NYC Mobsters Inc. Sports Bar & Italian Grill ∙ Gilbert, AZ
Rating: 
NYC Mobsters Inc. in Gilbert just had its grand opening this week. The sign has been up for some time, and my wife and I have been looking forward to giving the place a try.
The atmosphere was great. The service was extremely friendly and conscientious. I loved the music; they have a crisp sound system with 50’s and 60’s jazz playing throughout the restaurant and bar. Ol’ Blue Eyes was in heavy rotation. Finally, the interior has a classy, upscale look and high cielings, which really opens things up.
I got a Manhattan Special ($2.75), which is an espresso coffee soda. I really liked the mix of coffee and soda flavors, but unfortunately it only came in diet, and I don’t like the aftertaste of the artificial sweetener. I only wish they had a non-diet version.
My meal came with a salad, which was simple and fresh. I got the Italian dressing, which had a nice bite to it.
I ordered Fettuccine Alfredo ($11), which is one of my favorite dishes. It was well presented on a bold, heavy plate. The pasta was cooked properly, and they were generous with the rich, creamy sauce. My personal preference is for a more dominant parmesan flavor, but that’s not a knock on the dish, it was very good.
My wife ordered an interesting dish–Italian Rice Balls ($5). The balls are made up of cheese, ground sausage, spices, and of course, rice. They are briefly deep fried, then topped with red sauce and mozzarella and then baked. I really liked them. The best way I can describe it is to imagine lasagna with rice substituted for the pasta. I like how it was burnt a bit around the edges of the dish. There’s nothing better than that oven-hardened mixture of cheese and sauce!
My wife got one slice of the Original Pepperoni Pizza ($2.25). I loved it before I even took a bite. I could tell just by looking at it that they knew how to make a pie. It wasn’t the typical droopy New York-style pizza. It had a pretty thin crust, but it was solid, and held it’s shape. Traditionalists may be put off by this, but it was perfect for me. I don’t like greasy, droopy pizza.
We decided to order dessert, as if we needed to consume more calories. According to the menu, the Zeppoles ($5) were a “must have.” Zeppoles are little, irregularly-shaped Italian doughnuts topped with powdered sugar. They are served with honey, which goes well, but they were great just on their own. The chewy dough had a very yeasty flavor, which my wife and I both loved. After pounding about six of them, I recalled an old quote: “The problem with eating Italian food is that five or six days later you’re hungry again.” I’ll be hungry again in December.
I had to get a shot of their classic Chrysler “mobster car” on my way out. The trunk is covered with a collage of the most famous mafiosos in film, such as Don Corleone, Tony Soprano, and Tony Montana.
Looking back, the Manhattan Special kind of embodied the essence of Mobsters Inc., with the blend of something ordinary (soda) and something special (espresso). In the same way, Mobsters prepares everyday Italian foods with uncommon care. It’s almost poetic then, that an empty bottle of the soda acts as a vase at every table.
Update 12/14/07: I retract my statement about “uncommon care”. I was in this week and got some severely overcooked and watery pasta (as if it hadn’t been strained). Cooking pasta properly should be a top priority for any Italian restaurant. I’m hoping I can just chalk it up to a bad night, since the fettuccine I got last time was nicely prepared. On the bright side, they had a live band that was playing a little mix of classic rock/blues/jazz, and that was enjoyable.
Interesting fact: one of the owners, Mona Barrows, is a descendant of the infamous Clyde Barrow (Bonnie & Clyde)
Note: they have scheduled live jazz/blues on Wednesdays and Saturdays and ”Bike Night” on Tuesdays (view calendar to confirm)
NYC Mobsters Inc. Sports Bar & Italian Grill
1431 E. Williams Field Road (Map)
Gilbert, Arizona 85296
(480) 558-9100
hours: daily 11am-closing
View Menu
the restaurant is a wonderful sit down eating area.
Yeah, I really enjoyed the atmosphere. How did you like the food?
The above “reviews” must have been written by friends of the owners. We went there with a party of 10, on Saturday, 12/22, and did NOT have the same experience the above correspondents had.
To start, we sat in the “round” room which should have had a round table. The oval table made it difficult for the server to handle the crowd. Next, the volume of the music was too loud for the small space. Then the table did not have silver and napkins for the whole party (we had called in advance). Our server was not that experienced, though very pleasant, and tried very hard to take care of us.
The food was not the quality we expected. I had Shrimp Fra Diavolo, and the spice was so heavy you could not taste the food. One of our party loves very spicey food, who had the same dish, said it was too hot for him. The Shrimp were Mushy and some weren’t thouroughly cooked. Two of us had a “special” seafood dish that smelled fishy and the pieces of seafood were miniscule. A couple of the dishes came to the table undercooked.
All in all, the concensus was that in one meal they lost 10 customers that evening.
We hope the owners enjoyed the hockey game.
We were at the restaurant on 12/22, actually sitting next to the “round” table of ten noted above. We actually had the same server, and there were 6 of us. While I agree with him, the special was not a great choice on my part, the seafood was small and overcooked, the rest of our meal was great,including the service. I have to say she was experienced because she was very friendly and attentive and did not lose that attentiveness once the large party was sat, we were treated exactally the same despite the fact she had 2 additional tables besides the two larger parties. We ordered appetizers, salads, entree, Pizza and dessert, and they all came out in order and exactally like we requested the server bring them (we had quite a few “on the side” and other special requests. The pizza was delicious. I’ve been to the restaurant two times, and I’m not friends with “the owners” either and I can tell you, while they may need some work with their “specials”, the service and the regular menu items are fantastic! We will be back!
Thanks for your comments Barry. I want to clarify that I’m in no way connected with the owners of NYC Mobsters Inc. I’ve never met nor spoken with them. If you read the bottom of the post, you’ll notice I made an update on 12/14 stating I had some concerns with a recent visit. At that time I revised my rating from 4.5 to 3.5. As with all my posts, my opinions were/are unbiased.
The jury is still out on this place for me. My wife and I had an excellent experience our first time in, but the last two visits weren’t nearly as good. Consistency seems to be their biggest hurdle right now. I believe they’re capable of preparing quality meals and providing exceptional service, but they have to do it 99% of the time if they really want to make a name for themselves.
We were in the restaurant last night for the third time, there were 8 of us in the mobsters ’round’ room for a party. The first time, great food, good service. The second time, good service, not so great food. We ordered a special and chicken parmasean sliders. We have yet to meet the owners of the place, but have met the manager who was very cordial. Last night the food was great and our server was exceptional, which surprised me because our waitress had another large party (6 or 7 people and 2 kids)and still, she had a smile on her face, followed ALL of our special requests, and made conversation with us that made us feel like family, (fitting considering their name) and not just some strangers she had to wait on. I think one thing we could all consider is that the restaurant has only been open a few weeks and they probably need to work out some kinks. Still, and I can’t think of one restaurant whose food is fantastic EVERY time we go in, especially around the Holidays, so we are willing to cut them a little slack. It’s too bad Barry and his party above were disappointed, however, we were not. The service and food was excellent in my opinion and I will continue to go there and tell all my friends to go there.
Well, I spend an afternoon there in the bar watching football. Service was good until they realized I was not only alone, but not going to be buying drinks like Tony Soprano. The rice balls are indeed a treat, and I took a pizza home, not disappointed at all Excellent crust, generous topping, good stuff and not the usual pizza in the East Valley. More like the real deal.
I went back last night to get two pizzas to go. They were just a little slow in coming out of the kitchen, though I had been warned to not order too early so they would be hot. A 3 minute drive home and we found out that one was not pepperoni & mushroom as ordered, just mushroom. The other was correct. We enjoyed both.
I was a little taken back by the bill, and I still don’t know fi I was charged for the pepperoni. Overall I like the place, but it may be a bit overpriced for me. The atmosphere, food, and service aren’t that good, frankly, yet. I’ll go back, but only for convenience.
Went there for the first time with my son for dinner today. The service was great, the owner eager to accomodate, prices more than fare and the food wonderful. I should mention that I am Brooklyn born and married a girl from Bensonhurst. My calzone could have used a bit more mozzarella but was wonderful nonetheless. My son had the eggplant parmigiana which I was smart enough to sample because it was great.
Two things I left out:
1) The obligatory “fuggedaboutit!”
2) Eat here. Delicious food, great people, family atmosphere and it’s in Gilbert.
I loved Mobster’s Inc… After reading all the reviews I just had to see what the buzz was about. I just had to try the Shrimp Fra Diavolo, that Barry (1st review) was talking about. I was surprised to find out that they do not serve that dish there. The so called round room did not exist. They have a room called the “Sit Down Room” which was very comfortable. Maybe Barry was talking about another place. The food was awesome! I enjoyed the Eggplant Parm & my sister had the Chicken Sliders. The servers and owners were very friendly. I have been back many times and recommend to all. In my book it deserves 5 stars… Chow…..
Well.. I don’t normally do these reviews but I found this restaurant on this site so I figured it was my obligation to come back and offer my opinion. It would appear to me that this place (Mobsters) has overcome all of their opening jitters. My experience was excellent from the service to the atmosphere and especially the food. I must say, it could have gone either way from the reviews I read above but I absolutely love Italian Food and I can say, WOW. The food is fantastic.. and the service was as well. So I say good job Mobsters, keep on doing what you do!
Hi im writing this because i would love to spread the word about great Italian food . I have been here in arizona for 9 years and we finally can go out to eat Italian food again. NYC Mobsters is the most home feeling and home cooking in the vally . They have great service aslo. The sauce is just like my moms and the meat balls are better (dont tell mom I said that) So please only believe 10% of what you read because the bad reviews on this one is a prime example of try it yourself . The thing i liked most is the owners are so cool they came to my table and and talked to us like we were family . Mobsters is a great place to hang with friends and be comfortable Yours Truly GiGi
My wife and I were very disappointed with both the service and food. She ordered eggplant parmagiana and I ordered chicken parmagiana. Both were swimming in what tasted like jar sauce. My wife couldn’t even eat hers. Also, the waitress service was terrible. It took three reminders to get a drink refill and additional oversalted ranch dressing. Finally, when we asked her to wrap up the extra zeppoli’s she never brought them back. We gave up and left. If we ever go back, we’ll sit at the bar.
I want to say just one thing about a comment about this restaurants sauce. If you know about jar sauce you shouldnt eat authentic italian sauce. To mr and mrs LEE just ask for the owners and they would of made it all right . I think the owners of that restaurant would really be thankful if you told them about the server. Try them at the bar next time but ask for the owners Dennis or Mona they are very nice people and would understand .I still think this is the best italian food in the east valley.
This is your favorite cousin Nicky Basile- uncle Tommys son. Congratulations on the resturaunt. My wife & I are thinking about maybe moving to Scottsdale AZ in the near future. We will look you up if we come to check out the area. I will probably be in Vegas in sept- October. Keep in touch,God Bless you Denis, Your Cuz- Nick
Great post. I really enjoyed it. I will have to bookmark this site for later.
Update: this placed is closed…we stopped by on April 30, 2008 and they have signs in the windows that say “Closed-Remodeling”…Hmmm…I don’t think there is any remodeling going on as the place is trashed inside…fixtures are gone, tables are gone, all of the pics are gone and there are glasses and empty booze bottles all over the place. They cleaned it out and left. Have to say that the last time we were there about 1 1/2 weeks ago it seemed as if something was up…place was nearly empty and the service we received was absolutely horrid. Food was always pretty good, but the service was pretty much lousy every time we went.
We drove by the other day and noticed they were closed as well. We have been looking into opening up a restaurant in the area. So we always drive by to see what others are doing. I will tell you that we noticed as well that they did a midnight dash. I say don’t worry folks there will be another restaurant in the area Italian as well, better food, better service, maybe even in this location. Keep your eyes open for us. When we get a for sure word I will update all of you. Till then be Blessed
To all who left comments good or bad, thank you for enjoying our place while we had it. To put rumors to rest, yes there was a medical problem that forced us to accept an offer from a buyer. The gentleman that was buying the place wanted to turn it into a seafood joint. That is why everything was removed out of the place. It was not trashed or left with bottles all over. Sorry it was not a midnight run as some have imagined. Sounds better than the truth. Some people will just write anything.
RJ, the buyer did not follow thru with his commitment of rebuilding, therefore the place is now up for rent.
Thank you to all who became regulars, and letting us enjoy our dream. We wish you all the best. God Bless
I am happy that you reasured most of us we thought you guys left . I knew you didnt but i am happy you set the record straight. I hope the medical problem is ok and you both are fine. I spent alot of time in your restaurant and gained alot of weight but it was always a great time . I just want who ever looks at this site no that Dennis and Mona where the best hosts and gilbert is at a lose for good people and the best pizza in the area. so hope to see you shopping somewhere in gilbert GiGi
hey I am insulted because I loved that restrunt and will miss it I went for super bowl sunday and party like rock stars and the owners are my family I have pics of us up on my page and enjoyed the food they had classic mafia tribute and I respected the joint I hope miss barrows will reopen the restrunt b4 i pop her upside her head lol im just kidding I love my auntie but I hope we get another one asap plus I miss my bodyguard matt sniff