway, Benedetto's in Land O' Lakes and a favorite, Rossi's up in Elfers, the latter two in Pasco County.

Then came New York's Best Pizza in the Carrollwood area which serves up a mighty fine pizza and, although I usually look for non-chain, individually owned and operated restaurants, it was and is easy to admire the magnificent bowl of mussels that, while an appetizer, The Lovely Joan enjoys as an entrée at Carrrabba's or my favorite spaghetti, meatballs and sausage in a robust Bolognese sauce. But the search for a "Mom and Pop" Italian restaurant in our neighborhood continued.... until now.

It is only fitting that Marchello's Pizzeria and Restaurant, at the corner of North Dale Mabry and Van Dyke Road, is in the same strip center as the gym to which Joan and I belong and visit nearly every day. We noticed a "Grand Opening" sign on the window, suggesting pizza and we visited for the first time last week.

We ordered and devoured a "special" pizza, loaded with pepperoni, meatballs, sausage, onions, green pepper, ham, all in a rich tomato and cheese base. The 16" pie, at $17.95, was more than enough for two meals for the two of us. While we expected a pizza restaurant, we were amazed at the scope of the menu and the loaded plates that kept coming out of the kitchen to a quite full dining room. The serving dishes are an attractive square shape and, as noted, loaded; no skimpy portions here.

Although the brand new restaurant's 15 tables were nearly full and there was a steady stream of people coming in for take-out orders, the energetic and cheerful wait staff moved everything along efficiently.

The menu is extensive, with pasta entrees galore, as well as veal, chicken and shrimp in a variety of treatments, parmigiana, Marsala, piccata and francese and so forth. Prices of the entrees run in the teens.
I immediately made mental plans to return as soon as possible to sample the many choices along with saltimbocca and some interesting appetizers.

On our second visit to Marchello's, I ordered the saltimbocca a la Romano, substantial chicken medallions, topped with spinach, prosciutto, eggplant and mozzarella cheese, sautéed in a brown sauce. I chose a cup of Wedding Soup, a tasty pasta-meatball treat, and a side of penne pasta. At $13.95, the portion was a bargain. Joan chose the Eggplant Rollatini with a side of linguine ($13.95) and she was as pleased with her selection as I was with mine. Just as with the pizza we had enjoyed previously, we took enough left-overs for another meal! One reason for the extras was that we enjoyed, too much, the hot loaf of garlic bread that was served with a dish of red sauce.

We will certainly return. There are too many choices on the menu, too many tastes to explore not to go back.

Marchello's is a success as far as we are concerned! It is already a favorite of the neighborhood. Although our most recent visit was on a Thursday evening, during an all day rain, the restaurant had a number of families happy to have discovered a fine new neighborhood restaurant.