MAD MARIO'S ITALIAN DELI - TUCSON, AZ

This restaurant has been open for 3 months. The building was empty for about 3 years and before that vacancy there was a Vietnamese deli that Bill and i ate at during Tucson #1. We went in for their sandwiches and were very disappointed so never went back. Mario's sits right in the middle of a small strip of shops; coffee, pizza and beer and I think a laundromat.

Even though the location is good - right on Speedway in the University area - there's not very good parking access and what there is is not visible as one would drive past Mario's. So that leaves the students who are walking the neighborhood or between classes but they aren't around during holidays and the summer.

All this is to explain why i'm not sure if this restaurant will make it. Mario is a very friendly guy; very talkative. he worked for many many years for Sysco food service and I'm pretty sure that's where the food comes from. I had cheese ravioli with meat sauce and roasted red pepper and smoked gouda soup and a warm artisan roll. Bill had spaghetti with 2 italian sausages, a roll and a salad with ranch dressing.

Bill liked his spaghetti more than i liked my ravioli. It didn't come close on any comparison measure to Tony's New York deli on 22nd. Mario's sauce wasn't very flavorful; there was way too much cheese on top of the ravioli, the cheese filling was bland and the pasta pockets were way too thick and doughy. Bill had the same comment about the amount of cheese on his meal. However, the soup was extraordinarily supreme; great combo of flavors with chunks of tomato and tiny bits of cheese. Oh, it was delicious..

both our meals came in microwaveable tins which is another reason why i think they came from Sysco. The roll was very good also and the salad was too.

Mario's menu is huge with many entrees - chicken, veal and beef, salads, hot and cold sandwiches, panini, 7 different kinds of lasagne and lots of desserts.

We will re-visit the deli because its conveniently located on our way back from many of our winter hikes and i'd like to try some of their sandwiches. They are open till 8pm.