An Evening at La Boca
My friends and I went to La Bocca for dinner last night. It's in downtown Tempe (but not near Rula Bula which is what I thought and why I parked far away, doh!) so we had a nice combination of the Mill Avenue atmosphere with a somewhat fancy restaurant. Think lots of dark wood and you'll get the idea.
They have happy hour on drinks until 6:30. Half off wine, well and drafts. Nice. I selected the Rudolf Muller Riesling and it was quite refreshing.
We started out splitting two of the plates. The med plate with basil humus, babaganoush with warm feta, roasted peppers, queen creek olives, artisan toast and house made flat bread and the cheese plate with a trio of craft cheese with rosemary raisin pecan crackers and artisan toast. Everything was quite yummy. I especially liked the crackers and the toast. Morgan said the feta was a little bland, though.
Tuesday nights are 2-4-1 pizzas so three of us split bocca trio - crushed san marzano tomatoes, pepperoni, genoa salami, schreiner’s “sicily” sausage, mozzarella & fontina, queen creek olives and fresh herbs. It was very flavorful but I would have liked a crisper crust. Angela had the goat cheese & pear salad - spring mix, candied walnuts, cranberries, grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. She said it was very good.
Service was a little spotty. We weren't rushed but he wasn't the most attentive either. We had some forgotten waters and he could have checked in on us more. In his defense, the place got pretty crowded and that's when the service level dropped.
With tax and tip, our bill came to $100. $25 each for several drinks and dinner (none of us walked away remotely hungry) is a pretty good deal. Especially for a nice place. I'd definitely go back again.
They have happy hour on drinks until 6:30. Half off wine, well and drafts. Nice. I selected the Rudolf Muller Riesling and it was quite refreshing.
We started out splitting two of the plates. The med plate with basil humus, babaganoush with warm feta, roasted peppers, queen creek olives, artisan toast and house made flat bread and the cheese plate with a trio of craft cheese with rosemary raisin pecan crackers and artisan toast. Everything was quite yummy. I especially liked the crackers and the toast. Morgan said the feta was a little bland, though.
Tuesday nights are 2-4-1 pizzas so three of us split bocca trio - crushed san marzano tomatoes, pepperoni, genoa salami, schreiner’s “sicily” sausage, mozzarella & fontina, queen creek olives and fresh herbs. It was very flavorful but I would have liked a crisper crust. Angela had the goat cheese & pear salad - spring mix, candied walnuts, cranberries, grape tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. She said it was very good.
Service was a little spotty. We weren't rushed but he wasn't the most attentive either. We had some forgotten waters and he could have checked in on us more. In his defense, the place got pretty crowded and that's when the service level dropped.
With tax and tip, our bill came to $100. $25 each for several drinks and dinner (none of us walked away remotely hungry) is a pretty good deal. Especially for a nice place. I'd definitely go back again.
