La Bocca

Note: A more recent review of this restaurant was posted on September 16, 2011.

Mill Avenue often feels more corporate than collegiate these days, and that trend shows in the restaurants on Tempe's premier Downtown street. Sure, there are some places such as Restaurant Mexico and In Season Deli that still cater to the student budget, but there are more places that cater to office workers, condominium residents, and other white collar denizens of Tempe. La Bocca, which labels itself an "urban pizzeria and wine bar," opened in 2008 and does not really aim for the average ASU undergrad. Instead, the restaurant is oriented toward a slightly more mature crowd in its decor, menu, and pricing.

La Bocca occupies a prime spot in the ground floor of the Brickyard building, located along Mill just a few blocks south of the Mill Avenue / 3rd Street station. The Brickyard has suffered its share of setbacks lately with the closings of Borders and the Bamboo Club. La Bocca is one of its bright spots. The look inside veers toward a lounge with international music, stained concrete floors, and high ceilings. A large painting hangs over the bar with the woman depicted seemingly keeping a watch on the scene. Outside, the patio is a little more sedate and provides an ideal venue for Mill Avenue people watching. Green umbrellas not only make the restaurant easy to identify, but also provide shade on hot days.

The restaurant borrows liberally from similar concepts around town in order to come up with a formula that seems contemporary but not necessarily innovative. The mix-and-match bruschetta is reminiscent of Postino , the popular wine bar with locations in Arcadia and Uptown; the "urban" phrasing we've heard before at Cibo in Downtown Phoenix; and the pizzas sized for one or two recall Humble Pie . So if La Bocca doesn't break new ground with its menu or approach, does it at least execute its concept well? Thankfully, it does. The restaurant's menu went through several iterations in the early months before setting into its current form. During that time, some ideas were discarded and the choices refined to arrive at the focused concept and generally high quality that is today's La Bocca.

The salads (center photo below) are hearty and can function as a light meal for one or a shared appetizer for two. There's nothing surprising here: a caesar, a caprese, and a spring mix salad topped with goat cheese and pear. The menu also lists a changing market salad, but its availability seems to vary. If the salads are not groundbreaking, they do rely on top tier, often local ingredients in generous proportions. Other starters include the bruschetta in half a dozen variants, including ingredients like prosciutto and smoked salmon. The most interesting bruschetta topping might be a combination of ricotta cheese and minced Queen Creek olives in a pleasing mix of salty and creamy sensations. Don't be surprised if a few of those olives are presented as a sort of amuse-bouche before the arrival of the ordered food.

The pizzas (right photo below) have a chewy crust with good texture and just the right char on the underside. Initially, most were built upon a house-made marinara sauce that was a little on the sweet side. That approach has been de-emphasized recently in favor of white pizzas with unique topping combinations. The pizzas range from the most basic, the margherita, to more adventurous models like the truffled mushroom pizza. All pizzas are served in an individual size good for two people with moderate appetites or one person feeling particularly hungry. Customers who don't like the standard menu choices can mix and match toppings to build their own customized pizzas and calzones.

For those who still have room after pizza, salads, and sandwiches, La Bocca offers two dessert options: tiramisu and gelato. The latter comes with two softball-size scoops of different flavors presented artfully on a small tray. It's definitely something to be shared. Although the dessert selection is limited to two options, the beverage selection is broad. La Bocca lives up to the "wine bar" in its name with an impressive range of wines by the glass, sangria, and cocktails. Beer lovers are equally likely to find happiness here with half a dozen or so quality brews on tap. Longnecks of Bud Light just wouldn't fit the atmosphere at La Bocca; expect pints of Hoegaarden or Peroni instead.

The service at La Bocca is prompt and professional; the pace of the staff seems to have become more crisp since the restaurant first opened -- whether due to better staff training or adaptation to corporate lunch hours along Mill. Happy hour specials, movie nights, and live music keep the restaurant interesting even on off nights. La Bocca's atmosphere doesn't make it an obvious choice for the stroller set, but well-behaved kids could fit in here. La Bocca may not be the most adventurous restaurant concept around, but with all the doom-and-gloom about Mill Avenue at the end of the '00s, a successful new restaurant with consistent quality is in itself a welcome development.

699 S. Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ, 85281 | Map
(480) 967-5244
http://www.laboccapizzeria.com

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East Valley Tribune
Phoenix New Times
Yelp