An Italian dinner in Phoenix can tell a story through its building as well as its food. Cibo occupies a restored downtown bungalow, where wood-fired pizza and fresh pasta have a domestic setting. Tratto has returned to the Town & Country location where Chris Bianco first opened it, carrying a seasonal interpretation of the Italian trattoria back to its original home. The two restaurants offer different reasons to sit down: a house-like frame for sharing, or a meal shaped by produce and the kitchen’s relationships with growers.
Cibo’s 1913 bungalow retains exposed brick, hardwood floors, stained glass and a fireplace. Those details give the restaurant a scale suited to a date or a meal with a few friends, without requiring a formal tasting menu. Patios extend the setting, and the menu offers several ways to organize a table. Arancini, burrata and a board of cured meats and cheeses can begin the dinner, while a salad or vegetables prevent every course from following the same rich register.
Pizza is a clear route into Cibo’s cooking. The menu separates red and white preparations, from a straightforward Margherita to combinations with smoked cheese, sausage, mushrooms or vegetables. Fresh pasta supplies a second center: rigatoni amatriciana brings guanciale, tomato and pecorino together with ricotta; gnocchetti Sorrentina follows the combination of potato pasta, tomato, mozzarella and basil. A table can share a pizza and choose a contrasting pasta, or concentrate on one form and give it room. The menu’s breadth is useful when preferences differ.
Tratto’s history points toward another kind of continuity. It opened beside Pizzeria Bianco at Town & Country in 2016, moved to the former Roland’s Market building in 2020, and returned in September 2025. The restaurant describes its work as a modern Italian trattoria with a Southwestern inflection. Its current kitchen names Christa Chase and Jose Flores as chefs de cuisine, with Bethany Farnell overseeing pastry. For visitors who remember the downtown location, the return is a relevant part of understanding the restaurant they will encounter now.
Its own seasonal examples make the idea more concrete. Summer mafaldine pairs saffron-seasoned corn with confit cherry tomatoes and basil; stone fruit sits over pistachio butter with Mexican tarragon and honey. These examples are a record of the kitchen’s changing repertoire, not a promise that summer dishes remain on a later menu. They show an approach in which an Italian form gives seasonal ingredients a framework. That is a different attraction from selecting a favorite pizza whose composition is familiar before arriving.
For a date built around a restored downtown house and a meal with several shareable choices, Cibo makes a persuasive case. For diners interested in seasonal combinations and Bianco’s interpretation of a trattoria, Tratto offers another focus. Both recommend reservations while welcoming walk-ins. The decision can begin with the kind of food you want to notice: the oven, pasta and generous range at Cibo, or the changing relationships between ingredients at Tratto. Phoenix’s Italian table has room for both stories.
Explore the profiles: Cibo Urban Pizzeria · Tratto
Recommended restaurants
The profiles below explain each restaurant’s cooking and give practical details for planning a visit.
A restored 1913 downtown bungalow gives wood-fired pizza, fresh pasta and Italian antipasti the scale of a house with patios.
Wood-fired red and white pizzas, fresh pasta, arancini and Italian antipasti.
Chris Bianco’s seasonal Italian trattoria returned to Town & Country in 2025, linking pasta and produce with its Southwestern setting.
Seasonal Italian cooking, pasta, local produce and a Southwestern interpretation of the trattoria.
Sources & references
Sources for the information and reporting discussed in this guide.
- Cibo: 1913 bungalow and Italian cooking ↗ Primary source www.cibophoenix.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Cibo: current dinner menu ↗ Primary source www.cibophoenix.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Cibo: contact, hours and reservations ↗ Primary source www.cibophoenix.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Cibo Urban Pizzeria: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Tratto: history, Town & Country return and team ↗ Primary source www.trattophx.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Tratto: current address, hours and reservations ↗ Primary source www.trattophx.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Tratto: restaurant’s own seasonal pasta preparation ↗ Primary source www.instagram.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Tratto: restaurant’s own seasonal fruit preparation ↗ Primary source www.instagram.com · Accessed September 28, 2026
- Tratto: Google Maps listing ↗ Primary source www.google.com · Accessed September 28, 2026