La Bocca - Urban pizzaria +wine bar

699 S Mill Ave., Tempe

La Bocca web site

Only in Arizona can you show up to an upscale wine bar in jeans and nobody even gives you a glance. The most recent Yelp Elite event descended on this place Sunday from 6-8PM. I had read the reviews and had on a pair of slacks and a pressed shirt and most of the men were also business casual and many of the women were dressed up for an evening. But there were plenty of jeans in the group too. We had roughly half the restaurant and the wine was all you could drink and pizzas and Bruschetta were coming out constantly but as a group we devoured it faster than they could make it. The wine was ok, well actually the Merlot sucked, but the Pinot Noir was pretty good. The pizzas were interesting combinations with a very thin crust, which I like, and good taste. I did get one piece of bruschetta with diced Queen Creek olives and ricotta, very yummy!

This is sort of an upscale place for being on the fringe of the ASU campus. I did finally find out where to park for free Near the Mill Avenue district without much of a walk. You cannot walk five feet in any direction without being panhandled. Nice for a date with a light meal. A bit on the pricey side for me in general. I noticed the had Peroni on tap.

It was a well attended and fun mixer. I chatted with several folks I knew and met some others I only knew by their screen names. I went the long way around to avoid the traffic from the baseball getting out and still got there in an hour and the trip straight home was only about 45 minutes. Sunday evenings are usually spent getting ready for the week but I am glad I made the time to go.