Don't expect a review for Pizza Hut or Dominos, but Spinato's is a local chain that I recently found out about. They have five locations in the Valley, easily found by checking Google Maps. In full disclosure I only visited one location see update below (11108 N Frank Lloyd Wright) and it is still somewhat in pandemic mode. But I do intend to check other locations and expand on my review when I get the chance. Unfortunately, due to my crappy slow metabolism I cannot eat pizza every day like I could when I was 22. So be it...

UPDATE - We visited a second location in Tempe, right off of the 202 and 101 at 96 S Rockford Dr. This location is very modern, clean and busy. Our pizzas had the same consistent taste and quality as the Scottsdale location. Kudos! We are bumping their Ambience and service rating a bunch. The review below is primarily for the Scottsdale location.

Ambience: This particular location was in a bit of disarray. When I went inside I was confused where to go or who to talk to about getting a menu and seated. It was a bit dark inside with tables rearranged and stacked as if the pandemic has forced midday floor cleaning. The outside (where we chose to sit) was in front, next to the parking. There were some shrubs (I assume fake) to create a barrier between the seating and the rest of the store fronts as this was a retail location. They had music playing, and the shopping center also had music playing which left the brain in a musical mash-up. They had limited outside space/seating, but it was clean.

Quality: When I got to Spinato's I did not realize they were a chain. While they do have their branding on the doors and windows, it still felt somewhat mom and pop which was nice. We got the "Get Meaty" pizza which was all that. The cheese was smooth and stringy and the crust was very good. My friend Steven was my co-reviewer for the day and we both felt like the sauce was a bit sweet, but overall very good. If we did not have such savory toppings (italian sausage, italian beef, pepperoni and smoked canadian bacon) I probably would have had a more negative opinion about the sweet sauce; but it worked well with the salty and seasoned meats.

Service: This is a mixed bag. When we arrived and started walking toward the entrance a man came out and told us to enter through the other door (which we would have done since the door he came out of said "use other door"). When we went in the other door, he was gone. Because of the table arrangement we did not really know where to go to get a menu or seated. We were asked if we had a reservation. It was 2:30pm. Seemed odd. Then he wanted a phone number to put a reservation in the system. This was also a bit of a put-off. Then he asked if there was a table outside that we would prefer. We chose the only open table (seemed preferable). Once we were seated and got a regular waitress things went smoothly. She was charming and brought our drinks and pizza without a hitch.

Value: The value here ($67 total for two people) is a bit questionable only because I did not keep close track of what cost what (crappy reviewer, yeah I know). The large pizza was close to $30, which even with a ton-o-toppings I would say is expensive. We also had a pitcher of beer, for which I have no idea what they charged. I know we left a 20-25% tip, because that is pretty much automatic, which means that was a crazy expensive pitcher of beer ($25???).

In summary, I intend to return knowing that they were in pandemic dissarray. Quality and Value will probably not appreciate but there is definitely room for them to improve in the Service and Ambience categories. Until we meet again Spinato's....