Italian Standards

Moretti’s Eatery is a recently opened Italian restaurant on the outer fringe of Summerlin in the same shopping center that houses restaurants such as TC’s Rib Crib, Sababa and heavyweight Sen of Japan. Needless to say, it has plenty of local competition.

On a menu of mostly standard Italian fare, their thin-style pizza lunch special is a tasty deal ($5 for two one-topping slices)—our slice with meatballs was browned to perfection and had just enough cheese, though the defunct Ciao Ciao’s was probably better. More impressive is their cheese bread ($2.40), an Italian roll smothered with a generous helping of cheese—simple goodness.

Disappointingly, the pastas, like the marinara and Alfredo (most $8), are pretty pedestrian. We’d be willing to give the pesto, butter and white broth sauces a shot some other time as the pasta itself was satisfactory enough, but you may want to check out other offerings such as the rather good chicken Parmesan ($10) — lightly breaded and well cooked.

Because Italian cuisine doesn’t typically connote breakfast, Moretti’s morning sub sandwiches ($4) are a surprising find—egg, cheese and your choice of meat on a particularly light sub roll—and a good dish, though nothing earth-shattering. Unfortunately, the exemplary original recipe of the accompanying hash browns has already been modified to a frozen variant that doesn’t impress nearly as much.

Service is very friendly in this family-run restaurant, and while not necessarily breaking new ground, Moretti’s is a welcome addition to an already bustling culinary center. Though its food may not be Rao’s or Scarpetta, neither are its prices, which should garner it a following, even amongst such good company.

Moretti’s Eatery

8490 W. Desert Inn Road, 304-1900

Daily, 9 a.m.-7 p.m.