The Saucy Tomato

The charm of mom-and-pop restaurants is that they're generally much more personal -- and personable -- than the nameless, faceless chains that sprawl across the country. You get mom or pop in the kitchen, and pop or mom out front, and if you come in often enough, they'll remember your name and probably what you like to eat and drink.

The downside of mom-and-pop restaurants is that they don't have MBAs in some palatial corporate complex figuring out things like peak periods and flow and other logistical factors you and I wouldn't even think about. And so it is that, especially if they get busy suddenly, mom and/or pop might get a little overwhelmed, front of the house or back.

That's pretty much what happened during our visit to The Saucy Tomato. It was a weeknight and we're in a recession, but there was only one table available when we entered. There's also a counter and there seemed to be a steady stream of takeout orders being picked up, so it wasn't really surprising when things slowed to a crawl. Still, we liked the place, for the quality of the food and the creativity of the menu.

We got off to a great start with a frico, which the menu says is the "national dish" of Friuli, a region in northeastern Italy. We've encountered frico in only a few places around town, but basically it's a cheese crisp, made simply by melting cheese into a thin pool, then letting it harden as it cools. The Saucy Tomato serves frico stuffed with two vegetables ($7.95), or unstuffed ($5.95), which was our choice, and it uses authentic Montasio cheese, a fairly spirited cow's-milk cheese in the tradition of Grana Padano. It arrived flat on a large plate, perfectly crisped, mellow and nutty, and just right with a glass of wine, accompanied by a mix of lettuces, including red and green leaf, in a light vinaigrette. It was nearly a light meal in itself.

Breadsticks ($4.95) are more commonplace, but these were much better than the norm -- broad strips of thick pizza dough with Parmesan cheese and a garlic sauce, with marinara on the side for dipping.

The Saucy Tomato offers a broad selection of pizzas, from the standard (pepperoni, Hawaiian, The Carnivore) to the creative, such as the Mixed Blessing with its andouille, pepperoni, bacon, red onions and garlic, or the Blue Velvet, with spinach, red onions, roasted garlic, pine nuts, Romano and Gorgonzola atop pesto. After much discussion, we settled on the plebian three-cheese in the smallest, 10-inch size ($7.95; 14-inch is $10.95 and 16-inch is $13.95), the better to evaluate the pizza without any distractions. And it was far from plain -- a thickish crust with a thick layer of mozzarella and what tasted like provolone and Parmesan, separated by a marinara that tasted of long hours of simmering.

Pizza clearly is the specialty of The Saucy Tomato, with a couple of menu pages dedicated to it, but from the short list of entrees, we chose the Eggplant Mama Mia ($14.95). Again that deeply flavored marinara -- which the menu description for this dish calls "Mother's gravy" -- and eggplant layered with chicken breast, mozzarella and Parmesan, with breadsticks and sauced spaghetti on the side.

Our very pleasant waitress tried to tempt us with dessert, but we already knew we'd been into takeout boxes, so we passed.

And by the time we left, much of the evening had passed as well, but in retrospect, we didn't really mind. When the atmosphere is relaxing and the food is as good as this, sometimes it's worth waiting for.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.