It's Friday!! I celebrate Friday nearly every week by not cooking dinner at home. It's a celebration passed down through many generations of women in my family.  An unspoken tradition, if you will.  Or it just might be that I forgot to remove the cedar plank salmon I intended to have Andy grill from the freezer, so we had to go to dinner elsewhere. Who can say? But Andy's daughter Lily made a rare appearance at home.  She's busy and we hardly ever see her. So we thought it would be a good idea to take her out to Pomo Pizzeria Napoletana and catch up.

Ambience: As you enter Pomo you find yourself in a little marketplace that carries many premium authentic Italian ingredients, such as Balsamic Vinegar or Olive Oils.  As we were lead to our table we were greeted by the large wood-fired oven that looks like it is made out of pennies.  It's really pretty, but I tend to like shiny things.  Also, rose gold is the new copper, so that's very trendy, right?  You can watch the chefs toss your pizza dough around and pull perfectly caramelized pizzas from the oven. There's also seating in that area, like a bar around the wood oven, so you can get up close and personal with your pizza chef. The decor is very modern with exposed duct work, but it also has pretty greenery and very simple tables, chairs, and table settings. The music isn't overbearing, but the overall volume of the restaurant is high. Not disruptively high, but you notice it.

Quality:  The food is very good.  We've visited Pomo a couple of times now and have not been disappointed. They boast housemade pasta which is always a plus. The menu items are primarily southern Italian and they pride themselves on authenticity. Our hand crafted cocktails were very tasty and pretty to boot. The beer and wine lists are both extensive enough to make decision making tough, but not over whelming. We all loved dinner, although I will note that the menu provides great conversation at the table as you debate the proper pronunciation for each dish. The Gnocchi Sorrentina, Gramigna Boscaiola, Tagliatelle Bolognese were difficult to order without Google Translate, but we all enjoyed our meals. My Gramigna Boscaiola (grah-meen-ya bah-scah-eeola) was made up of little curls of pasta with mild sausage, mushrooms, and a lovely cream sauce, topped with plenty of parmesan cheese. Perfection. The housemade pizzas are delicious with crusts, sauces, and toppings you can customize or choose a specialty pizza, but there is something for everyone including the vegans and veg heads in your group.

Service: We've always had friendly servers for our visits. Competent and efficient. Happy to join in the pronunciation debate and equally as happy to look at the menu when you point and say "I'd like that one please." They are well versed in the menu items and will answer your questions without skipping a beat.

Value: We find Pomo to be a great value. We always enjoy our meals, the cocktails are beautiful, and happy hour is a lovely time on the patio. You receive top notch service and delicious authentic food for a mid-range price tag.  We never leave feeling disappointed and that's the primary goal of a night out when you are judging bang for your buck. Pomo is small-group restaurant with four locations around Arizona, and they really seem to have their finger on the pulse of good Italian food. 

Overall, we love Pomo. It's a great place to take friends and family.  The atmosphere is lively, the food is fantastic, and the cocktails are pretty darn good. We usually leave the restaurant saying "We need to come back here more often." To be honest, I don't know why we don't, because it's a really great restaurant. We like to keep it in mind for happy hours or a casual evening out. I will admit to one complaint: the parking is scarce during peak hours.  They share a lot with a few popular restaurants which cause you to circle the lot a few times waiting for your turn to park. But it is well worth the wait.